I didn't see the guy barking orders but I get the whole " unprofessional" thing but it's really just a regional/Southern 'thing'. I say this as being a "Damn Yankee". A "Yankee" is someone visiting from the North. A "Damn Yankee" is a person from the North who moves down here on a permanent basis. I was born in NJ! I moved down here to Charleston for the 1st time in the mid 90's. Circumstances took me away from Charleston in the late 90's and I lived elsewhere for about 10 yrs. During those 10 yrs I always wanted to move back so in the mid-2000's I did just that and moved back. Circumstance again reared it's ugly head when I got cancer and I had to move closer to a treatment center in NY that specialized in my kind of rare cancer. After I kicked cancer's @ss I moved back to Charleston again because I love this place so much.
So why am I telling you this? I've lived here and moved away and moved back again a few different times. Each time I return, it takes me awhile to fall back into " the Way" things are done here". I call it De-Yankee-izing. It's very similar to decompressing. For one thing, people are much friendlier and outgoing. It shocked me the 1st time I got in an elevator down here and the person in the elevator said " Hi " to me! Same thing happened when I walked down a street passing someone and they also said " Hi" or at least acknowledged me. That kind of thing def does not happen in NYC!! People here will let you in at a stoplight and they don't mash on the gas peddle when the light turns green. Your basic aggressiveness in traffic is not as intense as it is in say NY/NJ/ Philly/Boston. Same thing when you're at a restaurant or bar. People are just more patient and friendly as a whole. You'll hear " After You" when you're standing in line for something. You'll hear a lot of " please" and "Thank You" in interactions with other people..
The overall pace of life down here is completely different. Life is more relaxed and easy going. Things are more casual. People aren't as pushy as they are in say NY or Philly and I don't mean that in a bad way it just a different culture. I always get a kick out of watching my Northern friends come to visit. I immediately spot the difference in their behavior as they are generally more forward and aggressive. Same with tourists. Out of towners are easy to spot. They just act differently. I'm not saying it's bad or right or wrong, it's just something I've learned to spot over the years.
Now imagine being further away from a bigger city like Columbia or Charleston....everything is even more magnified from Yankee-ness. It really is like The Andy Griffith Show and Mayberry!! I think this difference in culture is affecting the way that these pundits on TV report on this case. They don't live here and understand the people who are on the jury. They are looking at things through Big City glasses. There is Yes and NO and no room for the in between. They may be focused on the facts and only the facts and it just doesn't work that way here. We take everything into consideration and then after looking at things from a few different angles, we'll give an answer. Yes, there are definitely facts of this case but there are also other things that are going to influence this jury.
Trust and integrity mean A LOT to people in a small town like Walterboro where everyone seems to know each other. All the focus on these financial crimes is going to play HUGE in the eyes of this jury. The thinking being that AM lied, cheated and stole from his friends and neighbors. He stole from disabled people, hurt cops, cancer patients, dying people, neighbor's clients etc.. He might not have stolen anything from them directly but maybe he stole from their friends, their friend's friends or neighbors, family members, cousins, cousin's neighbors or families etc, etc. See where I'm going with this?
Now throw in the drugs and the money involved with that, the boat accident and Alex and family's denials and shady behavior, the bullying, the fake cop act with his stinking badges and blue lights, his fake suicide act... There are dozens and dozens of people that were hurt directly and indirectly by his actions. He's possibly thrown 100's of people under the bus over a multitude selfish acts. TRUST AND INTEGRITY. AM has none. The 1000's of lies he's told over the decades are going to bring him down because he's capable of doing it. How could he NOT do this???? He's done everything else!
I'm reminded of the fable about the Frog and the Crocodile. For those that don't know it, here it is:
The Frog and the Crocodile
This jury of local folks is going to look at this and say " We Won't Get Fooled Again!"
All the sniveling, snot, fake tears and pathetic nicknames in the world aren't going to save him. He has banked absolutely NOTHING in the positive column! There is NO goodwill. NO charity. NO kind acts. NO selflessness. NO community There is only Alex. It's always been Alex. The World revolves around Alex. I. Me. Mine!
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say the jury doesn't take much time deciding. I think they will return a verdict of guilty. I'm changing my mind and I think we will have a decision by Fri Nite!
Thanks for reading all of this if you got this far!!
