Why Does Everyone Hate Florida So Much??

saarein · Dec 13, 2008

Thank you "Villanova, RN BSN" for putting down your fellow nurses, who by the way sat for the same test you took to become a registered nurse!!!

Codeda · Dec 15, 2008

I think I can add one more thing to Sunshine Baby's Pro: Beaches & 5-6 months of cool weather. That still doesn't make up for the 6-7 months of sweltering heat and sweat constantly running down the back of your neck!

5-6 months of cool weather? What part of the state do you live in? Where i am we are lucky to get 3 months ( november, december, january) although this week alone it reached the 80's so not even this month has been that cool lol.

gradRN2007, BSN, RN · Dec 15, 2008

Love Florida, pretty much anywhere in the state although have never been to the pan handle. Live near Ft. Lauderdale and there is no lack of arts/muesums etc..weather is always good and you have warning if there is a hurricane and you can stay or leave..not like CA (lived there too) earthquakes just happen..Work in a great hospital and get paid well, live in a house and having coffee in the morning by the pool doesnt get any better..sure it gets hot but better that snow, mudslides and floods..in my opinion...

Lstcats · Dec 15, 2008

i will shout it from the rooftops that i extremely dislike fl. i can only speak on the area in which i live, northwest florida. i have lived many different places (military brat) and this has been my least favorite besides wyoming.

first off i'll start with the pros:
beaches
there, i'm done :chuckle
i am glad that there is a part of florida that you do like.:yeah:beaches are my favorite!
the cons are many. something no one has mentioned, you cannot throw a rock without hitting a church in my area. now that maybe a pro to some but not me. i find the people very judgmental and unaccepting of those with differing views. just to give you an example, many churches here have their members stand on the street corners screaming bible verses at you in a very aggressive manner. one day i was driving home from work and there was a church group with a sign that read "god hates gays." i cannot stand this close minded type of mentality!!
as a christian, this really disturbes me to read that there are "some" christians who yell hate speech. god does not hate anyone :redpinkhe he does not hate gays at all. he loves:heartbeat us all but hates and laments over our sin .i hope that you know that. one of the reasons that i do want to move to the "bible belt" is that there is so much more christianity and it is more accepted than it is in liberal mass. so, i do love that there are jesus signs and churches everywhere. i am sorry that some people have judged you harshly. they are the ones that give christians a bad wrap. i am surprised that churches have their congregation on the street corners shouting . what type of church is that? can you be more specific? it sounds like a cult to me and not "true" christianity.
the area i live in is very poor and dilapidated. there is still alot of damage from hurricane ivan. housing is expensive and the wages are low. i have a bsn. i worked at the major women and children's hospital here in town and i can tell you it was horrible. nurses have to actually hide iv poles if they want one for their patients. you are not allowed to self schedule and will work every other weekend and every holiday the first 2 years you work there period. 12 hour shifts would turn into 16 hours because you were so short staffed that you would have to leave all your charting and fluid changes till the end of shift. all this for the grand price of $17 an hour day shift. oh and you get .60 extra for bsn. really negligible when you look at how much your bsn cost.
sound really tough for you. we have had hurricanes up here and bad storms but nothing like you have experienced. i wonder if the wages are low because of your location in florida. i understand from another fl nurse that new grads start @ $22 an hour. i have blogged on many other sites here about wages and find that for the cost of living they are still low but far better than where i am. and, to be compensated for a degree is a good thing. we don't have that here in ma. it is all based on experience and the job you do. doesn't matter if you have a adn vs. a bsn or even a msn unless you teach nursing like i do. after reading all of this it sounds like you are so unhappy and should leave your job. the stress isn't worth it. the pay you are getting is disrespestful. we, as nurses, must stand up together about poor working conditions and poor pay. i know that fl is a "right to work" state so no unions. we have unions here and they really go to bat for the nurses but union dues are around $800 a year. maybe more. but, it is well worth it to make for ft 100-120,000 a year. but, that is not even enough compared to md's making 5-10 that amount. and, the cost of living here is comparable to that wage. i am broke living in a run down poor drug infested and gang area but, i am happy with only around $40 to 50k a year. i make what a new grad makes. that is what nurse educators make here which is the same as florida. i went to visit some instructors in new port richey so i know that is what they make and more and no state income tax. well, enough said. i hope you can find some peace at another job.
i am now working as a school nurse. i :heartbeat my job but the pay still stinks. i work in a title 1 school and you would not believe the poverty and abuse i am witness to. i can you tell i call dcf more than you can believe.
sorry, didn't read all of this. i was a school nurse and made the same amount of $$ as a nursing professor. figure that one out??? isn't it better to :redpinkhe what you do
food is expensive. $5 for a gallon of milk. yet, i am paid less than 30k a year. there is not much room for advancement either. gas right now is $1.58 gallon (yay!). my electric bill runs around $200-260. now, i am hot blooded and i find the fl heat intolerable so this would depend on your comfort. i have naturally curly hair and feel like every day is a bad hair day due to the humidity. god forbid, i straighten my hair one day :icon_roll
yes, i grant you that food is expensive. i don't drink milk only soy so, i don't know about the price of milk. do you have to get your msn for school nursing. it is a law here that you must have a bsn and msn is preferred. i left after 4 years because it was not challenging enough. your electric bill per mos. is $200? is that d/t air conditioning? mine was $120 this past month for a small 1200 sq. ft condo and i was in fl w/ the heat off for 9 days. i loved the humidity but it was only about 80 degrees when i was there. my skin felt better. my hair was pretty good. i think it is something w/ the water. funny how people w/ curly hair want straight hair and vice versa.
there is crime here despite what people like to tell you. especially in certain parts of town. such as where my school resides. drugs are a problem and when i worked in the nicu, i had at least one drug baby a week:sniff:
where do you live that there is so much crime? i drove 800 miles around tampa bay and the crime felt different too me. probably because i am used to hispanics, asian gangs, and not such a huge black population.kind of scary up around usf area. i was at the mcdonald's near nebraska ave. 3 times and found i had to be on the lookout at all times. but, when i compared my city w/ largo it was a 7/10 and largo was a 5/10. i looked at dunedin also but thought it was overrated. crime there is 4/10.
all that being said, you may like fl. it's not for me and i will be moving as soon as my hubby graduates nursing school. not sure where yet

where will you move to? if you don't like churches and like the liberalism:down:,cold weather, rude people, horn beeping and tons of road rage :argue:,

expensive housing avg. is 350k for a 3 bedroom w/ barely any yard, high taxes of $3-4,000 a year & fuel costs are additional to your electric bill, poor roads and tons of potholes that ruin your car, cold ocean water that is usually around 65 degrees for the summer (about 38 right now), high auto insurance about $1600 a year for avg. driver, paying $25 a day to park in boston garages, tolls for most rodeways which may rise to $7 for one way into boston (12 miles from my home), and no palm trees just bare ones in the winter. but, there are so many nice aspects also. it all depends what you like. florida doesn't sound so bad now does it?:wink2:

Lstcats · Dec 16, 2008

It is funny you say that. My first year in Florida there were four major hurricanes in a row. When the first one was starting to come into our area I was scheduled to work. As I was walking down the hall toward the nurses station I saw everyone's jaw start to drop. "What the heck are YOU doing here?" I said "I am scheduled to work" They were flabbergasted. It took me quite a while to understand that you don't go to work during a hurricane. The people who are there when it hits stay and the people who stay home come in afterward to let the ones who stayed go home.
Having driven through the most horrific of weather and driving conditions to get to work since I was 16 years old I did not understand that nurses were not expected to do that in FL! :chuckle

I so appreciate this as I went to work in a hurricane (Hurricane Bob) all the way from Worcester to Boston which is a 55 min. drive (60 miles). I was let go around 11 AM and drove home in the hurricane. I had to pull over many times as I couldn't see and car was swerving. There was a state of emergency. When I was in my 20's I did stupid things as I am a New Englander and taught that you go to work all the time in any weather...just like school which doesn't close unless there is say over 12 inches of snow. I remember one morning shoveling out my car at 3:30 AM for over an hour to get to work in Boston. So, see FL isn't that bad is it compared to up north? We know how to weather storms like the best of them. :no:

nurseforlife · Dec 16, 2008

Hi everyone

I have a potential job offer in florida city, florida(south of miami and near the keys). What's it like their? I would be travelling with my husband and schoolage children.

If you've lived or worked in that area, could you please share with me your thoughts or experiences.

thanks

saarein · Dec 16, 2008

5-6 months of cool weather? What part of the state do you live in? Where i am we are lucky to get 3 months ( november, december, january) although this week alone it reached the 80's so not even this month has been that cool lol.

I live in Largo, about 5 minutes from the beach. Usually December thru April are very good weather. Not much rain but blue skies and breezes without that horrible humidity day in and day out!:wink2:

saarein · Dec 16, 2008

As a school nurse, I have to be at a shelter during hurricanes. Our district school system has an agreement with the Public Health Dept. to help man all the shelters in the county. With the famous four hurricanes of '04 I was always away from my family while they were preparing for the storms "that can't compare to the storms up north"!!!! I think everyone has something bad to say about the area they live in, but the grass is always greener...

KidlerRN · Dec 16, 2008

i have lived in florida all my life, i was born here. i went through the educational system and now my son is there. if you can find the right school, and you don't mind waiting 4 hours in line to get placement for your children, then i suppose it's not all bad. but let's be honest, it's really not the ideal situation, kids are bused all over the city and waiting lists are a mile long for the "good" schools. by "good" i mean a school where your child has all the books and supplies they need, plus the student to teacher ratio is not 30 to 1. where i live, southwest florida, there is art, shopping, beaches, yada yada... but you can't really enjoy any of it if your living paycheck to paycheck like so many down here do. the weather is hot, but you get used to it. my biggest problem with florida is that all this "beauty" that everyone is posting about is rapidly disappearing. strip-mall after strip-mall, fast-food joint after fast-food joint- that's all you can see in sw florida anymore, especially in the cape coral/fort myers area. it is really turning into quite a dump. as for the east coast, i've been out there a few times, but like i said before- you need money. good luck in all your endeavors, and don't worry. everybody has there own opinion and you might find that you love it here.

gusblom · Dec 16, 2008

After 3 hurricanes in 2 yrs, seeing extreme poverty mainly of blacks, low salaries, high cost of living, racism, backward school system, a haven for criminals trying to evade the law, ... I left after 2 yrs. Texas is not flawless but I love it except that workers have no rights ... Please blame your federal govt who, believe it or not, hates the populace and allow employers to do whatever they want. Some individual states, and that God for unions where available, does protect us. OK enough of that.

gusblom · Dec 16, 2008

Thats balony!

Lstcats · Dec 16, 2008

i have lived in florida for 10 years and i still find it very hard to find redeeming virtues in this place called the sunshine state!! i am a school nurse and i can tell you that the school system here in central florida leaves a lot to be desired. don't get me wrong, the teachers that i have worked with are fantastic and they try very hard to teach these children, but the people you have spoken to who have lived here are very correct. i think i read in the paper the other day that florida is 47th out of 50 in graduation percentage!!!
my uncle lives in spring hill and raves about the school system. his two daughters (my cousins 10 & 13...his 2nd marriage and he is 71) have their choice of schools. they go to "public" accelerated schools. my uncle is from ny and ct and loves fl. he thinks his kids are getting a great education so it must depend where you live. my uncle is a genious and retired biophysical research chemist so he wouldn't let his daughters go to a bad school and it is public not private. my aunt, on the other hand, lives near ocala and i was surprised at the poverty in her neighborhood. there are homes w/ windows shattered and not boarded up and yards overgrown. these homes have been abandoned and it is very sad. she complains about the heat all the time and the wages but she doesn't move back up north to pa.
when we first moved here our children were in college and wanted to come with us and they used to come home and tell us that the classes they were taking here were like review for them because they had learned this stuff in their high school. i live on the west coast and i have never seen so much poverty in my adult life. there are jobs here, but they do not pay very well and the cost of living is out of this world. it was like that before the economy went south. the summers are so unbearably hot and humid that you spend 90% of your time indoors and do not enjoy the beautiful sights that surround you. i'm originally from indianapolis, in and we used to come here every year for vacations and i had the same feeling you do; "oh, how i wish i lived here". now i wish we could just move up to north carolina or tennessee so at least i could see some seasonal changes or at least experience climates that are other than "hot or hotter"!! but my husband loves it and has his business built up here and i know we will not be leaving, so i try not to think about it and go up north two to three times a year to get my fix of autumn and winter.

i have heard about going to these other states. my primary reasons for moving there is that i have family there, know people, been there many times, and need to live by the ocean so tn is out. never been to nc and don't want to. if i had enough $$ to be a snowbird i would. and, some people like the seasons and some don't. i personally do not like fall at all. i like snow better than leaves all over the ground and wet slippery roads d/t leaves and ugly bare trees when the leaves fall off. snow is prettier but too cold and doesn't last long because the snow becomes brown snow and is ugly and the roads get worse w/ potholes and damage your tires and your car often. i do need to see what the hot summer is all about. we have humidity here 100% and have had 95-100 degree heat waves but it only lasts a few days. i suppose i would get used to the fl weather but maybe eventually feel like you do. can't have everything in life. life isn't perfect. only heaven is! :saint: