Florida (and Trailer Trash)

[Maxtar]

My wife and I are in our first year at a Florida snowbird location and at this place there are permanent mobile homes (about 30) and a large area for RV's.

We are in our RV and have found the great majority of the people who are there (both mobile home residents and RV er's))very friendly and helpful. One day my wife was in the clubhouse talking to a lady and she mentioned that we were in an RV and the lady said to my wife something along the lines of: "Oh, you're one of those?" and walked off in a huff without another word. I couldn't believe this happened.

I told my wife that if it ever happens again with someone else that she should respond by saying: "Just because you trailer doesn't have wheels on it does not mean you're not trailer trash either."

Has anyone else ever had this kind of experience?

[wa_desert_rat]

Maxtar wrote:

Great response! I wish I had been there when it happened as I am pretty quick with a pithy response.

When I was in HS a long time ago the biology teacher asked a girl in class if she knew what "pith" was. She said, "Yeth." 🙂

Craig

[Dog_Folks]

I tend to pity people like her.

It must be a terrible way to go through life.

[Nutinelse2do]

Sounds like she is not happy with how her life turned out and she is jealous. Make sure your wife gives her a big smile and wave Hi next time she sees her!

[Free_Range_Huma]

Some people will always be bitter, no matter what. (For all you and your wife know, the "locals" hate her, too.)

I think it's more about the "permanents" vs the "transients", no matter in what vehicle/dwelling they live. A permanent resident has no stake in being more than passingly-friendly to someone who will be here today, gone tomorrow. Why make friends with someone only to see them go?

If I were your wife, I wouldn't spend any more energy on this broad and others like her than it takes to feel sorry for them. Anyone so unhappy that she has to be nasty to strangers is living a very miserable life, indeed.

[stubblejumper]

Just tell that your rig is mobile so that you don't have to put up with snooty neighbours.

[az99]

I never have that problem. I look so old,grouchy and opinionated that no one ever talks to me in a situation like that. 🙂

[Old-Biscuit]

Why lower yourself to her level (or anyone else) by responding at all.

Just ignore. You are not going to 'win' her over.

Bigots come in all sizes, shapes and color.

[old_guy]

reminds me of the Winnebago. I remember an old lady did that once to a person at a CG I was in once. the winnie woman told the old b off pretty well. None of these ladies did I know, but I had a good laugh out of it.

[GMandJM]

We encountered some "permanents" who didn't like our type (travelers staying just a week) using THEIR laundry machines. I'm not sure if they were more upset that we might make them wait for the dryers or if they thought our dirty laundry was not up their standards or what.

They gave us the creepy-stink-eye the entire time we were there.

That said, we stick more to the state parks and COE's, where the people are (MOSTLY) friendly.

[AprilWhine]

It's just human nature to find a way to look down on others. 😉 It's much harder to find a common bridge.

[fla-gypsy]

LOL, "Black" shouted the pot to the kettle!

[pawatt]

Your RV is likely worth many times what their park model or mobile home is. I suspect they are just jealous and they are stuck in one place.

[Twomed]

We have seen that too... $5K permanents, and they don't like the big rigs coming in and out of their "resort".

We just laugh and refer to them as the "hut people" to ourselves...life is way to short for such stuff. 🙂 🙂

[docj]

The OP needs to get his terminology right to start with. Those snooty folks aren't living in "mobile homes" they're living in "park models"! There's a world of difference. 😉

Having stayed one winter in a big snowbird park like that in FL, we'll never do it again. Our experience was that the "trailer trash", I'm sorry, I mean, park model residents, didn't want to have anything to do with the "transients", the RV people. Even if they weren't snooty, they simply weren't friendly. We've looked at other snowbird parks in Tucson and they seemed pretty much the same--lots of park models interspersed with a few RV sites.

Where we winter in TX the rules do not permit park models, except for a couple for workampers. Everyone is an RVer and we even get a few families with kids during the holiday breaks. We like having a diverse mix of people that's not entirely gray-haired.

[TomG2]

A park in Bushnell, Florida even has a name for us. I was called a Jar (Just a Renter). This was to separate the RVers from the mobile home owners who have to buy into the park. I left after two months of a planned four month visit.