I believe in Florida.

Everybody knows the jokes about Floridians being rednecks or homophobic or on the “wrong side of politics” but I think not. These statements are absolutely inconceivable, unfathomable and untrue.

I have lots of family and friends in Florida that I visit atleast once a year. And when I go for walks people will go out of their way to waive from across the street or ask if you're new in the neighborhood and where you're from. Even when you just see people in the grocery store they'll smile at you. We once went to a Publix to buy bread and while we were checking out the cashier gave me an inspirational speech just because I didn’t like my hair that day.

I think it's an important reminder of why not to judge people before you get to know them. Because realistically in a whole state full of people it's almost impossible that there is not a single person that is nice or that could be a great friend. As a society(and I mean this as an observation not a criticism) we tend to use terms like red neck and republican very loosely as if all the beliefs associated with these terms are negative. But in any political party or in a group of reasonable people I’d like to think that at least one person could live by at least one amazing value.

You have to get to know somebody before you can judge them. putting one group of people under the same umbrella just because they have something in common isn’t fair and it isn't equitable. Maybe we just need a new figure of speech. Don’t judge a book by its cover is an oldie, and a goodie but it just doesn’t do the job anymore. it would be better to just say things as they are. People shouldn't judge others by where they come from or who they come from before getting to know them. It's not right and it's not fair to the judge-r and the judge-ee. We should judge people by who they are, or just avoid judging people. I can't imagine how many people miss out on meeting amazing people because they chose to not even try to get to know them because of where they're from.

Floridians are progressive and kind and welcoming just like anybody else . Every country, union or community has a few bad eggs but the defining factor is who you let run the show.