Miami .... A Deep Rant

[Deep C]

Now I have made mention in the past that Miami is not my favorite place. After nearly a week of having that cesspool shoved up my scuppers I figured i'd enlighten you some as to my point of view...
I went to the U of Miami and didn't find it repulsive at that time. That was late seventies... My contempt began some time shortly after around the time of the Mariel boat lift. At first the lift was a good thing. Bringing people out of opression to the land of hopes and dreams. Then Jimmy Carter called us home and Fidel said "Not til you take who I tell you to take..." Roughly half of the three hundred thousand that came over were not what we hoped for. Instead Castro dumped the scum of the earth from his prisions in our laps.
Every imigrant people to reach our shores for two hundred years took pride in becomming American... They learned our ways and our language and wanted to fit in. Then came the Marielitos... They not only refused to learn englis and demanded we bent their way but somehow they twisted the good ones who had been here since the fifties into becomming un American...
My tollerance is low for cultures that back up their own just because they are their own. No regard for just how scummy the person or their deeds are... they just back em up. Enter another culture... Miami has been riddled by almost perpetual riot and urban blight for nearly forty years running. A culture not willing to help them selves but quick to demand hand outs..
Moving toward the beach its supposed to be upscale, artsy, partyesque... I see a drug centered subculture revolving around show and no substance. Its become the norm for gratuity to be automatic on checks there. Their excuse is "because europeans don't tip". Horse shit... Its because service is so bad that they don't deserve tips. And now that they are automatic the service takes a plunge to a lower level. Valets more interested in jaw flapping on their cell phones that they get down right nasty if you hand them the stub to retrieve your car.
My boss's car disappeared in a valet. A rental with no special identifying marks on the keys which some yutz had mislabled all of them. Instead of going and looking for the car to identify at least which space would correllate to the keyboard, they ignore the problem! For an hour this went on. Then they found that some wanker had parked their own car and blocked it in... Again rather than fix it they ignored it!
Restaurant service was no better. Mediocre food at best. Wait forever to place or get orders in a place 2/3 empty. The Miami service world just dont give a shit cause they gonna get tipped any way...
Hotel staff not much better... They misspelled the first name of one of our party. Same rare last name but misspelled the first. Couldn't find any such reservation ...couldn't find my name tied to it... blah blah blah... horse shit. It was right there in front of them and none could think past the end of their nose. We dod meet one nice courteous person on the hotel staff... Turns out he was from of all places New York City...
Marina staff was made of guys like us. They were fine. English speaking in Miami equates to being a second class citizen unless you are an englis speaker too.
Whats the draw? Parking $30 a day... Valet $5 each time you move. Hands out, bad attitudes, lousy food, worse service, stinky, smelly, rotting memory of a once great city... You can keep it...

[hubris 1]

i went to south beach, everyone said.........what do you think? my answer, "i think giannia versace got what he was looking for." that type of culture never impressed me.

[babalaza]

passed a few days there on spring break, food and attitudes sucked.

Speaking English only at nightclubs during 2 days really was something

[SeaPro238]

Being born and raised in Miami I would have to agree whole heartedly with you Deep. I spent the first 19 yrs of my life there, left in 1981 and never looked back. Sure I go visit my dad, he'll never leave Miami, but I could never, would never live there.
I remember the first boat loads of refugees showing up, they were happy to be hitting shore in the U.S. Then good old Fidel emptied his sewers on us and it was no longer safe to cruise around my beloved home town.
Once great hotels and resturants are now shells of what they once were. Even Calder Horse Track, where I spent many days (if I wasnt out wading a sand flat) is now run down. If you dont speak Spanish you're screwed and can't work.
The only saving grace is the fishing down in the Keys and Flamingo.

[gradywhite273]

maybe that is why Ft Lauderdale has more millionaire per square mile then anywhere else in fla ????

[Deep C]

I'd have to say that Hutchinson Island, Ocean Reef or Palm Beach Proper might take those honors... Hell North palm for that matter is almost entirely millionaire populated..Lauderdale isn't exactly top shelf any more... Miami has enclaves of hyper wealthy on little private islands while the mainland and beach are sewers... These little islands are guarded and hold the likes of Sly Stallone or Madonna or any one of zillion other starts of stage or field. Its them that the south beachers are trying to impress maybe... Illicit money I'm reasonably sure fuels much of the fire. A waiter driving a maserati just doesn't add up otherwise...

The fishermen there even are different. I understand competition and I play hard as anybody out there but these guys are flat nasty... They don't blink twice about running over your spread... They gang up and block off entire sections of reef. "Friends" leap frog positions along the hotspots letting each other in but blocking others from getting where the fish are... If you try to head straight in they will tighten up and go kite to kite so theres no room between. If you try to get around they'll do the same on the other side. Sneak up from behind they'll run their kites back and push you too shallow. From in front they dont care because you're already to deep.
The big ones have no respect for smaller boats. They will purposely dump their gear boxes into squat mode and toss as big of a wake as humanly possible. Others will wreck the entire edge racing up and down it and spooking what fish are there down... They don't care... If they havn't giot the skill to catch something out of a spot they have no qualms about wrecking it for everyone else who is there still working it...

[Kahi]

I moved to Miami 10 Years ago looking for an oppurtunity. I knew coming down here was going against the grain, but I knew that if I worked hard, and brought New York Style agressivness to Miami, I could be succesful. I have been rewarded by many of my goals in Miami.

I am not defensive of Miami, as we have many of the same problems that scar most major cities. We are gowing through a growing pain of sort, small town mentality, South American and Cuban work ethic has been thrown into the mix of cultured travelers and experienced people. Greed from up North and South (South/Central America) has created a wild west atmoshpere. People dont care about there jobs, cause there are so many jobs they can move on easily. This is a cash town, no one is here for long. Make some cash, either spend it here or move back to where you came from. But there are some of us, some that take pride in our town and its future. Some have been here for years and others, like me, look around and say this is my home for a while. Let me do what I can to make it pleasant so that our guest will return.

I am sorry that your expeirences were not pleasant, and perhaps the next time you are in town, feel free to come and fish with me, eat dinner at one of my restaurants (I rep 3). Enjoy my reaction to someone running through my kite spread (yes, it does involve my flare gun). You will find that although the language is not always English, most people are warm and welcoming and just trying to make a home or life or business in a new town or more and more a new country. I remember walking the docks at Barta in Beaufort, NC. I remember the kindness people had for an out of towner like me. I have ever since that day tried to instill what I can only call "Southern Hospitality" to each person that visits Miami. And all this coming from A New York City urbanite that has the same rants as many of you when I left one cess pool for another.

Kahi
Miami, FL

[Deep C]

Kahi
I mentioned that the dock people were the exception to the rule. Step off on the mainland or out on the water though its a pit full of piranahs. I found it ironic that the only pleasant person we found on the land side of things was from New York... This rant wasn't about individuals it was about the town as a whole has gone to shit... I've had thirty plus years to watch the decay... A couple miles either direction is a world away. Keys couldn't be better. Dania to Haulover a much nicer place to visit...

[Kahi]

I think we are on the same page. I agree, Miami has serious issues. I dock in Keystone Point (I think you have a few times) just to avoid the yayas in Miami Beach. I live in South Beach, and Work in South Beach and deal almost everyday with what your saying.

[Deep C]

Keystone was indeed nice... A totally different world. I have a sword tournament to do down at the other end in September and hopefully that will be my last trip to Hell for a long while...