My family has been in Nashville since the 1920's- - - - -it's always been the same sort of crap hole. My grandparents ran several businesses during the depression- - - - -delivering ice and coal, trucking beer from St. Louis and Milwaukee into Nashville, hauling dynamite and other supplies to coal mines in east Tennessee and Kentucky, and building and selling houses. A local politician encouraged my grandfather to run for city council and he replied that he was too busy running his business, and the job didn't pay anything. "Yep, the pay's lousy, but the stealin's good!" was the reply he got. Nashville cops in the 40's, 50's and 60's were some of the moist corrupt in the south- - - -using retired officers to shake down small business owners to pay for "security" so the local thieves wouldn't break in at night. My father and his business partner took turns sleeping at their auto shop for several weeks after getting threatened that way. Dad warned the scumbag making the threats that he'd better make his funeral arrangements in advance before coming back again. Things calmed down considerably after that.
Things probably won't change anytime soon- - - - -that's why only one of my brothers lives there now. I think he must have been switched at birth- - - -he's the only dummycrap in the family!
Jerry
