Dec

18

Only in FLA: Get out of my yard

Filed Under Only in FLA 

It’s been a while since I had a “juicy” Only-in-FLA post, and today I have one courtesy of the last county I lived in, Hernando.

Hernando was basically a divided county for about 35 years, with the east side of the county consisting primarily of multi-generational Floridians and the west side consisting of “Yankees”. You didn’t actually have to be from up north to be considered a Yankee. The fact that you lived amongst them on the west side of the county was enough.

When I see stories like this one about a woman filing charges against her neighbor for stealing tangerines, I don’t even have to look to know where it took place.

I’ve had citrus trees. I didn’t mind people taking the fruit, because my trees always produced way more than my family would consume. I preferred people ask before they came in my yard, but in reality it saved me from having to go out there and clean up the dead fruit. Leaving dead fruit on the ground attracts rodents and ants.

My grandfather lived down near Punta Gorda and had about an acre of trees. He had a real problem with people coming in and stealing the fruit. He would actually harvest all the fruit and juice every bit of it. It was extremely rich in Vitamin C, and I used it regularly over the years to fight off colds. But, he never called the police on the trespassers, he’d just go out with his shovel and chase ‘em off.

Old people will kill for good citrus.

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Comments

3 Responses to “Only in FLA: Get out of my yard”

  1. Colleen on December 18th, 2007 8:18 pm

    My father lives close enough to that woman to steal her fruit - no lie! He’s literally feet away from her.

  2. bitter old hag says, let them eat fruit! » Simple Kind Of Life on December 21st, 2007 3:43 pm

    […] friend Tim shared a hilarious bit of news from my neck of the woods this week. Yes, only in Florida will an old biddy call the police because her neighbor “stole” from her. The big heist? A single tangerine from the lady’s fruit tree. Ruth Snow (ain’t she a […]

  3. Only in FLA: Baby Jesus loves GPS | Florida Sun Dog on December 28th, 2007 11:52 am

    […] we had the crazy old lady filing charges against her tangerine-stealing neighbor. Now, GPS equipped baby Jesus foils thief SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: “Only in FLA: Baby Jesus […]

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