Opinion: It’s That Time of Year for Locals

Come Memorial Day weekend what happens is what east end locals consider an unfriendly invasion. They talk of traffic, litter, bad beach manners and a very “Manhattan superiority thing,” that most locals just don’t appreciate.

Just yesterday a local builder friend of mine said, “I really dislike the inexperienced visiting drivers who sit at ‘Stop’ signs afraid to turn!”

Whereas my sailing buddy says, “I just can’t stand the traffic. It annoys me, it makes my blood boil.

For a decade I never referred to myself as a local out of respect to the families with many generations on the east end. I have often composed articles on their families and influence on the east end. I love the farms, the fields, the historic still lived in family homes and compounds. Yet with all the crazy money around now anything can and most likely will happen.

What will happen is visitors arriving daily and disrespecting east end traditions that have been generations in the making. The trash left at beaches annoys the ocean lovers who can’t understand why folks won’t pack out what they pack in. Not to mention the parking situations on weekends especially in the early evening in the center of all the villages.

My favorite story of this goes back to the Summer of 2002. I had a small white VW Cabrio. I was going to park in EH Village where Starbucks is now. I believe it may have been an ice cream place then that I never was in, anyway I was surprised to see the open spot so I pulled up slow just passed it and put the car in reverse. However suddenly a vintage foreign car convertible in mint condition just swerves in and takes the spot. So I slowly back up to be eyeball to eyeball with the culprit who happens to be a woman with a kerchief and sunglasses. Much younger than, I was upset. I pulled right next to her and she turns to me and takes her sunglasses off and smilingly said, “Sorry I didn’t see you.” In about one second I was arrested by the woman’s Hollywood blue eyes. I wasn’t going to go ballistic on Kim Basinger. Quite frankly I was stunned and barely was able to say, “Oh no problem.” There have been other occasions when perhaps I said other things to others people.

I remember living in EH Village for one summer (spent most of time living in less expensive then MTK) just before the smart phones when many day trippers walked around the village with cellphones and headphones talking business outloud. It was strange to be walking my beagle as I had to, and hearing parts of like twenty passing conversations while he relieved himself on a tree off the sidewalk.

Another annoying factor was me was shopping at the at the village grocery store. Usually off season it’s a quick pleasent experience where you may see a friend but in the summer it was like waiting for a most favored Disneyworld ride on a holiday. Then the scene at the restaurants. In the off-season the places open had a casual relaxed pace to enjoy dining. In season you can feel the hum of impatient unhappy about everything people criticizing the backwardness of the east end.

I used to frequent dives to eat out in piece, needless to say I developed a love for local lobster rolls and clam chowder.

It’s that time of year again and I only went to the effort to compose this story when I saw the above sign that I photographed, it says it all by just saying, “GO AWAY.”