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charlene
Renter
Joined: 16 Apr 2007
Posts: 39
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 Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2007 3:49 pm Post subject: DiDi's situation and Their Life |
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I was reading about the Travelers in SC - and about the show. My friend who watched the pilot episode was saying this is just wrong. But- as we talked further- we agreed- who are we to judge, this is a free country, why should everyone have to conform??
Granted- if they do scam people- that is not right, especially, things I read about the elderly and getting home improvements. But this is a tradition- they were born into it. I personally- would not want to hurt someone- money, trust etc...
DiDi's situation- I have complete faith Doug will figure a way to get her out of it. He clearly loves his children and when Dale said that Sam was a ...
that is definitely a good Father the way he defended him and loves him.
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thorjansen
Condo Owner
Joined: 20 Apr 2007
Posts: 69
Location: Los Angeles, CA, US
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| Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2007 4:05 pm Post subject: Re: DiDi's situation and Their Life |
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The Travellers I met one day were interesting people.
My wife and I were eating lunch on a park bench at a rest stop when one small Traveller girl (we didn't know what she was at the time) came up and stood by our table, looking very hungry. We offered her a small bit of food, and next thing you know, we had three kids there.
Then the adults sort of just showed up. We had plenty of food, so we freely offered some up to all of them. In return, we had some of the most interesting conversation I've ever had with any other chance encounter.
They told me about some of their travels, what they'd seen, the prejudices they had to bear, how they would get locked out of places when they'd show up, including barriers put up to prevent them from parking their RV. How some people just automatically assumed they were bad news, when all they were trying to do was make a living yet not settle down.
They didn't impress me as thieves and grifters. Not once did I ask if they were, and they didn't offer up any information that way. But they didn't steal a thing from us, though they certainly had the opportunity.
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Steve
Home Owner
Joined: 15 Mar 2007
Posts: 169
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| Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2007 6:11 pm Post subject: Re: DiDi's situation and Their Life |
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| thorjansen wrote: |
They told me about some of their travels, what they'd seen, the prejudices they had to bear, how they would get locked out of places when they'd show up, including barriers put up to prevent them from parking their RV. How some people just automatically assumed they were bad news, when all they were trying to do was make a living yet not settle down.
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It's somewhat understandable though if they are anything like the Malloys. Considering that you might wake up with all your valuables missing.
Now that said, I don't know if the show portraits them the way they really are, but common sense tells me not to be too trusting.
Its an interesting tale though. We had this discussion before (thread about where to set the show), where many people questioned the existence of a traveler community.
While I never doubted their existence, I didn't have any first hand knowledge either.
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Dahling
Mansion Owner
Joined: 14 Mar 2007
Posts: 200
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| Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2007 6:14 pm Post subject: Re: DiDi's situation and Their Life |
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| thorjansen wrote: | | The Travellers I met one day were interesting people. *snip* |
Thank you so much for sharing this with us, very interesting. I'm interested in reading more if you feel like sharing some more insights. 
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charlene
Renter
Joined: 16 Apr 2007
Posts: 39
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| Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2007 10:51 pm Post subject: Re: DiDi's situation and Their Life |
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| Dahling wrote: | | thorjansen wrote: | | The Travellers I met one day were interesting people. *snip* |
Thank you so much for sharing this with us, very interesting. I'm interested in reading more if you feel like sharing some more insights. |
Hi Dahling!
Yes very interested in your story, what part of the country where you in?
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johntrim040851
Traveller
Joined: 21 Apr 2007
Posts: 20
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| Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2007 5:27 am Post subject: |
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| I think it is the same as it is with any group of people regardless of how you define them as a group, there are going to be some who are bad and some who are good with all the varying degrees in between. There are the thieves and con artists and then there are the ones out there trying to make an honest living. Unfortunately the dishonest ones are the ones that attract attention so the whole group gets labeled that way.
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Steve
Home Owner
Joined: 15 Mar 2007
Posts: 169
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| Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2007 5:31 am Post subject: |
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| johntrim040851 wrote: | | I think it is the same as it is with any group of people regardless of how you define them as a group, there are going to be some who are bad and some who are good with all the varying degrees in between. There are the thieves and con artists and then there are the ones out there trying to make an honest living. Unfortunately the dishonest ones are the ones that attract attention so the whole group gets labeled that way. |
Um. Yeah thats true, but then there are probabilities.
Let me explain:
I agree with you, that the bad apples really spoil everything for the rest, but amongst the Travellers there may be a higher percentage of those who are dishonest, steal ....
Thats how they got their reputation.
Now, that doesn't mean you should treat all of them the same, but since I know that there is a better chance of getting deceived, I automatically get more careful.
There is always a grain of truth in those words.
My parents used to joke when I was a little boy and tell me that they would sell me to the travellers if I misbehaved. That was very effective 
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johntrim040851
Traveller
Joined: 21 Apr 2007
Posts: 20
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| Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2007 6:07 am Post subject: |
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| Steve wrote: | but amongst the Travellers there may be a higher percentage of those who are dishonest, steal ....
That's how they got their reputation. |
But I don't think it has to be a higher percentage of the group. The movies and TV shows we see depict that side of the Travellers because they are more dramatic.
If you hear about them on the news it's because they did something wrong. If they came into your town and didn't cause any problems or cheat anybody you probably wouldn't even know they were there. But if they cheated, conned and stole from everyone the had contact with then you would hear about it. You would never hear a news teaser, "On the news at 11: a group of Travellers came through our town this week and did an honest work for an honest days pay."
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Steve
Home Owner
Joined: 15 Mar 2007
Posts: 169
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| Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2007 6:18 am Post subject: |
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| johntrim040851 wrote: | | If you hear about them on the news it's because they did something wrong. |
You make a very compelling argument. I admit I don't know enough to say otherwise.
However just by choice of lifestyle, honest work might not always be available to them.
Let's put it this way: I wouldn't be surprised if Travellers are more inclined to steal then a person with a stable job, but most people would steal to survive. In that respect I can agree with you that this may not be a character treat but more out of necessity.
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johntrim040851
Traveller
Joined: 21 Apr 2007
Posts: 20
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| Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2007 6:30 am Post subject: |
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| Steve wrote: | | I wouldn't be surprised if Travellers are more inclined to steal then a person with a stable job, but most people would steal to survive. In that respect I can agree with you that this may not be a character treat but more out of necessity. |
I see what your saying. They're lifestyle is all they know, and to maintain that they do what they do from necessity. Then this show is an example of someone trying to break from the lifestyle and finding that the only part of the lifestyle they can break is the moving from place to place part.
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Steve
Home Owner
Joined: 15 Mar 2007
Posts: 169
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| Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2007 6:34 am Post subject: |
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Yes, but also about seizing an opportunity and taking advantage of a situation. This is someting most managers can do very well too 
I don't think Wayne is a bad character. He was trying to save the Riches after their death and he was the one who stopped. Once they were gone, he took advantage of the situation.
The only reason most people wouldn't do the same in his situation is that they have a life of their own.
Everything I know about Travellers I know from TV. It's like that with many things and thats somewhat a shortcoming of our society (how many people can think beyond what TV tells them to).
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johntrim040851
Traveller
Joined: 21 Apr 2007
Posts: 20
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| Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2007 6:50 am Post subject: |
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| Steve wrote: |
I don't think Wayne is a bad character. |
I think your right about a lot of people only know what they see on TV. Hell my signature line is a play on the line "Everything I know about life I learned from Star Trek." People just take TV as gospel. I also agree that Wayne is not a bad person, but I don't think that he has to be good all the time to remain a draw to the audience either. I think that other shows have given us lead characters that have very few redeeming qualities an still draw us in and have us rooting for them. Look at Vic Macky on the Shield. He's the lead character, he's a cop and in the very first episode he kills another cop in cold blood.
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thorjansen
Condo Owner
Joined: 20 Apr 2007
Posts: 69
Location: Los Angeles, CA, US
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| Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 8:00 am Post subject: Re: DiDi's situation and Their Life |
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| Dahling wrote: | | Thank you so much for sharing this with us, very interesting. I'm interested in reading more if you feel like sharing some more insights. |
Well, actually, Dahling, there's not a whole lot more to tell. I don't remember a lot of the particulars of the conversation, as this was quite a few years back and my memory's getting a bit wonky with age. But one thing stuck with me. Though they were fairly well dressed (no tears, pretty clean too), their clothes and shoes looked mismatched, almost as if they had put together their wardrobes from a series of clotheslines rather than a store. Which may be true, come to think about it. Either that, or donated clothes.
Oh yeah, I forgot, they used some slang too, which I figured was a bastardization of Gaelic or their own language, The Cant I think it's called. They had a particular way of phrasing things sometimes, too, but for the most part, they were pretty much like everyone else, just moving around in a trailer (truck drawn one, not a motor home).
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Dahling
Mansion Owner
Joined: 14 Mar 2007
Posts: 200
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| Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 7:01 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks for the insight, thor. I am always interested in hearing real-life stories. 
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