In a message dated 9/5/02 12:28:51 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
w.gilroy@verizon.net writes:
> I never meant it as an ethnic slur. I had heard of "shoobies" but
> never knew the root of the term. As for "bennies" had only heard of
> the explanation about the train line, not the other two. In any case
> it is an interesting explanation of the terms, which are used up and
> down the Jersey shore. Whatever is the root, most people use the term
> "bennie" to refer to the tourist who go to the Jersey shore. Even
> though I am less then 20 miles from the shore I am considered a
> bennie.
I didn't read it that way either. Every local tourist area has local names
for the hoardes of "outsiders: who crowd into their area creating traffic
congestion and crowding everything up, and most importantly, spending their
money. Not the same as an ethnic slur. Here in the Smoky Mountains we get
the "Leaf Peepers" glutting our mountain roads every fall to the extent that
folks like me stay away from the mountains during that time and enjoy the
fall colors from my back window, which is spectacular. 8^) Then the
"Michiganers" and "snow-birds", whether from Michigan, Ohio, Ontario,
Illinois, or other points north of here who glut I-75 north and south running
to Florida. I once saw a Michigan car in Tennessee going west on I-40 and
figured he must be lost because he wasnot going north or south.
Nothing ethnic there, just keeping good humor in the masses, and
enjoying what they come to see in the off seasons. I bet they have a name
for me when I visit various parts of the country.
--DAvid C.
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