Asked and Answered

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Now, we're not on very solid ground here either literally or figuratively. We are off the road on Johns Island, SC, at the foot of Bohicket Road, in a field and somewhat enchanted by this sign.

We are facing a fork at the end of this road. The path south leads to Seabrook Island, a once pristine sea island now developed into very expensive real estate, home sites and resort opportunities. The path north leads to Kiawah Island, a once pristine sea island now developed as above, but more so. This is to say, if you want to mondo in their condos, it's mucho dinero.

Every property owner, renter, visitor, peddler and abductee is greeted by these signs upon emerging from the gated developments. It's the first thing they see on their return to the real world where three dollar a gallon gasoline seems a relative bargain. Kiawah and Seabrook Islands have been extremely successful, earned tons of cash for savy investors and have highly elevated property values and taxes. Outside of the gates, island folks have only the elevated property taxes to enjoy. Many owners of modest homes, small farms, family businesses have been taxed off their properties. There is no villainy here just the cold heart of commerce beating the exit music for the little guy.

As to the signs, at law, this would raise an objection called " asked and answered ", a gesture by an attorney to make a statement rather than ask a true question. They are written in or a mock up of the Gullah dialect which bedevils standard English and often mixes plurals and possessives among other language gymnastics. We will let readers Google both " Gullah ", a delightful dialect and " Buckra ", decidedly not an expression of flattery. As to the body of the complaint, we will let readers consider what has happened and why. Comments or questions are welcome, but we won't speculate further in this posting. A speaker of Gullah might say simply that this has been " Axed and answered ".