Beer enthusiast and sector 7-G legend Homer Simpson once called Florida “America’s wang.” Homer wasn’t wrong, but Florida is more than just a dick-shaped state full of orange groves, swamps, and amusement parks. Florida is also the source for the endlessly entertaining Florida Man meme.
2. Your analysis of the Florida Man genre is spot on. People are wrecked all over this country. As someone who's lived in ten U.S. states (red and blue), I do think rampant sun exposure makes people extra crazy. By far the most bonkers behavior I've come across during my 42 years on this planet has been in Miami, FL and San Francisco, CA. Here's a quick Guardian article on the Florida Man phenomenon: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/may/21/florida-man-what-lies-behind-the-sunshine-states-crazy-stereotype
3. I only read Popular Information, The Economist, The Financial Times and The New Yorker. High quality, ideas-based, mainly long-form journalism. It takes discipline to avoid the chaff. Most days I don't know the big story, but by the time I get to it I'll get a trustworthy, refined version. I never use social media for news. I basically use Twitter to text message my favorite writer pals.
4. Carl Hiaasen is the author most responsible for making me believe I could be a writer. I'd like to believe there's hints of his influence in my work. Skin Tight is one of the funniest books ever written. Any novel of his from the late 80s through the mid 90s is a slam dunk - though they may not hold up to today's sensibilities.
5. Lived there 14 years. You don't know what I've seen....
I think there’s something to the perpetual summer locations that brings out the weird in humans. I’ve lived in cold weather climates for about seven years of my life and the rest here in the land of the endless summer. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but there’s something abut places where winter is coming that forces society to get its shit together just a little more.
If you love Carl Hiaasen, you should give Tim Dorsey a try. Carl is unhinged, but Tim has never seen a hinge. Btw, both are veteran Florida reporters who became novelists.
I’d start with book one to get the gist of the characters. But after that I don’t think you have to read them chronologically. I mean, the hero’s sidekick, a dope fiend named Coleman, dies in most (all??) of the books.
I agree about Tim Dorsey. I have read most of them and they all make me long for the days when I had a ready supply of psilocybin mushrooms. I am loving the Doc Ford novels of Randy Wayne White, just Randy’s name alone is enough to make them good. Doc Ford is sort of the anti-Florida Man with a cast of Florida Men drifting alongside.
i loved this especially with the turn into media diet and the self assessment of the diff types of stories you coulda told - that was some magic trick shit
also - have you seen on becoming a god in central florida? amazing show that should not have been cancelled after one season
Thank you, Alex! I’d never heard of On Becoming a God in Central Florida, but I just Googled it and holy shit that’s up my alley. Thank you for the rec!
I totally believe that explanation of the “Florida Man.” If you want a nutritious discussion of crime and media, I highly recommend Alec’s Copaganda Newsletter, a deep dive into how media warps our understanding of the punishment bureaucracy.
Love the Florida Man analysis and think it's spot-on.
I'll never forget my first trip to Florida. It was way back in July of 2001 with my old band for our first show on the Ozzfest Tour and our first stint in a full-fledged tour bus. We played on the third stage way out on the blazing hot tarmac of the Tropicana Field parking lot. Later on, we got to walk on the baseball field inside the temperature-controlled stadium and visit our friends in Papa Roach since they were playing the main stage in there. It felt surreal being there and my 12 year old self would've been jealous about walking on that fake grass.
That’s awesome! Last summer, I went with my wife’s parents to a Rays game. They used to be the Devil Rays, but I guess people complained about the devil stuff?? Florida, man. Anyway, I dig that stadium and I REALLY dig St. Pete, especially the Dali museum.
Your analysis is probably right.. Adam Carolla used to do a segment called Florida or Germany where they tried to guess which place a strange story came from. And you can find lots of Florida Man stories, plus similar ones from all over on Dave Barry's blog.
The Hiaasen and Dorsey novels are all great. James W. Hall also has some strange Florida character novels.
Long ago I went to Florida to visit my parents who were wintering there. In the course of 2 days, there were 3 encounters with clerks who couldn't figure out how to work registers, ring up right amounts and make change. I came to the conclusion that "In Florida, It's not the heat. It's the stupidity."
Mr. Estrin! This post gave me a lot to think about. Even before you wrote it in your essay I was also thinking any of these examples could also happen in NYC, but there is no such thing as “New York man.”
I think the reason ties to another observation in your essay...you could take the one of the anecdotes you included and it could be a just a junk food story or it could be something more. But a bunch of these stories put together without any additions only adds up to a lot of junk food that will in the end make you sick.
I think unfair or not, that is how we see Florida--as a junk food state. As opposed to say New York which has its share of tasty crap snacks but on the whole offers a very substantial culture created by remarkable people who have a lot of depth and layers. Again I’m not saying this is accurate or fair but that is the stereotype and thus we have “Florida man.”
I see what you’re saying. Plus stereotypes aren’t about accuracy or fairness, hence Florida Man.
But it’s funny that you mentioned New York. When I lived in Brooklyn, every native New Yorker I met seemed to have strong ties to Florida. Either they vacationed there, had relatives who had retired to Florida, or dreamed of retiring there themselves. At times I even wondered if every NYC neighborhood had a corresponding sister city in Florida. What I’m getting at here, and I mean no disrespect to the great people of the Empire state, is that some of these Florida Men might actually be New York transplants.
I love Florida Man headlines because they are always the most chaotic, unheard of nonsense I've ever read and it's delightful. I don't know what it is, but reading about a bunch of sort-of crazies who walk their pet alligator to Walmart and leave it in the pet food aisle or something is just....a special sort of wild story that is addictive to read.
I, too, have not encountered the true Florida Man, but have experienced a few Florida Man Inchoates. I saw a topless man, very brown leathery skin, he had a Macaw on one shoulder, barefoot crossing the road and with a giant rain stick. He was just turning it up and down and the bird danced on his shoulder. I wonder if it's a combination between hot weather and everybody goes to Florida to party (or retire) and given that it's got a strong second amendment right - there's a unique cocktail mixture for the Florida Man to be born.
3. Economist, NYT, CSM, NPR -- I block bad news sources when i see them. Like a lawn, everyone uses the same seed, if you water, cut, weed and fertilize it gets beautiful quick
4. Don't read the genre
5. Lived there a number of years, also CA. CA is similar but different b/c its economy is more diverse. FL is stuck b/c no creative economy, just cheap labor willing to sacrifice to live in good weather.
As someone with many in-laws in Florida, comment number five really resonates. So much of Florida’s economy is built around cheap labor in the tourism and retirement sectors. Better job opportunities were a big factor in Christina’s decision to go to college in California and start her career here, and what’s especially striking, to me anyway, is that the overwhelming majority of her high school classmates made the same decision.
This is interesting. Florida is trying to diversify its economy. Miami is becoming a financial services hub and crypto hotbed (obvs). For example, the massive hedge fund Citadel recently relocated from Chicago to Miami (because of crime - lol). Many different types of knowledge workers flooded into Florida during the pandemic years as well.
The problem is climate change is going to wreak havoc on these grand designs. It'll only take a few years of hurricanes and flooded houses for the rich people to move elsewhere.
I've been hearing a lot about Miami from my former tech colleagues. Assuming Miami doesn't sink (videos of flooding on sunny days should give everyone pause), I'm still a little skeptical of Miami's attempt to reinvent itself. The tech people who are the loudest boosters for Miami 2.0 (or is it 3.0?) are obsessed with taxes (minimizing their taxes, I should say), but they don't have any answers about investing in world-class engineering schools, building housing and infrastructure for knowledge workers, or doing any of the work it takes to support anything like the Silicon Valley they say they want in Miami. Don't get me wrong, I wish them well. But most of what I hear sets of my former tech pr guy BS alarms.
I think Miami will be fine wrt to climate change, it can invests in dams (whether it will is open to debate, but one can always hope in sanity).
The problem are the endless suburbs, sunset towns, villages etc that are as exposed, but for which any form of enviro engineering would be prohibitively expensive.
The only reason those properties are still insured is bc of the public insurance option (ie, they can spread to risk to the unwitting rest of the state). No private carrier in their right mind would ever insure those properties.
When the mechanism become untenable, urban and inland rural Floridians will have to decide if it's worth paying a de facto supplemental property tax to shield well off boomers from the obvious consequences of their choices, and I don't think the Florida attitude will be very inclined to do so
2. Your analysis of the Florida Man genre is spot on. People are wrecked all over this country. As someone who's lived in ten U.S. states (red and blue), I do think rampant sun exposure makes people extra crazy. By far the most bonkers behavior I've come across during my 42 years on this planet has been in Miami, FL and San Francisco, CA. Here's a quick Guardian article on the Florida Man phenomenon: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/may/21/florida-man-what-lies-behind-the-sunshine-states-crazy-stereotype
3. I only read Popular Information, The Economist, The Financial Times and The New Yorker. High quality, ideas-based, mainly long-form journalism. It takes discipline to avoid the chaff. Most days I don't know the big story, but by the time I get to it I'll get a trustworthy, refined version. I never use social media for news. I basically use Twitter to text message my favorite writer pals.
4. Carl Hiaasen is the author most responsible for making me believe I could be a writer. I'd like to believe there's hints of his influence in my work. Skin Tight is one of the funniest books ever written. Any novel of his from the late 80s through the mid 90s is a slam dunk - though they may not hold up to today's sensibilities.
5. Lived there 14 years. You don't know what I've seen....
I think there’s something to the perpetual summer locations that brings out the weird in humans. I’ve lived in cold weather climates for about seven years of my life and the rest here in the land of the endless summer. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but there’s something abut places where winter is coming that forces society to get its shit together just a little more.
If you love Carl Hiaasen, you should give Tim Dorsey a try. Carl is unhinged, but Tim has never seen a hinge. Btw, both are veteran Florida reporters who became novelists.
Great rec! Will check him out.
I’d start with book one to get the gist of the characters. But after that I don’t think you have to read them chronologically. I mean, the hero’s sidekick, a dope fiend named Coleman, dies in most (all??) of the books.
I agree about Tim Dorsey. I have read most of them and they all make me long for the days when I had a ready supply of psilocybin mushrooms. I am loving the Doc Ford novels of Randy Wayne White, just Randy’s name alone is enough to make them good. Doc Ford is sort of the anti-Florida Man with a cast of Florida Men drifting alongside.
Haven't read the Doc Ford books, but now I'm going to have to check them out!
I don’t know James W. Hall, but I’ll have to check out his books. I remember that Adam Carolla game -- I always guessed Florida.
i loved this especially with the turn into media diet and the self assessment of the diff types of stories you coulda told - that was some magic trick shit
also - have you seen on becoming a god in central florida? amazing show that should not have been cancelled after one season
Thank you, Alex! I’d never heard of On Becoming a God in Central Florida, but I just Googled it and holy shit that’s up my alley. Thank you for the rec!
hell yes lmk what you think the pilot is SO GOOD
I totally believe that explanation of the “Florida Man.” If you want a nutritious discussion of crime and media, I highly recommend Alec’s Copaganda Newsletter, a deep dive into how media warps our understanding of the punishment bureaucracy.
https://open.substack.com/pub/equalityalec?r=13iwr&utm_medium=ios
Gonna check out Alec’s newsletter! Thanks for the rec!
Love the Florida Man analysis and think it's spot-on.
I'll never forget my first trip to Florida. It was way back in July of 2001 with my old band for our first show on the Ozzfest Tour and our first stint in a full-fledged tour bus. We played on the third stage way out on the blazing hot tarmac of the Tropicana Field parking lot. Later on, we got to walk on the baseball field inside the temperature-controlled stadium and visit our friends in Papa Roach since they were playing the main stage in there. It felt surreal being there and my 12 year old self would've been jealous about walking on that fake grass.
That’s awesome! Last summer, I went with my wife’s parents to a Rays game. They used to be the Devil Rays, but I guess people complained about the devil stuff?? Florida, man. Anyway, I dig that stadium and I REALLY dig St. Pete, especially the Dali museum.
Your analysis is probably right.. Adam Carolla used to do a segment called Florida or Germany where they tried to guess which place a strange story came from. And you can find lots of Florida Man stories, plus similar ones from all over on Dave Barry's blog.
The Hiaasen and Dorsey novels are all great. James W. Hall also has some strange Florida character novels.
Long ago I went to Florida to visit my parents who were wintering there. In the course of 2 days, there were 3 encounters with clerks who couldn't figure out how to work registers, ring up right amounts and make change. I came to the conclusion that "In Florida, It's not the heat. It's the stupidity."
Mr. Estrin! This post gave me a lot to think about. Even before you wrote it in your essay I was also thinking any of these examples could also happen in NYC, but there is no such thing as “New York man.”
I think the reason ties to another observation in your essay...you could take the one of the anecdotes you included and it could be a just a junk food story or it could be something more. But a bunch of these stories put together without any additions only adds up to a lot of junk food that will in the end make you sick.
I think unfair or not, that is how we see Florida--as a junk food state. As opposed to say New York which has its share of tasty crap snacks but on the whole offers a very substantial culture created by remarkable people who have a lot of depth and layers. Again I’m not saying this is accurate or fair but that is the stereotype and thus we have “Florida man.”
I see what you’re saying. Plus stereotypes aren’t about accuracy or fairness, hence Florida Man.
But it’s funny that you mentioned New York. When I lived in Brooklyn, every native New Yorker I met seemed to have strong ties to Florida. Either they vacationed there, had relatives who had retired to Florida, or dreamed of retiring there themselves. At times I even wondered if every NYC neighborhood had a corresponding sister city in Florida. What I’m getting at here, and I mean no disrespect to the great people of the Empire state, is that some of these Florida Men might actually be New York transplants.
I love Florida Man headlines because they are always the most chaotic, unheard of nonsense I've ever read and it's delightful. I don't know what it is, but reading about a bunch of sort-of crazies who walk their pet alligator to Walmart and leave it in the pet food aisle or something is just....a special sort of wild story that is addictive to read.
I, too, have not encountered the true Florida Man, but have experienced a few Florida Man Inchoates. I saw a topless man, very brown leathery skin, he had a Macaw on one shoulder, barefoot crossing the road and with a giant rain stick. He was just turning it up and down and the bird danced on his shoulder. I wonder if it's a combination between hot weather and everybody goes to Florida to party (or retire) and given that it's got a strong second amendment right - there's a unique cocktail mixture for the Florida Man to be born.
Good point! There is something special about the cocktail that is Florida. Also, your Florida Man Inchoate sounds legit!
1. No
2. No -- Sunshine Law is a factor
3. Economist, NYT, CSM, NPR -- I block bad news sources when i see them. Like a lawn, everyone uses the same seed, if you water, cut, weed and fertilize it gets beautiful quick
4. Don't read the genre
5. Lived there a number of years, also CA. CA is similar but different b/c its economy is more diverse. FL is stuck b/c no creative economy, just cheap labor willing to sacrifice to live in good weather.
As someone with many in-laws in Florida, comment number five really resonates. So much of Florida’s economy is built around cheap labor in the tourism and retirement sectors. Better job opportunities were a big factor in Christina’s decision to go to college in California and start her career here, and what’s especially striking, to me anyway, is that the overwhelming majority of her high school classmates made the same decision.
This is interesting. Florida is trying to diversify its economy. Miami is becoming a financial services hub and crypto hotbed (obvs). For example, the massive hedge fund Citadel recently relocated from Chicago to Miami (because of crime - lol). Many different types of knowledge workers flooded into Florida during the pandemic years as well.
The problem is climate change is going to wreak havoc on these grand designs. It'll only take a few years of hurricanes and flooded houses for the rich people to move elsewhere.
I've been hearing a lot about Miami from my former tech colleagues. Assuming Miami doesn't sink (videos of flooding on sunny days should give everyone pause), I'm still a little skeptical of Miami's attempt to reinvent itself. The tech people who are the loudest boosters for Miami 2.0 (or is it 3.0?) are obsessed with taxes (minimizing their taxes, I should say), but they don't have any answers about investing in world-class engineering schools, building housing and infrastructure for knowledge workers, or doing any of the work it takes to support anything like the Silicon Valley they say they want in Miami. Don't get me wrong, I wish them well. But most of what I hear sets of my former tech pr guy BS alarms.
💯
I think Miami will be fine wrt to climate change, it can invests in dams (whether it will is open to debate, but one can always hope in sanity).
The problem are the endless suburbs, sunset towns, villages etc that are as exposed, but for which any form of enviro engineering would be prohibitively expensive.
The only reason those properties are still insured is bc of the public insurance option (ie, they can spread to risk to the unwitting rest of the state). No private carrier in their right mind would ever insure those properties.
When the mechanism become untenable, urban and inland rural Floridians will have to decide if it's worth paying a de facto supplemental property tax to shield well off boomers from the obvious consequences of their choices, and I don't think the Florida attitude will be very inclined to do so
Hi Jack! Not sure I understand the question. Can you explain?
Jack, please stop posting links to your youtube here. I consider this spam.
Your question is fine and I answered. Then you dropped a link to your YouTube channel. That’s what I consider spam.
Nope