By the time I arrived in Sumter, SC, assigned to USARCENT at Shaw Air Force Base, I had been living in Europe for 16 years (4 in Germany, 12 in Italy) so it was like a double culture shock for me; adapting to life in the US in general and adjusting to life in the south specifically. I quickly realized that the US was a completely different country than the one I’d left 16 years earlier. Everything seen different to me. Hell, we didn’t even have cell phones the last time I lived in the US. It was a very difficult adjustment for me to say the least and the fact that it was in a rural southern town with barely any culture, decent restaurants or shopping certainly added to the difficulty.
There are some really beautiful places in South Carolina but Sumter ain’t one of them. I went there with a completely open mind, armed with the knowledge that we would not be in Europe and that there would be plenty of things that I was used to that would not exist in our new surroundings. I had a few friends who had lived in or visited Sumter and most of them described it as a small city full of southern charm. Unfortunately, I never did manage to find that southern charm.
What I did find were lots of trailer parks, a couple Waffle Houses, every fast food restaurant known to man, rampant crime, shopping that was limited to places like Walmart and K-Mart, and a level of incompetence that I had never experienced before, not even in Italy. Take, for example, the school buses; they would routinely arrive 20-30 minutes late and at least a dozen times a year, they would not even show up at all. It was breathtaking.
Living in Sumter sometimes felt like stepping back into the 1950's. Many of the mentalities seemingly haven't evolved since then...
As I said, I arrived with an open mind, determined to make the best of whatever life was like in our new home. But I started realizing that we might have a hard time when several of the locals I met around town casually referred to it as “Scumter” and “Slumter”. That was my first clue. Of course any place has its detractors – hell, I met plenty of people in Italy who hated it there and couldn’t wait to leave. Different strokes for different strokes and all that, right? But I started noticing that all the “awesome” things about Sumter that people were telling me turned out to be a different story as I got to know the place better. For example, people who love Sumter are quick to tell you that the city is home to no less than seven institutions of higher learning. What they don’t tell you is that most of them are found in strip malls…
Anyway, it’s not my intention to bash Sumter. We were treated badly there by a lot of locals and most of our three years there consisted of one bad thing after another happening to us but we did meet some good people too. There are plenty of people who love the town and all it has to offer (whatever that may be) and more power to them. I’m happy that they are happy there, it just was not for us. We spent most of our weekends driving to Columbia or Florence to do grocery shopping (they had
places like Whole Foods, Kroger and Harris Teeter whereas Sumter had places like IGA, Food Lion and Piggly Wiggly…cripes, I can’t even type that with a straight face), eat at decent restaurants, and wile away the hours in Barnes and Noble. Eventually we developed a new hobby that kept us sane – trips to Atlanta. One of my best friends is a guy named Monty who I met working at US Army Europe HQ in Heidelberg, Germany. Monty had spent most of his career in Europe as well and we hit it off with him and his Dutch wife Marlene immediately. In a twist of fate, Monty was working in the very department I was assigned to at Shaw AFB and we instantly rekindled our friendship. Monty and Marlene had a home in Atlanta; ARCENT used to be located at a base in Atlanta but it got closed and they relocated ARCENT to Shaw AFB. They were planning on spending a few years in Sumter until Monty retired, then moving back to Atlanta but as Monty described it, “After our first trip to Sumter, Marlene said there was no way in hell she was living in this place”, so she stayed in Atlanta, Monty bought a trailer in Sumter to live in during the week, then drove home on weekends until he retired. We visited them one weekend and they took us to all of the huge food markets. Atlanta is home to a robust Chinatown and there are giant Asian markets everywhere. Virginia and I were completely blown away. Monty and Marlene are huge foodies like we are so every trip to Atlanta to visit them turned into giant food tours. Our favorite restaurant was a Korean BBQ place where they cook the food right at your table and surprisingly even the kids loved it. Usually we would go to the markets and stock up on all manner of Asian groceries and then Monty and Virginia – both amazing cooks – would spend the afternoon and evening creating exotic Asian dinner feasts while I put a dent in Monty’s extensive and impressive wine collection. Those weekends were such a welcome respite from daily life in Sumter and helped keep me motivated to try and get back overseas somewhere. Anywhere.
Atlanta is an absolute Mecca for Asian food and culture. A harbinger of things to come?
When DoD civilians return to the US from overseas, we are required to remain in the US for at least two years before you are eligible to return overseas with LQA. With this in mind, I started flinging my resume at every overseas job I could find once I started approaching my two year mark. Unfortunately nothing was sticking. My buddy who got the job in Korea that I'd wanted so bad told me that he was planning on leaving in a year or so and that he would recommend me as his replacement. This excited me greatly as you would imagine but it never came to pass as he got extended and ended up staying longer. I applied for jobs in Germany, Japan, Korea, Belgium, Italy, hell, even Hong Kong. But nothing came through. I even considered quitting my DAC job and taking a job in Afghanistan as a contractor for huge money and then leaving government service altogether. Then one day I saw a posting for a job in Italy that was somewhat related to my career field. I wasn't sure if I had a shot but applied anyway, made it through the selection process and after almost three years in Scumter, I was hired for another position in Italy. We were of course thrilled at the prospect of returning to the land that we loved so much. It was an opportunity I never expected to have again. I'm not sure what I was more excited about; the idea of going back to Italy or the fact that I was finally getting THEE hell out of Scumter. Regardless, I hadn't been so happy since before the whole LQA audit nightmare started, we were going home. But as it turns out, home is not always where the heart is...
Stay tuned for Part V (the final part)...
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