Joy Obade moved from New Jersey to Florida last summer, but the state’s response to the coronavirus was the final straw. She’s moving back. (AP Photo/Courtesy Joy Obade) We get dozens of tips here at NJ Advance Media, and during the coronavirus crisis, most of them are pretty darn depressing. Death. Illness. Unemployment. These are difficult times, and the story ideas we receive from readers reflect that. Then, in the middle of all that darkness last week, came a “tip” that began like this: “I’m moving BACK TO JERSEY!! Yep. You read that right. Very hopefully in June. It means that much to me to get out of Florida. Moving here was the biggest mistake of my life!” Well, that got our attention. It isn’t exactly newsworthy that Joy Obade, a 72-year-old resident of The Villages, Fla., has decided to move back to New Jersey. But, man, her anti-Florida rant was just about the most satisfying thing we’ve read in a long time, so we couldn’t help ourselves. We decided to give her a call, turn on the recorder and let her rip away. Because, let’s face it, who among us hasn’t shaken our heads in disgust at Florida during this pandemic? The partying spring-breakers . The slow-to-act governor. The science deniers. The hashtag #FloridaMorons was trending on Twitter over the weekend when — days after the state recorded its highest death toll — thousands of people flocked to the just-reopened beached. That prompted one Florida Man to visit several beaches dressed as the Grim Reaper . His goal was to warn Floridians about the dangers of reopening the public spaces too soon, but since this is Florida, they probably thought he was just being really careful about getting sunburn. Obade has watched this all from the safety of […]
