Don’t Panic J. Ross Quigley CEO Medipac International Inc. Insurance My goodness, what a mess. We snowbirds have become a political football. The outrageous news stories and ridiculous reporting have done nothing but upset our snowbird friends. For example, there were several dozen stories on TV, social media and internet sites that were warning of Canadians being stopped at the border and incarcerated. This particular story was about a poor Canadian who was arrested at the border and detained for 11 days. In fact, all of these stories, dozens and dozens of them, were about the same person repeating how dangerous it was for Canadians to cross the border. In reality, this was not a snowbird at all; it was a younger woman and she did not cross the Canadian border. She entered the United States from Mexico and was stopped at the border for some reason. I doubt that we will ever know why, but it was a great “fear” story and got huge amounts of press from sloppy “journalists.” I know of no other similar story – none. CSA and Medipac have had no advice or complaints of this sort and we are always the first to hear. But many snowbirds are upset and fearful and chaos is the result. The second issue is that the U.S. has decided that they want to know who is in their country. What a surprise, after the flood of illegal immigrants over the past few years. People who fly need to do nothing different but, if you drive or walk across the border AND intend to stay for longer than 30 days, you have to fill out a form. So what? This new regulation has nothing to do with snowbirds – it has to do with potential bad guys and I think that it is a pretty good idea. Read our Bird Talk notes in this issue for clearer advice. I know that some people do not like the current politics in the U.S. but, in reality, the snowbird lifestyle should prosper. Home and condo prices are coming down, our dollar is getting stronger and inflation is also coming down… making our living expenses somewhat cheaper. And all of our American friends are still our friends. I believe that now is a great time to buy a snowbird hideaway. There is some “fear selling” going on, so take advantage of it, if possible. My son has just bought a new upgraded condo, closing soon, in St. Petersburg – congratulations. And what a deal! We actually had 17 people cancel their policies before leaving because they were worried about the chaos – and a few decided to come home early, too. That is nothing compared to the 45,000 snowbirds whom we insure. Do not let the sensational news stories lead you astray. Everything is fine and, I believe, getting better. The one thing that I did notice when we first came south was that everyone seemed happy. They said “Hello” when walking down the street and seemed to be smiling all of the time. Not quite what you read in the papers or see on social media. I am sitting in the sun as I write this and I am a little sad that we have to come home soon. We will miss our friends and our many activities, but we will be back before winter sets in and that is a good thing. One last note is the possibility of a postal strike during our Early Bird launch. We have been cautioned that it may commence in late May and possibly continue for five months. Not to worry! Medipac can handle everything via the internet, which is an easy way to get your coverage at our very good Early Bird rates. Happy summer! 12 | www.snowbirds.org
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