Amongst the locals, Jacksonville is often called a “crab pot.” Crabs in a barrel will claw at each other, pulling one another down rather than allowing one single crab to climb out to freedom. Similarly, it seems people from the same city would rather sabotage each others’ success out of insecurity, jealousy, or competition than to cheer each other on. They’re trapped, hoping to find a way out even if it means climbing on the backs of those in the same predicament.
If you want anything outta life, leave Jacksonville.
In this analogy, the thing they failed to mention was that crabs don’t belong in the barrel in the first place! The crabs don’t mean to be malicious but when you’re trapped with those bigger than you seasoning a boiling pot for your demise, what are you supposed to do? Accept defeat and stay at the bottom while the crab who fought their way to the top gets a chance at escape?
The natural instinct is to save yourself, survival mode alters the choices you’re willing to make. Applying a sense of morality to immoral circumstances and scrutinizing the desperate choices they’ve been forced to make is ignorant to the circumstances that trapped the crabs here in the first place.
