CAVE Founded on Ocracoke
“There is a lot to be upset about on Ocracoke," said one CAVE, "It's just different than it was and I don't feel coddled all the time. I wish we could go back to the days when Rudy Austin was at the helm of the Hatteras ferry, and we had a dredged channel. But I don't like to make a fuss." She has a vision of an Ocracoke she loves, one with bare feet and bake sales, but worries that is receding into an inaccessible past.
A shop owner whose CAVE loyalty flares during the summer season said, "I just prefer to bitch on Facebook. Those meetings are tedious." She's not opposed to popular initiatives, like the ball field, the fire department, and the radio station, though she doesn't donate to them or go to their fundraisers. While she uses the affordable clinic care on Ocracoke, she's pretty sure she's angry at that board, but unsure exactly why. Irrational anger is a sign you're a member of CAVE.
A habitually hairy, but non-native, community member stroked his face. "I've been to a lot of those meetings. Nothing ever comes of them. Even if the decisions are good, they will be undermined by people that felt left out of the meetings they chose not to go to," he said. He no longer attends meetings, nor votes. Is he a member? "Nah, well, maybe," he said. He loves living here. The beach is beautiful.
One older gentleman is certainly the type to join CAVE, but he expressed annoyance that he was asked about it. "I ain't on no Facebook, and I don't belong to whatever it is you're talking about," he said, adding "No, I don't wanna be quoted in your *&%$# paper."
CAVE dwellers are invited to "like" and "follow" the group's Facebook page, unless that constitutes too much involvement.
