I made a few business trips to Pikevilleabout 10 years ago and was always treated very well by the clients I visited. The Hatfield's and McCoys were from the area and there have been some coal unionstrikes in the past that have led to bloodshed and killings. They had to re-route a river years agob/c it flooded the townwith regularity.You always hear about the poverty, but therealization of justhow poor that areareally is hit me one day when I stopped at a convenience store for gas and went in to buy a Coke. I waited in a longline behind about 10 people to pay and every single one ofthem used food stamps to pay for their purchases. I spent the first 23 years of my life in Mississippi whichwe all know is considered to be a very poor stateand never saw anything like that. There was not a minority to be found in that line either. Other than the areas that have been abused for coal mining, Eastern KY is a beautiful area.
