What does Arkansas think?

[homeschoolmomma1]

What do people in Arkansas think of the Duggars? I would love to know if their town really likes them or if they are like a freak show in the state. Jim Bob did say they are the number 1 show on TLC. I thought that was Jon and Kate plus 8 when it was airing

[koolmom]

From what I'd heard, many Arkansans were getting sick and tired of them always hogging the news...

[Alecto]

As an Arkansas native and resident, most people think they are weird, annoying attention whores.

[Beb]

My family lives in NW AR, and after moving away for many years, I relocated there from 2002 until 2008. I can tell you it was my experience no one I knew paid much attention to the Duggars. There is a lot going on in NW AR that has absolutely nothing to do with them. Because that is the home of WalMart, the huge retailer occupies, not only the consciousness of most people who live there, but in reality, it affects their everyday lives in many ways, especially economically. So, the Duggars are small potatoes......small news, and though most people have a passing knowledge of them, as far as the D's having any impact on their lives, or, indeed, the area, it's negligible.

[lilwriter85]

Rachel333 posted about them and she also said people have been annoyed with the Duggars for a long time like others have mentioned. A guy who was Michelle's high school classmate posted in another forum back in 2004(when Jackson was born) about them and he seemed to imply that some people didn't like the Duggars. He calls JB a con man.

http://forum.dvdtalk.com/archive/t-366216.html

[Beb]

Rachel333 posted about them and she also said people have been annoyed with the Duggars for a long time like others have mentioned. A guy who was Michelle's high school classmate posted in another forum back in 2004(when Jackson was born) about them and he seemed to imply that some people didn't like the Duggars. He calls JB a con man.

http://forum.dvdtalk.com/archive/t-366216.html

That may be true in and around Springdale--where they have lived for years, but the rest of NWA is barely interested and certainly not overly knowledgeable about them. They are nothing more than a curiosity, but rarely ever cross anyone's mind. As I said, that probably is a bit different in Springdale, but they are FAR from the most interesting thing going on in that part of the state.

[MadameX]

My husband lives in NW Arkansas now (and i live there on weekends) and I agree with others who say they are pretty much a non-entity.

[Beb]

My husband lives in NW Arkansas now (and i live there on weekends) and I agree with others who say they are pretty much a non-entity.

I'm from a generations-old AR family and currently members include a federal judge, a U.S. Senator, a State Senator, a deputy sheriff, a Baptist preacher, several educators and educational administrators, a professor at the University of AR, a couple of street drunks, a factory worker, a convenience store owner, a supermarket employee, a few WalMart warehouse employees, a few WalMart corporate executives, a nursing home resident.......and I'm sure there are some I have not mentioned. :lol:

My point is, though, that from all those people, and from non-family acquaintances, I doubt the name, Duggar, has come up in conversation more than once or twice, and certainly not as anything anyone is overly (or even mildly) interested in. Now, I'm sure there are a few in the NWA area who find them captivating (?), but I'm not aware of it.

[Kitchen Princess]

That may be true in and around Springdale--where they have lived for years, but the rest of NWA is barely interested and certainly not overly knowledgeable about them. They are nothing more than a curiosity, but rarely ever cross anyone's mind. As I said, that probably is a bit different in Springdale, but they are FAR from the most interesting thing going on in that part of the state.

Yep. If I didn't read FJ I would never think about them unless I drove by the car lot or oh wait, I did figure out where Josh and Anna live now and since I can't avoid it at all, it being right on the 540, I do think of them more often than I would otherwise.

[Kitchen Princess]

I mean, I don't think people think about them any more often than we think about Bill Clinton or Mike Huckabee. If they come up in the news, we'll say, "Oh, there's Bill." I have been behind Michelle and Josh in a drive-through on two separate occasions.

[Minerva]

I mean, I don't think people think about them any more often than we think about Bill Clinton or Mike Huckabee. If they come up in the news, we'll say, "Oh, there's Bill." I have been behind Michelle and Josh in a drive-through on two separate occasions.

How could you tell it was them?

[Beb]

I mean, I don't think people think about them any more often than we think about Bill Clinton or Mike Huckabee. If they come up in the news, we'll say, "Oh, there's Bill." I have been behind Michelle and Josh in a drive-through on two separate occasions.

.......if even that. I'm not sure I'd know them if I saw them (and I did meet them once), but they're simply not the big deal there that they are on this forum. I think it's because the nature of this forum is to snark on fundies, and they are certainly that, but as far as having any impact or special notoriety in NWA, not really. They're just another family.

[Kitchen Princess]

How could you tell it was them?

The first time, it was Michelle, in the Wendy's drive thru, in a big giant van. It was about 8 years go. She was alone. I'd seen her before when lobbying for homeschool law reform in the Capital, and at homeschool conferences. And, it's hard to miss that hair.

Josh, Anna and another grown Duggar (probably JD) were in front of me in the new McDonald's in Tontitown, getting coffee. I knew because it said Champion Motorcars on the back window of the Hummer. I took a picture, but I've changed phones since then and I can't seem to find it anymore.