June 26, 2004

on rednecks of various sorts

have you ever noticed that rednecks in the north are nothing like rednecks in the south?

in the north you have your rednecks with the tractors, the actual really RED necks and the john deere caps. they drive around in red pickups and wear camo on their off days. sometimes they don the bright neon orange cap.

in the south, you have a slightly different breed of redneck. everything is centered around the cowboy boots, the gun AND the confederate flag plastered somewhere on their person, truck, girlfriend, gun or dog.

in the north you see beautiful rolling hills with corn and soybeans and wheat. picturesque farms with the navy blue silos. cows dotting the hills.

in the south you see in the countryside trailers with the quinticential confederate flag displayed quite prominantly, and somewhere a satelite dish. have you ever noticed driving thru tennessee or west virginia that people can be living in absolutely horrible surroundings, but they manage to have satelite tv. i think the status symbols in the south are as follows:

1. the size of your wheels on your truck
2. the size of your gun
3. the size of your dish
and last but not at all least
4. the size of your tobacco chaw.

kinda sad. i miss the north. where the rednecks are red and the the accents are bearable.

i will make one good statement about the south. i do like their tea. they know how to make sweet tea. good stuff. kinda goes right thru ya on a road trip (note to self).

any other differentialities on rednecks of any sort would be welcome. i am partial to the north, it is in my blood. but i am open to correction.

Posted by hill at 12:25 AM | Comments (9)

June 01, 2004

american love?

"Father? Mother?" Jonas asked tentatively after the evening meal. "I have a question I want to ask you."
"What is it, Jonas?" his father asked.
He made himself say the words, though he felt flushed with embarrassment. He had rehearsed them in his mind all the way home form the Annex.
"Do you love me?"
There was an awkward silence for a moment. Then Father gave a little chuckle. "Jonas. You, of all people. Precision of language, please!"
"What do you mean?" Jonas asked. Amusement was not at all what he had anticipated.
"Your father means that you used a very generalized word, so meaningless that it's become almost obsolete," his mother explained carefully.
Jonas stared at them. Meaningless? He had never before felt anything as meaningful as the memory [of love].
"And of course our community can't function smoothly if people don't use precise language. You could ask, 'Do you enjoy me?' The answer is 'Yes,'" his mother said.
"Or," his father suggested, "'Do you take pride in my accomplishments?' And the answer is wholeheartedly 'Yes.'"
"Do you understand why it's inappropriate to use a word like 'love'?" Mother asked.
Jonas nodded. "Yes, thank you, I do," he replied slowly.
It was his first lie to his parents.

Posted by hill at 09:00 PM | Comments (7)