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| AM I A REDNECK OR NOT? |
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Since Rich came on line and made it popular to be a redneck, I've had a recurring dialogue with myself, "Am I a redneck? ... Do I want to be a redneck?" My ancestors and many of my aunts and uncles were farm folk whose necks were red but my momma and daddy went to town and my daddy went to college and started wearing a while collar. I then married a man who was a farmer's son who did just like my daddy did. So we lived most of our married life in the megalopolis (yes, there is such a word) of Houston, Texas. But we never got used to not having any open spaces and so we retired to the Texas Hill Country (he retired, I'm semi-retired). And I suspect I now, once again, live in Redneck Country. I figure you have to ask yourself that question when you have these experiences: - You say you're going "into" town like it's a big event when it's merely 4 miles away and has only 28,000 folks
- You go to a place called "Joe's Ranchhouse" for lunch
- The parking lot is full of white double cab pickup trucks
- There's a hat rack inside the door made from a locally killed deer
- The waitresses call you and everyone else "honey" or "sugar"
- Someone greets the man in front of you in the buffet line as "Booger"
- The buffet has three kinds of potatoes and two kinds of gravy
- There's always iced tea, pecan pie, chicken fried steak and gravy
For myself, I have to suspect I'm at least fair to middling leaning toward being a redneck because: - My favorite fabric is denim
- I love living in a rural area and being outdoors
- I have a distant cousin known only as Booger Red
- I live in what some folks would call a trailer house
- My husband wears Wranglers pretty near all the time
- I use expressions like over yunder, there-abouts and fair to middling
- My husband and I are both kin to the infamous outlaw John Wesley Hardin
- I'm one of the few people who has actually been to Luckenbach, Texas
I suspect I'm NOT a redneck because: - I use words like megalopolis
- My husband still has some of those white collar shirts in his closet
- I'm one of the few who knows how to spell Luckenbach, despite the C&W song by that name
- I won't be going back to Luckenbach like the song says, even though its just a few hills over because it's mostly a bar and drinking as an activity is not something I do
- My house doesn't look like a trailer house; it's called a Manufactured House
- The neighborhood is "fancied up" with little street lamps out front, landscaping, a lake, ducks, swans and a waterfall and it's called Scenic Valley Retirement Community
- I have a professional persona where I act like an educated business woman and people pay me to write and edit for them in real English
I could go on but that's enough for you to get the picture. Now, I'm asking you: Am I a redneck or what? If you decide to go into the "what," please be gentle! |
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Well little lady, I had to look to make sure we didn't live near each other after reading this blog! I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that you certianly have the all the qualities to be a bonafide redneck woman. But oftentimes you can sweep it under the sofa like a little dust bunny when classy folk or salesmen come to visit. I try to do the same thing but I'm usually not successful at it. It's kinda like when I'm wearing a nice white shirt with no t-shirt underneath; the redneck still shows through.
By the way, being as how you and your husband are related to the same person... yeah, that's redneck.
Love ya sis! |
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GrammyB |
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February 21, 2008 at 12:03pm |
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| You are the classiest version of Redneck that I've ever heard of! You give the rest of us somethin' to hope for! ;) |
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Oh yeah... manufactured house with a street lamp? You can dress up a squirrel with fancy teryaki sauce, but you're still eatin' squirrel. LOL
Just kidding, I've seen some of them nice manufactured homes... I just don't own one! |
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JayKTX |
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February 21, 2008 at 12:07pm |
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Hmmm. Well, you are the resident authority on such things. I do have to say the relationship with John Wesley Hardin is way distant for me and only one of my people claimed it at all, but for him, one of his grandparents was named Hardin. Can I settle for "Bonafide Redneck Lady"? |
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We can go with that!
I have to say, this was a pleasant one to read today. Probably my favorite I've seen in a while out here. Good job! |
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| booger red? This make Juan laugh hard. |
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JayKTX |
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February 21, 2008 at 12:11pm |
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Grammy B~ Ahhh. That's very sweet of you to say that. Maybe I'll go for "Classy Redneck Lady." Rich~ I think you're right. Secretly I know I live in a trailer house but this is the part of me that I think isn't Redneck - I prefer to put on airs and call it a Manufactured Home! But then again, I can't really be accused of putting on airs, can I, when I tell on myself like that? |
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Cheryl |
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February 21, 2008 at 12:12pm |
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| eewwww...why the t-shirt analogy??? LOL!!!! |
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JayKTX |
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February 21, 2008 at 12:12pm |
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Juan~ He has red hair. So do I, by the way. |
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| Janell, I'd say you are a "refined" redneck. Kinda like me! lol Thanks for the laugh. I need it right now....funny. I worked with a guy who said fair to middling all the time...and yes, he was from Texas. Pitchovsky. |
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JayKTX |
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February 21, 2008 at 12:21pm |
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Lara~ As they say down here, "Come Again?" Pitchovsky? Pitch OW Ski? Is that the guy's name? And I needed a laugh, too. Before going to the Ranchhouse I described, I was at the memorial service of my good friend, neighbor, and sister in the Lord that died unexpectedly Sunday night in the house across the road. If that sounds strange to some - that I need to laugh at this time, all I can say is it's been such an emotional roller coaster ride, being as how we found her, it helps to laugh and let off some of the tension. And I have it on good authority that she is in a far better place and enjoying herself immensely! I'll be writing a tribute to her later. |
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Cheryl |
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February 21, 2008 at 12:26pm |
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| JayKTX~you are perfect!!! love ya~ |
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| It sounds to me that you may be a closet redneck. lol |
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JayKTX |
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February 21, 2008 at 12:56pm |
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Cheryl~ Maybe this is my coming out party? |
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Deb |
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February 21, 2008 at 1:09pm |
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| This is good, and now I am wondering if I might be a redneck! lol |
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JayKTX |
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February 21, 2008 at 1:28pm |
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Deb~ Why don't you present your "pro's" and "con's" like I did and let the bona-fide experts decide? One thing for sure, it will be a fun experience! I'm loving it. |
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Joey |
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February 21, 2008 at 1:31pm |
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You could be anything you wanted to be, and be the "pokiest one out there" !! |
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| lots of folk have more redneck in them than they are willing to own up to.We tease our daughter and call her a closet redneck. |
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JayKTX |
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February 21, 2008 at 1:42pm |
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Joey~ I know most of the local idioms but you must be using North Texas slang now and I am not fluent in that, though I lived near Dallas for awhile. Will you give me a translation of "pokiest"? I know since you are my good friend that it has to be good, but around here what you said would translate to "slowest." Luv U! racunpoodl~ If you call your daughter a closet redneck, what do you call yourself? I've decided to go with a combination of what Grammy and Rich said, I'm going to call myself a Classy Redneck Lady. |
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My dear Janell, I would say you are officially a "wannabee" redneck. There ain't no way yooz a real redneck!! The following cinched it for my analysis... "I have a professional persona where I act like an educated business woman and people pay me to write and edit for them in real English " Since when could a true redneck actually hide his/her redneckedness from anyone?? Better yet, when did a true redneck even care to hide it???
And something else you said helped out too..."I won't be going back to Luckenbach..." Rednecks, true rednecks, have an aversion to absolutely nothing. Well, other than anything that can be considered classy, that is. lol
Janell, you are no more redneck than I am for saying "ain't" and "yooz" above in this comment. You have wannabee written all over. You're a pretender! Just accept it! But there's nothing wrong with entertaining the question, it is kinda fun after all. :-) |
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| I live in Saltville, VA. When I first learned that I would be moving here I thought to myself : What am I getting into? 4 years latter, many of my redneck friends can play bluegrass music that would shame anybody. Also, now I can laugh at Jeff Foxworthy's jokes. I also can understand the humor of Larry the Cabel Guy. |
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| Oh, I intended to mention Janell.... there was one key piece of evidence which made me suspect you might be a redneck after all. When I read that you have a relative known as Booger Red. Wow, if this was me, I would not mention that in public. Remember the lack of aversions? |
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JayKTX |
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February 21, 2008 at 3:16pm |
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Mike n Lau...~ Okay, now you're giving me a mixed message. But then that's how I feel, too, am I, am I not? You make a good case for not. That's a valid point that someone who is really a redneck would not be able to hide it and would just love Luckenbach. However, I have to disagree with the wannabe/pretender thing. I didn't go far enough with my "bona-fides." As a child I was well acquainted with squirrel and rabbit meat on the table and how to take out the buckshot. I knew what a two-holer was and I'm not talking golf here. I was taught how to take the chicken from the hen house to the table in 10 easy steps. I have "ho'ed" cotton and pulled it, too. I could go on but you get my drift. And you are right about the aversions. I've got 'em. Good point there as well. I must confess, that I cringe every time I hear the word booger. That was hard for me to write! And I already confessed I have trouble admitting I live in a trailer house. So let us say I started out Redneck and then got citified and educated. Now I live in a rural area once again and am surrounded by rednecks. I seem to be regressing, especially in my speech. But I learned all those quaint expressions honest - no pretender, here! So what do you call that? |
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JayKTX |
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February 21, 2008 at 3:26pm |
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Tom~ Yeah, if you're in their midst, it influences you. And I'm surrounded. But with me it's not so much changing to something new as going back to what I knew before, especially the speech. And I love, love, love bluegrass!. Really, really. No pretense. I can clog, too! Of course, I have to admit it took me a year to learn the knee action. Mixed message again about am I, am I not? One more point in favor of yes is that, just to poke a little fun at Juan is I can tell the difference between a donkey and a baby horse. My grandmother trained horses and I rode a lot growing up. Restore~ Thanks for joining in the fun and for the sweet comment. |
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Pit chove sky. I think. That's how we pronounced it. Praise God! It's good to hear your neighbor was born again! It still hurts, but at least we know she is just having a blast right now! Basking in God's glory! we are the poor suckers still here. |
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JayKTX |
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February 21, 2008 at 7:20pm |
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| Lara~ Okay, Pit Chove Sky. So, I'm assuming you were talking about a real live person and that wasn't some code word that I was ignorant of! Haven't run into any of 'em around here. |
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| So what do you call that? A rehabilitated redneck! |
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JayKTX |
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February 21, 2008 at 10:09pm |
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Um, not so fast. One problem with that is it just doesn't flow off the tongue quite like Bonafide Redneck Woman or Classy Redneck Lady, now does it? Rehabilitated Redneck Lady - you see what I mean here? Then there's this other little thing. I used to be rehabilitated. Now that I live amongst rednecks again, I'm going native, so to speak, and getting unrehabilitated, so now what are we going to call me? An Unrehabilitated Redneck Lady? I don't think so. We're going to have to give this some more thought! Maybe I have the makings of a new blog here. Stay tuned! |
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JayKTX |
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February 22, 2008 at 12:34am |
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Well, Hal, I said I USED to eat squirrel. Truth is I never liked it (yet another reason I'm probably not a true Redneck). At my Paw's table you ate what he brought home. But when I left the farm, I never ate squirrel again! I don't think even the free gourmet pancakes written up in the link would tempt me! But thanks for the laughs! |
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Glenn |
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February 22, 2008 at 5:49am |
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Janell, I think Mike has you all figured out. I would not be the appropriate person to figure this one out. So I'll just have to read and have a good laugh with you. Thanks for the smile : )
peace |
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JayKTX |
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February 24, 2008 at 3:48pm |
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Mike is a smart dude, isn't he? That business about rednecks not having aversions struck me as true. I'm going to have to see what Rich, our resident expert on such things, says about it but right now I am revisiting my initial question, "Am I a redneck or not?" and leaning toward "not." There's no sizzle in that, no fun, in "Not a Redneck," so I'm going to have to see what I can come up with because having been serious most of my life, I am ready, at least on occasion, for a different persona! |
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| I'm sure Rich could make you an "Honorary Redneck!" |
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JayKTX |
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February 25, 2008 at 9:55am |
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| Now, there's a good idea. Then I wouldn't have to prove myself, would I? I left a message about Mike's objections because of "aversions." We'll see what he says! |
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Well, ole Rich is gonna have to get back to you on the aversions portion of the conversation. Right after he goes and looks up the word aversions!
Be back in a minute (perhaps more, the dictionary is in the barn cause I used it as a step when I was puttin' together the bowflex) |
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JayKTX |
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February 25, 2008 at 11:59am |
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Do I see an aversion there? Honest opinion: why don't you delete and start over? |
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JayKTX |
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February 25, 2008 at 11:59am |
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| I'm okay with the restraining order, though. |
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How's this?
Alrighty, I looked it up.
Now I'll agree, Mike is a real smart dude. But what most of ya'll don't know is, Mike is a closet redneck himself; he gets a little redneck from time to time and I love him for it. Just cut loose brother!
But I have to disagree with the lack of aversions on behalf of the redneck character. We got plenty of aversions; an aversion to fine art, an aversion to progress, aversion to Starbucks and anger managment classes, etc.
I'll stick with my earlier comments and proclaim that you got a little "red" in ya... probably came from Booger's side of the family.
My new motto- "You're only as redneck as your last restraining order!" Trademarked by Rich Inc |
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JayKTX |
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February 25, 2008 at 12:07pm |
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Great, now Mike will never know :) Unless, of course, I leave this comment here :) bad redneck lady!! :( Think I ought to delete or do you secretly want him to know? |
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| Let's keep him wondering! |
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JayKTX |
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February 25, 2008 at 12:10pm |
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| You got it, dude! |
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