Saturday, January 26, 2013

5 Things I Love About Rednecks

I grew up in a small town in Georgia.  And many of the people I grew up around, family included, were rednecks.  Most of them still are rednecks, and they are dang proud of it too.  Rednecks,
Country Folk, Hillbillies, Bumpkins, whatever you want to call them, are often made fun of. Jeff Foxworthy made an entire career out of being a redneck. 

But being from redneck stock, I've recently realized that this much maligned portion of our population is a noble breed, set apart from the rest of the world. Here are five things I love about Rednecks:
  1. Rednecks are polite and respectful: They always know how how to treat women, how to treat guests, and how to properly address their elders
  2. Rednecks are friendly: They wave at passersby and say hello to people on the street.  Why?  They understand the simple importance of being friendly.  Because many rednecks live in smaller communities, they often know a lot of people.  And if they don't know the people they pass, they probably know someone who knows that person. So they are friendly because they belong to an interconnected web of people. 
  3. Rednecks are independent and value self-sufficiency: From growing their own food, to killing their own food, to working on their cars, rednecks have skills that most of America has already lost. But when the apocalypse comes, guess who's going to be sittin' perty (as they say)!  Rednecks!!
  4. Rednecks tolerate the government, but they don't love it: Rednecks proudly pledge allegiance to the our flag, serve our country, and love our country.  But they don't love the government.  And they especially do not love the politicians. 
  5. Rednecks are generous and help when there is a real need: If your car ever breaks down, if your dog gets sick, if you ever need help in any way, pray that there is a redneck nearby. They will help you is they can. And if you know someone in their family, well that's just a guarantee that they have to help you.
Rednecks are the backbone of our society.  They grow our food, make our cars, and send their sons and daughters off to war for the rest of us.  So today, I salute Rednecks.  Thank God I'm a country boy (at heart)!!