I've been around, lived and worked long enough that I'm at the point where I feel deserving of the right to do as I please. The daughter has gone on to college and save for the occasional care package of pop tarts and macaroni and cheese, she hasn't much need for good old Mom. I hold a position with a company that would allow me to move and work at any of thousands upon thousands of offices anywhere in the USA. With my work record, I deign to say I'm very marketable.
Life is mine for the living. As well, I'm free to live it anyplace I wish. I choose to live it here on the Eastern Shore. Life here is not opulent, goods and services are not always as easily obtained as elsewhere, but the peace and charm of living here outweighs the minor inconveniences. It's a good place, a decent place, and a place where I feel at home.
I was directed recently to the homepage of someone who has moved to our area. He has graciously shared his opinions of us, the residents of the Eastern Shore, in a most ungracious manner. Umbrage must be taken.
I quote:
"1. To much inbreeding on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Just look into the average persons eyes, listen to their speach. There are times I can't even understand what some of these people are saying. I had been away from the area for to long (26 years)that I forgot why I left. To many red necks and to little brain thrust.
The lack of attractive women and the vast number of fat, pot bellied personas, male and female could drive a person to.... (I won't go there) "
The spelling and grammatical errors are all his, along with the other well over 40 mistakes on his site. Bear in mind he professes to hold a BA in Education, a scary thought for the minds he may have or intended to mold.
He hales from the great state of Colorado, where I have lived as well. I can fully attest to the fact that Colorado, as well as the other 49 states plus the District of Columbia, all have their own fair share of 'rednecks'. We do not hold the monopoly.
The term redneck is not limited to merely the flannel-shirted, tobacco-chewing, ass-kicking types that the word brings to mind. Rather, as any dictionary will explain, redneck encompasses the definition: "a person whose behavior and opinions are similar to those attributed to rednecks". This, my good people, can occur anyplace. And it most assuredly happens in Colorado, along with plenty of pot-bellies and some butt ugly people!
No matter where one lives, the population will be diversified by sex, race, levels of education, religion, levels of intelligence, and a myriad of other factors. The least of these should be visual, for it is what is within the person that is most important. I'll take a good attitude, a caring heart, and a kind word over looks anyday of the week. So, we may be dumb and ugly but we're nice.
The Eastern Shore has long been touted as one of the friendliest places to live. The Land of Pleasant Living, like anyplace, is what you make it. If you embrace the culture and all that it has to offer, you will find enjoyment. If I did not care for this area or the people, I would not live here, I would take my BA and my small-minded opinions and leave.
So, Mr. BambooBill, Let me hoist up my 100 pounds sans potbelly so you can look into my ugly face and inbred eyes and listen to my redneck dialect: If you don't want to be here, you don't belong here, and you aren't wanted here. A synonym for redneck is a rube. A rube is considered to be an awkward unsophisticated person. Someone who comes into my home uninvited and finds fault is most definitely a rube. Take your fly rods and go fishing someplace else!
Or, as you are most likely hearing:
Eff'n yo' doesn't be hankerin' t'be hyar, yo' doesn't belong hyar, an' yern't wanted hyar. A synonym fo'redneck is a rube. A rube is cornsidered t'be an awkwerd unsofistercated varmint. Sum'un who comes into mah home uninvited an' finds fault is most you can bet yer britches a rube. Take yer fly rods an' hoof it fishin' sumplace else!
Did you understand that?