By Kim Pendergast
The other day we had a bunch of relatives up to visit for a birthday celebration.
I decided it would be a fun quest for a story to get some opinions.
The theme for this was the definition of a redneck. There were a number of pondering faces around the campfire I must tell you.
Naturally there were the jokes about a fellow who goes to a family reunion to get a date, and a marriage where neither of the participants need change their name for the wedding.
Another talked about it having your home on wheels, year-round.
Haha … I even heard that it may be a giant belt buckled beer drinking Neanderthal, but it seriously stumped a number of people. One young one had no idea what I was talking about.
I did hear one comment about them being imaginative and inventive. The thought on that was because who else would put a travel trailer on a raft and call it a houseboat?
But seriously, I wonder if the name originally came about when discussing individuals who worked hard and played hard outdoors and always got red necks from the sun?
One person thought that maybe some perceived them as opinionated and possibly uneducated people. I am not all that sure about the uneducated part although the stereotype of them could be looked at that way.
There was one comment saying that they may sometimes break the laws because they were anti-government. I am not so sure of that one either … but everyone has their own ideas I guess, I did ask their opinions and ideas, right?
These thoughts were the ones tossed out and about … I decided to throw my own idea out there … I thought that the best definition was unconventional.
The society we live in nowadays is all about convention and conforming. My opinion here … I think that basically a redneck is an unconventional individual since they go their own way and if they work outside and get that neck red from it then they earned it.
Some of us may not want to wear the traditional shirt and tie and/or dress or slacks on any particular given day. Maybe a pair of boots or a scruffy shirt is more the style.
Even if we are going out for supper. Some prefer burgers to steak and lobster. It all is a matter of opinion and taste after all. Good taste and bad taste are the same in that respect. Just as a city slicker and a redneck may differ about nearly everything … that does not mean that one is right or wrong.
I guess what I am saying is, really, if a redneck is like I thought … an unconventional being … then I suppose I may be a redneck … I wonder how many are out there?
Are you one?
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