Are you a redneck?

I think that ignores the most salient points of redneckery - but enjoy yourself.

I think the actual phrase is

"One nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all."

You might be getting baited if you are seriously considering the statements.

Re: Are you a redneck?
You might be a redneck if: It never occurred to you to be offended by the phrase, "One nation, under God."

You are an idiot if you can't allow that others may have different views. You're an even bigger idiot if you think that a god would choose one country as "the special one".

You might be a redneck if: You've never protested about seeing the 10 Commandments posted in public places.

You are an idiot if you feel so insecure in your faith that you have to have it plastered all over hell's half acre.

You might be a redneck if: You still say "Christmas" instead of "Winter Festival."

You are an idiot if you can't allow that others may have different views.

You might be a redneck if: You bow your head when someone prays.

You are an idiot if you can't allow that others may have different views.

You might be a redneck if: You stand, remove your hat and place your hand over your heart when they play the National Anthem. Chills up the back and moist eyes are common.

You are an idiot if you "think" that everyone has to share your view; if you're so insecure that you find diversity freightening.

You might be a redneck if: You treat Viet Nam vets with great respect....and always have.

You are an idiot if you can't allow that others may have different views about some of those vets.

You might be a redneck if: You respect your elders and expect your kids to do the same.

You are a idiot if you haven't figured out by now that people deserve respect because they earn it, not simply because they've gotten older.


This 'you', of course, doesn't refer to Mysteryman. It's a generic 'you'.

having grown up around rednecks, it's my humble opinion that while some may do some of the things that mysteryman alludes to, most of the 'necks i knew and encountered mostly;

got drunk on falls city and started fights with his buddy, a stranger, a bartender, a chick that wouldn't go out to the parking lot with him or the big bouncer at the door.

after getting his dumb ass beat, went home and took it out on the wife and kids.

talked about the bible a lot, but usually had to be dragged away from working on the bass boat to go to church.

was totally pissed off about getting drafted for vietnam and blamed everybody for it but the motherf*&$ers that drafted him.

yammered about respect, but never took his john deere hat off at the table. some parts, a cowboy hat can be substituted, same effect.

where i lived, a whole shi*load of good 'ol rednecks got together, prayed to jesus and burned up a whole parking lot full of school buses just so they couldn't be used to "bring in a load 'o n$%#*@s" from the west end to our good white schools.

being a redneck is not something that you want your kids to aspire to. no matter how cool some people want to make it sound these days, it's a one way trip to loserville.

but that's just my opinion.

Twenty five years in Oklahoma taught me there's folks and there's rednecks. Mysteryman's getting'em mixed up.

Rednecks are too hungover on Sunday mornings to get to church, folks are in the pews by 9:30, listen the sermon and then spend an hour afterwards chewing the fat with the other folks in the church sideyard. Folks got their beliefs and they could give a big rats ass about anybody else's as long as they are left alone.

Rednecks are pissed off all the time. They feel put upon by the world and haven't a clue what the hell to do about it except try to fcuk somebody else's world up too. Folks are happy people, got jobs, pretty clean kids who are kinda pretty in a plain way, and have figured out plenty of ways to make do with what they've got. Rednecks can't lend you the dollar they don't have, but folks, shoot, you don't even have to ask'em.

And there is this, learned from 50,000 miles of backroads:

There are no strangers riding their bicycles by a folks' house. If you are going to ask if you can stand on a porch until the thunderstorm passes, pick the house with folks in it. You'll get a dry place and maybe a glass of ice tea.

To a redneck, everyone is a stranger and a danger and a threat.
Even their dogs don't like each other.

How can you tell from a distance? Easy.

Wave.

Folks wave back.

Rednecks don't move.

Joe(best keep a'riding) Nation

you got it, raht thayar, joe.

you say 'necks and "folks", while i was thinkin' "country folk".

same difference. (and that's a real, live country sayin', ya'll. )

DTOM, just try livin around southwestern KY and you can get a first hand look at rednecks.

My husband sometimes can be mistaken for a redneck. He does get drunk, he wears a hat and at times he comes off as a racist. But there are worse guys (and women) around that makes him seem like a civil right's leader.

Most of them wear confederate flags all over their persons and in their yards and on their cars...They usually dress up in army fatigue like things and are big on guns and hunting. They're usually mean to their 'women' and want to keep them in their places. Their idea of recreation is always something redneckish, like going to some white supremest meeting or riding on four wheelers in big gangs. Almost always they have some kind of big truck with the word "redneck" or "confederate" written on it somewhere. They are extremely proud of being rednecks.

Personally I find them to be scary people and if I see them when I am out by myself I won't even say hi but turn the other way and leave.

Lastly, I have never run across one in church. I am not saying that they don't go, I have just never met one in Church.

heya, briar. ya awright ? :wink:

cool that ya chimed in here. the 'necks i'm talking about are the guys (and some gals) that i came across growin' up in KY. though i lived up around luavull, i traveled quite a bit with my dad around the ohio river valley as well as most parts south and east. did more of the same with most of the bands i was in back there.

we used to play a lot down on dixie highway, fort knox, e-town and such quite a bit. once, on the way to a gig at a huge (and i mean HUGE) outdoor kegger down by wku in bowling green, our caravan picked up a bunch o' reds at a gas station. started out with one guy giving us crap about our hair and all (he really didn't seem to like the big spider webs embroidered on the drummer's jeans...), we move on, he gets in his run down version of the general lee (with whip antenna) and voila! a few miles down the road, we've got 4 or 5 cars full of rednecks goosin' us and pulling up along side and waving baseball bats. sure enough, the good ol' cbf was on display big time with those turkeys. finally lost 'em as we got to town. too many prying eyes to kill the damn hippies in town, i guess...

we got that a lot. had hoped those days were over, but guess not.

but joe n. is right. there's a big, big difference between rednecks and folks, or country folk. good country folk are some of the most decent, honest, friendly and loving people you will ever meet. i think it was you i was talking with about working some on a tobacco farm in henry county. hard workin' hard laughin' and really good hearts there. those people were just salt, i mean ta tell ya.

but before people start thinkin' there's some kinda southern bias going on here, i gotta tell ya that one of the big shocks i got when i moved to l.a. was just how many redneck yahoos they had/have around here. we got one ol' boy that has the confederate battle flag ( most rednecks don't even know that's not "the stars 'n bars". ) hanging on his flag pole permanently.

since i still have people down south, i get over there every couple of years and still love the region. most of the folks are really good and like the idea that having been left in the post civil war malaise for a century that there's all kinds of good stuff coming in and they're the fastest growing region in the country.

but some are gonna have to be dragged kickin' and screamin' into the 21st century (hah! some are still workin' on accepting the 20th..). seems to me that some of those types are lurking around washington these days, too.

Bookmark.

Funny thing is, I've never considered myself a redneck, and I fit quite a few of those categories....

probably because until recently, loving your country, spirituality, respect, loyalty and loving your family weren't considered off limits to liberals, moderates and less than rabid conservatives.

Oh! I must have missed the memo.

well, try to keep up, will ya. freedom's on the march, and we don't have time for stragglers, dammit !

Thanks, Joe!
Feel free to drop by anytime. Iced tea's in the fridge. Make yourself at home...we'll be back from church 'round noon.

(signed) Eva
Proud daughter, granddaughter, niece and cousin of Oklahoma "folks"
(and moderately liberal...I don't think that memo's made it down here yet)

I have relatives in Oklahoma, too, and they're not rednecks. At least one supports the Democratic party!

I think there's a couple of us in every family, D'art. We're just quiet about it around here. Don't want to attract too much attention, y'know.

My sister and I were the renegade liberals in our family. About 15 years ago she moved up to Seattle, where you are, and she's in her political element now. (She lives in Wallingford.)

Thanks DontTreadOnMe and Joe Nation for clearing things up. When I read the original post, I thought to myself, "Damn, I must be a redneck". That bothered me because everything that I had hear about rednecks was different than that. What you have posted is much, much closer to what I had heard. Whew, I AM CANADIAN, I am not a redneck. :-)

There are those who are masters at the art of baiting

Seems to me though, this thread fortunately is sparse on hardcore baiting. So far, anyhow.

I just wanna weigh in with an agreement on the distinction between "Country Folks" and "Rednecks" ... being of and among genuine dwellin'-in-the-boonies-surrounded-by-fields-forrests-wild critters-and-livestock Country Folks myself. Its a good place to be, and there's good folks aplenty to be found - more than any other sorta folk, IMO.

On a lighter note, a "You might be a redneck if ... " I've heard goes; "You might be a redneck if your day-to-day transportation vehicle goes "Beep-Beep-Beep-Beep" when you put it in reverse". Mine does