Yeah you probably guessed it. After all, I am a Redneck Woman. And I don't take offense to being called a Redneck. There's millions of us, and by and large we're a pretty good bunch of folks. Ya'll non-rednecks sometimes get the idea that we're a bunch of illiterate, inbred yahoos with not enough sense to get in out of a shower of rain, but that's really not the case. And when it comes to redneck women ... well Gretchen says it with country style ....So why do I consider myself a Redneck? Well that's easy. I'm a country gal - born and raised. Spent more time around the middle-class than the affluent. I grew up near a real small country town that was populated with farmers, ranchers, construction workers, small town shop owners, volunteer fire and police departments - people who knew everyone's mama and grandmama and great grandmama (and what everyone was doing and who was doing who).
I learned to drive a tractor before a car. Rode a horse years before I rode a bus. Thought the 4th of July was one of THE most important holidays of the year, and always said yes ma'am and yes sir because it was unthinkable not to.
My favorite car was a Ford pickup that I called Blue -a three in the tree affair with a clutch stiff enough that I built up one hell of a leg muscle changing gears.
My redneck heritage didn't prevent me from earning a doctorate degree or finding a good man or raising two wonderful children. It didn't prevent me from traveling, from exploring who the woman inside this redneck is or learning things from people of other cultures outside this country. It did hamper me a bit in college French. Seems my southern tongue was made for French that had nothing to do with talking. It allowed me to feel good about myself when I wanted a chainsaw more than a diamond necklace, and a tractor more than a new car. It gave me a strong sense of self, and a sense of humor that let me laugh at myself and not take offense when others laughed or thought I talked funny.
But most of all it gave me a forgiving nature. I don't expect others to be or talk or think like me. Hell, that would be boring as all get out. I don't want or need approval or praise for living the life I choose, and sure as heck don't feel qualified to tell someone else how to think or live.
So there you have it. I'm a redneck and proud of it.
Hell yeah.
Ci
