Are you Redneck?
Did you grow up with Less? But didn't know it 'til you was Grown?
Was your Daddy raised on a Farm but had to move to Town to earn a Living?
Did your Momma learn how to milk before she learned how to drive?
Did you, your daddy, your grandpa or great grandpa Use to farm?
Are there sharecroppers way back there in the family tree? Both sides maybe?
Did your momma & daddy teach you to expect to Earn everything you get?
Worked with your hands for a living? Even if you don't have to anymore.
Got your face & neck bad Sunburned without having a damn bit of Fun doing it.
Ever said "For such a smart man, he sure ani't got no Common Sense".
Does your daddy still talk about getting back to the Farm, into the Woods, up to the Camp, out on the Lake, or over to the Pier ever chance he gets?
Know the difference between Hard Work & what most of us do?
Ever worried about how to "Put Food on the Table", literally?
Dreamed of owning a piece of Land somewhere?
Do your own fix up & handywork around the house?
Hanker for space in the city? need room to Roam?
Ever Quit a Job 'cause they pissed you off?
Are you opinionated, obstinate, and spend a lot of time arguing about what's right?
When you get Mad, does everbody else know it?
Is everybody else going to Know exactly what you Think and how you Feel about whatever's Important to you that day?
Do you take care of Hurt animals and needful People? Do you try your best to Fix broke things?
Anybody ever say about you - "All in all he's a pretty good ole boy" ?
Been to jail? Did your friends & neighbors say "they finally got him where he belongs" and "hope they keep him there 'til he learns better"?
Ever had to borrowed money to make bail for someone, Ever loaned money to make bail for someone or Ever had to beg somebody to come bail you out?
What's a Redneck?
Being redneck doesn't say anything about whether you're smart or stupid, educated or ignorant, tolerant or a bigot. Like ever other affiliation - we got them All.
You ain't got to be Poor to be redneck - but you got to know what Poor is. You got to have experienced what it is not to have enough of what you & yours need,
You ain't got to be Country to be a redneck - but somebody in your family was and taught you how to be. If you still on the farm, then you're a Farmer. A redneck usually done left the farm and misses it.
You ain't got to be Ignorant to be a redneck - but the School of Hard Knocks was probably a favorite teacher.
You ain't got to be Dumb to be a redneck - but Common Sense might be more important than Book Learning to you.
You ain't got to be Narrow-Minded to be a redneck - but you've probably seen Plenty of it.
You ain't got to be a Bigot to be a redneck - but if you ain't, you might of had to Learn to Rise Above It and congratulations to you for it.
Whether you're Redneck has more to do with your parents than you. More what they Taught you, than how much you Know now. More how you learned from them to Think about the world, than what you Do now. More what they taught you how to do for Fun, than how much you Got now.
If you grew up among rednecks, then your probably one too. You can't help it. You may appear urbane and sophisticated now, but you're still redneck inside.
Don't be Embarrassed by it. Surviving with a Little don't make you dumb, it makes you Wise.