[carolinajack]

no christians and rednecks are attacked more with the Imus type of vitriol than blacks and other minorities, heck most dont even talk about us blacks in the VT site like we are not even people, and gays dont get much.

[opelske]

Originally Posted by carolinajack

opelske:

i am not attacking your right to smoke, that is your choice. and i love the farmers, i dont think you read the post correctly i am standing up for the farmers against those who condescend to them calling them rednecks

I know you weren't. I wrote too quickly and did not make myself clear, I guess. I was complimenting your post -- I simply loved it! I loved your comebacks to other posters! I don't like name-calling either; it leads nowhere.

[carolinajack]

i am just saying, and I thank you Opel and ab8mi, that we should not attack rednecks(a derogatory term for Southern poor whites) anymore than use the N word and attack black people for being poor, or hispanics or asians

[KoZmiC NinJa]

Originally Posted by ab8mi

I am thinking it is the fact he is conservative that you find disconcerting Kozmic. I am not sure why you attack him. Any posts I have read that carolina has posted have all been fair and well spoken. Everyone is entitled to thier oppinion but why attack him.

"heck most dont even talk about us blacks in the VT site like we are not even people, "

You dont take offense to that ? I do...as a person who celebrates
peoples differences I find it personally insulting. Now, read it over and
over in a few different states forums and it becomes tiring.
C-Jack has useful stuff to say in most of his posts and is smart and
well travelled enough to not have to keep going to the racial stuff.
This will be the last I post on it. C-Jack...I still enjoy your outlook on
things despite this unfortunate set of replies. Ill buy you a Dog at
Cozmic Jacks if I ever see you in Charleston.

Getting back to the topic, and hopefully sort of an end to this thread...
I dont think the Original Poster meant the harm that has been drummed
up on this thread. "Redneck" is sort of a generic term for country or
rural people that has many different connotations to all people. My
family are southern and enjoy, wear as a badge of honor, the term
"Redneck" and let me know when it when they call me a carpet-
bagging Yankee . I think the OP is actually sorry people were offended
by it but it is a cliche term that is used often, like it or not. I think what
her concern is/was, and I beleive is a legitimate concern is the lack of
zoning in rural areas. If you keep your house clean and well kept
you cant say you wouldnt be a little bothered by some of the junkyard
scapes you see n rural areas moving right next to you. I think people
have a right to be concerned about it. Im not anti-redneck but I dont
want a junkyard next to my house. I dont want a gated development
filled with Hummers and BMW's either.....

[joer]

Pidgett,

Don't worry about what others think, we all get your drift. Nobody wants to be surrounded by "people" that don't respect themselves or their property. Your home is a direct reflection of you as an individual. Your going to get red neck types in all rural areas. The trade-off is higher real estate values in those more charming towns that are frequented by weekenders from NY/NJ and Boston. Also from what I understand, the real estate taxes in VT are out of control these days. You might want to consider Warren County in NY's Adirondacks!!!!

[opelske]

Originally Posted by KoZmiC NinJa

"heck most dont even talk about us blacks in the VT site like we are not even people, "

You dont take offense to that ? I do...as a person who celebrates
peoples differences I find it personally insulting. Now, read it over and
over in a few different states forums and it becomes tiring.
C-Jack has useful stuff to say in most of his posts and is smart and
well travelled enough to not have to keep going to the racial stuff.
This will be the last I post on it. C-Jack...I still enjoy your outlook on
things despite this unfortunate set of replies. Ill buy you a Dog at
Cozmic Jacks if I ever see you in Charleston.

Getting back to the topic, and hopefully sort of an end to this thread...
I dont think the Original Poster meant the harm that has been drummed
up on this thread. "Redneck" is sort of a generic term for country or
rural people that has many different connotations to all people. My
family are southern and enjoy, wear as a badge of honor, the term
"Redneck" and let me know when it when they call me a carpet-
bagging Yankee . I think the OP is actually sorry people were offended
by it but it is a cliche term that is used often, like it or not. I think what
her concern is/was, and I beleive is a legitimate concern is the lack of
zoning in rural areas. If you keep your house clean and well kept
you cant say you wouldnt be a little bothered by some of the junkyard
scapes you see n rural areas moving right next to you. I think people
have a right to be concerned about it. Im not anti-redneck but I dont
want a junkyard next to my house. I dont want a gated development
filled with Hummers and BMW's either.....

I agree and thanks for clarifying it and saying it so eloquently. Amazing how linguistics can cause so much miscommuniction or lack of it. One reason why it becomes difficult to translate another language -- we have enough discord just in understanding each other in our own language.

[opelske]

No, darstar, a sloppy person is a just sloppy person -- and they are all over the world. A neat person is a neat person. And they too are all over the world. Now a redneck, hillbilly, rural dweller. etc, may be sloppy or neat, nice or mean. In essence a redneck, hillbilly, rural dweller, etc, etc, can be sloppy or neat, nice or mean, with a good work ethic, or a bad one, neighborly or unneighborly, helpful or not, etc, etc, and any mixture of these qualities. For whatever reason they just don't see the whole picture, and yet they can be the sweetest, most helpful and nicest person on the block.

[Torrey]

I'm looking to move to New Hampshire, and I know EXACTLY what you're point is. I hate those kinds of people. Trashy, no pride in their homes, no UPBRINGING. Am I a SNOB? No, I just believe people should have some self respect and respect for others by keeping their homes neat and not have JUNK laying around creating an eyesore to the community. I have a neighbor like this currently. He makes SANFORD & SON look mild. I hate that, and I am looking to get away from that kind of stuff and move someplace RESPECTABLE. I'm giving you a Point Pidgett for this EXCELLENT post. It isn't just Rednecks either, it's all kinds of people. There's just two words for those kind - LOW CLASS.

Kind Regards from Texas.

Originally Posted by Pidgett

I have lived in rural Maine (Skowhegan) and rural West Virginia (Mingo Falls) for all my life. That is, almost 50% of my life in Maine, and the rest of it presently in W. Va. While I love living in these rural areas, and love all the benefits one can enjoy from a country life, I have to admit that there has always been a negative side (in my opinion) to being in the "boonies/small towns." That downside I am refering to is rednecks. I am refering to those denizens of rural America who live in broken-down trailers or homes with old junker cars sitting on blocks on the lawn for all to see, old fridges rotting and rusting out back, and all manner of litter and old tires strewn about. These folks take no pride in their communities and are the first ones to complain about where they live as they do not appreciate the unsung benefits of rural living in today's America. They have a most conservative mindset too. They believe painting one's house and tidying up their yards will only make their taxes go up, so they chose to live in squallor as this is better on their wallets. They usually drive the biggest pick-up possible, even if they never haul anything in the back payload. They usually smoke and are often-times big drinkers. They favor NASCAR and monster truck pulls. I won't go on. You know the type.

Does Vermont harbor this species of country dweller as does interior Maine and rural West Virginia? Are they perhaps less noticeable than in my two states? My wife and I are seriously considering Vermont, New Hampshire or perhaps upstate New York to move to due to business reasons primarily, and, secondarily, to get away from the rednecks I have been living near for all my life. BTW, I am expressing an opinion that is mine. It is in no way meant to be a slam on a lifestyle that many endorse and love to live. I am saying, however, that I do not choose to live this way, and wish to live in a part of the country (pun intended) that has less or none of it.

[Pidgett]

Hi All,

As the original poster, I am amazed at how I have been misunderstood by a small minority of posters who need to take remedial reading courses:

The posters named Joer and Torrey get the meaning of my post. So did most here on this thread. If you are not one of these who did, re-read the last paragraph of my OP. It will dispense any misunderstandings, and will dispel any myths that I am a "liberal snob racist." I am liberal. But I am NO snob and certainly NOT a racist, as Carolina Jack and some others have implied.

Pidgett and Mrs. Pidgett

[arel]

It saddens me when Vermont posts get insulting, hostile, nasty or anything like that. I sort of expect that on some NYC threads, but not on Vermont posts.

I have received nasty replies on the NYC forum, often due to someone's misunderstanding of what I wrote. And there is one NYC poster who reframes everything as a racial issue and then attacks. He has been roundly criticized for this.

But here, on the Vermont forum, I have been challenged and disagreed with, but with respect. I posted something about hunting being animal abuse on the "Domestic Violence in Vermont" thread. I expected a lot of contrary replies and I got them, but so far all have been respectful, on the order of "I disagree", etc. No one has called me any names.