Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Ruffling Up Some Feathers Out West In Deer Hunting T-Shirts

By Barry Bendis


I swear, there is nowhere else on earth like the deep south. I totally mean that, too. If I were an outsider looking in, I would understand how weird and strange some of the things we do are. I can completely understand how frog gigging might turn some people off. Then again, there are some things that seem completely natural to me, like wearing deer hunting t-shirts and riding my four-wheeler through the woods. What I once thought were the most natural things in the world, I soon found myself being laughed at for outside of the deep south.

These are normal, typical occurrences in places like Georgia and Tennessee. When you have to move out west to California for an engineering job with your family, you really have to make an adjustment on the way you live your life. You certainly can't wear a gun on your hip in California, and everyone who sees your deer hunting t-shirts are going to look at you like you're an alien from space.

It took me a while to realize that it wasn't just because I'm a redneck that people looked at me funny, either. There are so many different kinds of people out here who are trying to make it into showbiz that you're bound to see rednecks, punk rockers, and Canadians all standing in the same line for a Jamba Juice. No, you can be from the country here...you just can't be an animal-killer who wears deer hunting t-shirts.

California prides itself on its accepting nature. Unlike most of my kin back home, I have absolutely no problem with the gays. Do whatever you need to do to be happy, buddy. Liberals are okay people too if you give them a chance to talk about something other than politics. I think that I can be just as accepting as any of these other folks out here, so how is it they can't bring themselves to accept me? I used to wear deer hunting t-shirts 6 days a week back home, but if I wear them for one minute outside of my home I get told that I'm a murderer by some animal rights blowhard.

All I want to do is get through this work contract and move back home with enough cash in my pocket to buy me and the family a house. I'm not made to be out here. I miss the woods and the quiet. I miss wearing my deer hunting t-shirts where I please without anyone yelling at me. I miss foggy mornings and beers with my buddies. I miss my home.




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