Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Stereotypes...

My #1 blogson is at it again. This time he links to a deconstruction of an elitist rant (no, I won't link it) against us mouthbreathin' cousinhumpers, adding some excellent commentary of his own. I started to put up a comment to pile on the pseudolectual™ (that's a JayG original right there), and realized I easily had enough for my own post.

I often like to ponder what an elite such as GinAndTacos would think of me:

1)I drive a truck;
2)I own guns;
3)I am the Cubmaster for our town's Cub Scout Pack;
4)I go to church on Sundays;
5)I ride a Harley;
6)I believe in slapping my kids upside the head when they're misbehaving;
7)I shop at WalMart;
8)I have a camper;
9)I vote mainly Republican but always for freedom and liberty whenever possible;
10)I love my country but distrust my government

In other words, I'm pretty much the absolutely cardboard cut-out inbred hillbilly redneck that "GinAndTacos" thinks all right-leaning folks are. I'm the very epitome of the flyover-country country bumpkin who thinks "animal husbandry" is what lonely ol' Zeke down the street practices when he thinks no one's watching. I'd wager that if you were to ask "GinAndTacos" what grade he thought I had completed, he'd give an answer with a single digit.

And yet,

1)I have a Master's of Science in Biochemistry, and would be happy to discuss the role of phosphodiesterase in the visual transduction pathway;
2)I live in the Volksrepublik of MA (not AL, TX, or VA);
3)I graduated cum laude from college with a 3.3 GPA - while working 30+ hours a week to support myself;
4)I have walked in the Walk for Hunger, written letters for Amnesty International, and campaigned for my local state representative (who happens to be a lesbian);
5)I've been to gay bars with gay friends - heck, I've judged drag queen contests;
6)I attended an elite private preparatory high school, taking mostly honors-level classes;
7)I'm a member of the American Chemical Society;
8)I cannot stand NASCAR, professional wrestling, or "reality" TV;
9)I don't watch TV at all, period;
10)I was on the chess team in high school, ranked in the top five in the school, and won a seat on the team by defeating the moderator - in three straight games.


So, no, I don't fit the narrative, so to speak. I've left out other details that also go against GinAndTacos' grain mainly because I don't want to appear too boastful; suffice to say, I can hold my own intellectually against the subway-ridin' Nietzsche quoters. What I find especially ironic is that if one were to turn the tables - post a list of stereotypical liberal-elitist habits - not only would I fit that mold as well, but someone like GinAndTacos wouldn't recognize the tables being turned if you hit him over the head with it...

Stereotypes: Believe them at your own peril.

That is all.

10 comments:

Andrew said...

Woah! Don't go a hatin' on NASCAR till you've been there...

Borepatch said...

Awesome post.

Butch Cassidy said...

One of my unlces works construction. Midnight shifts all winter. I worked with him for four winters of graveyards. He was a demanding, unforgiving, hard-assed, short-tempered, and hard-working boss. He watches NASCAR religiously. He just recently quit chain smoking after a visit to a hypnostist. No teeth grace his mouth. A 44 magnum sits in his nightstand. He hunts, fishes, and cusses with the best uf 'em. His english skills suck. He drives a Chevy Avalanche as a "luxury treat" to himself. Actually, he used to race a car. His nickname involves the word hillbilly. An excavator is a surgical instrument in his hands.

In highschool, he was a rocket builder, starting an Estes club. He breezed through even the most difficult math courses with delight and ease. He built a few of his vehicles from scratch. He was my favorite and most fair boss. He got pulled over by a statey once and in a rant filled with profanity and trigonometry, avoided a ticket.

We got in the biggest fight of our relationship once at 3 in the morning at work. Nose to nose, fists balled, saliva flying as we screamed. When quitting time came, we went to breakfast, he caught the bill. During breakfast he gave me my first compliment since I had started that job. Men like him make me proud of this country.

GinAndTacos can go kill a cow with a Gagrakackan tzjin anthony ks at a hundred paces for all I care. He will still not be even a tenth of the man my uncle, and those like him are.

Carteach said...

I recall sitting in a bar in Florida... Choo Choo's down by the tracks... as redneck a place as one could ever find. I was there with my buddy, both of us mechanics, playing pool and shooting the breeze after a hard day at the shop.

We were discussing the viability of seaborn nuclear power generation vs. land based installations.

No one in the place raised an eyebrow at us, and a few joined in with cogent comments. There were at least three doctor degrees in the bar, one triple doctorate, and five masters degrees.

That was a normal redneck day in a normal redneck life.

People with bigoted preconceived notions and runny mouths? They can kiss my fat pale hairy.....

Scott McCray said...

What all y'all said! ;^)

Anonymous said...

Yep you guys said all.
Except for explaining what the hell:

"phosphodiesterase in the visual transduction pathway;"

Means !!

Makes my head hust to look at it!

Anonymous said...

I have carefully analyzed your two lists and using my magic media viewfinder goggles have determined that based on the first list, the second list did not happen.

New Jovian Thunderbolt said...

You got most of your teef, JayG?

well there you go.

Jay G said...

Missing 8, actually. Should have put that in...

Anonymous said...

"Ginandtacos sounds like a misuse of the gin AND the tacos... Something an ignorant lib(but I repeat myself) would probably do...