I was born, brought up, and still live in central Mississippi. Yet, I had a "Yankee" dad, and as such, I never went camping, or hunting, or fishing, or shooting, or anything like that. Rich has never owned a vehicle larger than a 6-cylinder that I know about, and if there was manual labor more intensive than cutting the grass that needed to be done, let's just say it was outsourced.
Throughout my adolescence I generally laughed at jacked up trucks, people who wore camouflage to school, the word "y'all", and things generally used to describe "rednecks." I always figured rednecks, for lack of a better term, were not very bright individuals. In high school, admittedly, some of the girls I dated would probably have stood a much greater chance of surviving a zombie apocalypse, or any other situation where they had to survive on their own without electricity, pre-packaged groceries, and the like than myself. Ok, so that last sentence shouldn't say "probably," more like "definitely," but whatever.
From my earliest memories through college, I was always far more intrigued by Star Wars, technology, comic books, the future - things that fascinated me and kept my active imagination occupied. While everyone else thought football was the best thing ever, I liked that Euro-commie version of football just as much as NFL, even though I sucked at both.
Fast forward a few years. I have kids, first a daughter, then a son. I bought a house, and as a result, I no longer had a maintenance guy that I could call and ask to fix things that weren't working. I started developing friendships with people that weren't the "normal" kind of people for me to hang out with. A lot of times these friendships included trading and bartering. Example: My used-to-be neighbor helped build my fence at my house. The trade-off was that I was always fixing his computers, setting up his home network, and teaching him the intricacies of file-formatting and converting different types of digital media. See, Tony knew what a nail gun was and how it worked, and he knew how to build a straight and level fence. I didn't. Another friend of mine has helped do vehicle repairs for my vehicles. A guitarist in my old punk band is an electrician. One of my best buddies is a tow-truck driver who I don't think is afraid to at least try to fix anything. My neighbor, despite liking LSU, is a great guy who is always willing to help. All of these guys have helped and continue to help me learn some of the stuff I wish I knew a long time ago. Obviously, I still call them when things break, because I'm not where I should be. Still though, I'm glad I'm making progress. I no longer hide in fear of grease, dirt, and calloused hands. I actually like it now. My first instinct when something breaks used to be to Google for whatever type of business fixes it, now I at least look at it and try to decide if it's within my capabilities. Of course I do that by Googling the repair process and looking for how-to videos on YouTube.
My wife's family has land in the middle of nowhere Mississippi, more middle of nowhere than the rest of Mississippi.We go there frequently and ride 4-wheelers. I've been trying to find time to schedule a camp out there lately. She and her brother would often shoot firearms and target practice while there as well. Being around often enough, I started shooting from time to time. That led to me wanting to have my own firearm. Maybe AMC's The Walking Dead had a little bit to do with it, too. Speaking of that, I STILL need a crossbow. Initially, I just wanted one for practical self-defense purposes. Then, I wanted different types. A shotgun, a rifle, handguns, etc. They serve different purposes. I've always been like that, just like I always wanted to read not only X-Men or Green Lantern comics, but had to grab Batman, Superman, and whatever else. They're different. I don't even like some of those titles that much, but I read them anyway. I also had to have not just one Luke Skywalker action figure, but I needed the one from Tattooine, the X-Wing pilot, the Jedi Knight, etc. Again, all the same guy, but for different purposes. I won't even get into the socio-political side of the gun ownership thing, other than to say I don't think I'll regret purchasing any. Or learning how to use them.
I think part of what's been shaping me is the global, national, and economic climate. I won't lie, I listen to Coast to Coast AM. I don't think I am ready for a tinfoil hat just yet, but some stuff that's happening is really weird. Mega corporations owning most of the food throughout the world, GMO food at that, an ever-present national attitude of thinking giving up freedoms for security is a good idea, and all the other events and activities that could have a negative impact have had me doing a lot of thinking these last few years. I don't want myself or my family to be unprepared if the wheel stops turning. I feel like I have a responsibility as a dad to show my kids the way forward in an uncertain world as well. A year and a half ago, my car was totaled. The vehicle I bought to replace it? A Z71. I'll probably never need to really go off-road, but at least I know I can. The gas mileage sucks, but it's nice having the space to throw thing in when necessary. Also, I'm really hoping the next house my family buys will be outside of city limits, surrounded by some land. I just want that freedom and space to do what I want. I want to start growing at least some of the food that my family eats. People I work with do that, and aside from just gaining that knowledge, it sounds really cool to say that you provided it yourself. I need to go hunting too, and bring home some dinner. Isn't that what dads used to do? Go out and kill animals and grow food for the family to eat?
I guess I never really took the time to think about things in "real" life when I was younger. Maybe it bored me. Maybe I was too fascinated by lightsabers and blasters (both of which I still incessantly wish would become real). Maybe I just didn't want to face the fact that, eventually, people might have to live on their own, if even for a short time. Who knows. Anyway, the idea that I would ever want or need a truck, a firearm, or even a set of tools, was the furthest thing from my mind just a few short years ago. I'm still the biggest Star Wars nerd that I know, and I'm not sure how long I'd comfortably survive without a strong Wi-Fi connection, but it's almost like I'm on my way to becoming the redneck that I never wanted to be. Either that, or if the zombie outbreak happens, I don't want my son to have to see his dad asking his mom how to survive.
