D.C. is NOT Hooterville
http://www.andrewsullivan.com/index.php?dish_inc=archives/2005_07_31_dish_archive.html#112315188688844608
(Sigh), I suppose it started with the film, "Remember The Titans". I'm told that Alexandria was portrayed as a sparse community of sharecroppers' shacks hidden in the hill country of Georgia. That was just one of several major myths the movie pushed, (along with racial harmony, Coach Boone being good, and any of us giving two shits in Hell about the football team). Then about three months ago we had those two drunkards flying down from Pennsylvania, making a beeline for the Capitol Dome, claiming they didn't recognize that they were traversing restricted D.C. airspace, as if a thousand miles of urban development couldn't tip them off. And now, we have this blurb on Andrew Sullivan's blog, written by some clown named Frank. I don't know who the hell this sand head is, he claims to be a long time Washingtonian. All I know is that either he's a congenital liar or he's so geographically incompetent that he's mistaken living in the town of Washington, Virginia, for living in D.C. At any rate, I don't care. I am just sick and tired of this mini-trend to somehow make this area into some sort of Bugtussle. Only the most coked out and jaded Manhattanite would consider this a rural area. We have between 3 and 6 million people, depending how you want to count 'em. The urban and suburban development spreads out solidly in tens of miles from the Capitol, and covers well over 2000 sqaure miles, (probably double that). We have all of the problems and all of the amenities of any large city, and we are the effective capital of the world. And this guy Frank's mewlings about some sort of rural underground are just plain silly. Yes, I have no doubt that were we to canvass the region, there's be some people with chickens. Hell, we had two chickens in the 70's, (as some of you old timers will remember). They're pets, or a hobby. Ma and Pa Kettle aren't living off chickens in Oxon Hill or Merrifield. And then there's the vegetable gardens! Frank seems to view the vegetable garden as some sort of survival mechanism. Without them, Anacostia would starve. Now, I love my fresh veggies, so do a lot of folks. And many of them raise their own - again, it's a hobby. It's not some sort of subsistence dirt farm economy. Linda's old boss lived in what is now a million dollar home on about an acre of land and guess what - he had a vegetable garden. It was something he enjoyed doing. He didn't have to do so. I suspect Frank looks at all the hunters in the area and figures we actually live in some sort of Grizzly Adams nightmare wilderness and have to hunt to get meat for our bellies and skins for our clothing. The fact that I like to write an occasional story must mean to him that I don't have access to books, living out here in Green Acres. The man is insane.
As for "Bama" - I haven't heard that term in over 30 years. If I remember correctly, it was considered at least semi-racist. But then, what would you expect from those of us living in the isolated wilderness, our time spent plowing and whittling. More silliness. You'll excuse me now, time to brand the cattle...
(Sigh), I suppose it started with the film, "Remember The Titans". I'm told that Alexandria was portrayed as a sparse community of sharecroppers' shacks hidden in the hill country of Georgia. That was just one of several major myths the movie pushed, (along with racial harmony, Coach Boone being good, and any of us giving two shits in Hell about the football team). Then about three months ago we had those two drunkards flying down from Pennsylvania, making a beeline for the Capitol Dome, claiming they didn't recognize that they were traversing restricted D.C. airspace, as if a thousand miles of urban development couldn't tip them off. And now, we have this blurb on Andrew Sullivan's blog, written by some clown named Frank. I don't know who the hell this sand head is, he claims to be a long time Washingtonian. All I know is that either he's a congenital liar or he's so geographically incompetent that he's mistaken living in the town of Washington, Virginia, for living in D.C. At any rate, I don't care. I am just sick and tired of this mini-trend to somehow make this area into some sort of Bugtussle. Only the most coked out and jaded Manhattanite would consider this a rural area. We have between 3 and 6 million people, depending how you want to count 'em. The urban and suburban development spreads out solidly in tens of miles from the Capitol, and covers well over 2000 sqaure miles, (probably double that). We have all of the problems and all of the amenities of any large city, and we are the effective capital of the world. And this guy Frank's mewlings about some sort of rural underground are just plain silly. Yes, I have no doubt that were we to canvass the region, there's be some people with chickens. Hell, we had two chickens in the 70's, (as some of you old timers will remember). They're pets, or a hobby. Ma and Pa Kettle aren't living off chickens in Oxon Hill or Merrifield. And then there's the vegetable gardens! Frank seems to view the vegetable garden as some sort of survival mechanism. Without them, Anacostia would starve. Now, I love my fresh veggies, so do a lot of folks. And many of them raise their own - again, it's a hobby. It's not some sort of subsistence dirt farm economy. Linda's old boss lived in what is now a million dollar home on about an acre of land and guess what - he had a vegetable garden. It was something he enjoyed doing. He didn't have to do so. I suspect Frank looks at all the hunters in the area and figures we actually live in some sort of Grizzly Adams nightmare wilderness and have to hunt to get meat for our bellies and skins for our clothing. The fact that I like to write an occasional story must mean to him that I don't have access to books, living out here in Green Acres. The man is insane.
As for "Bama" - I haven't heard that term in over 30 years. If I remember correctly, it was considered at least semi-racist. But then, what would you expect from those of us living in the isolated wilderness, our time spent plowing and whittling. More silliness. You'll excuse me now, time to brand the cattle...
posted by mendip at
4:17 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home