Hillbillies – Hillbilly Crackpot

Hillbillies And Them Darn Uppity Northerners

I have often been asked what it is like to be a hillbilly. Well, the question isn’t usually worded quite that way but the query is the same. Even here in the “New Millennium” there is still quite a lot of ignorance out there when it comes to hillbillies. To give you an idea of what I mean I was asked by a relative who lives in Ohio (That foreign land on the other side of the great river) if I had ever heard of King’s Island. Another time I was asked if we could get cable TV where I lived.

Often people will make comments like, “I wouldn’t want to live down there because there’s nothing to do.” Well, unfortunately or not depending upon what you like, Hillbilly country is not the wilderness some may expect, at least not any more. Whether you are in Kentucky, West Virginia, Tennessee or some other state in the Hillbilly Nation you see pretty much the same shopping malls/centers, bars and clubs, fast food restaurants, arenas, etc as you do anywhere else. Heck we even have universities, airports and hospitals down here!

Uphill Both Ways The Good Old Hillbilly Days

Think you go it bad? When I was a kid we had to walk 10 miles through the snowy mountains to get to school. It snowed every day and we had no clothes or shoes. To make matters even worse, it was uphill both ways. I remember my parents making similar statements to me, now I am saying things like that to my own children. (Actually I have exaggerated what my parents told me, but not what I tell my children).

It’s true! The kids today have it so much easier than “we” did. It isn’t uncommon at all for a kid to have their own cell phone, a TV, stereo, game systems, computer, etc. in their room. When I was that age I had to carry feed to the live stock and draw water from a well (and it was uphill both ways).