Only In Mississippi...

As I was standing outside earlier, I realized just how much Mississippi, and the rest of the Deep South, has it's own culture and way of life. Things happen here quite often that are totally normal to me, but when you step back and look you realize that "don't too many other folks do it this way." To us Mississippians, however, these things are so common-place that I'm having trouble thinking of things that stand out. But I have managed to come up with a few examples anyway. So here goes.

1. It is perfectly normal to get behind a tractor on the highway (as a side note, a "highway" in Mississippi is described as any road with stripes, and a road has to be paved to be called a "good road"). Tractors and cotton pickers are also seen frequently in town, waiting at the redlight just like everybody else. There is also the occasional horse.

2. At family reunions, the topics of choice are hunting and football, but probably more hunting. My cousin drove up with a deer he had killed (8-point, not huge but still a pretty good one), and every male old enough to walk had to go out and look at it. He drove the whole way with the deer still in the 4-wheeler rack. Then a few of is stood around and held the flashlight while he cleaned it on the truck tail gate. That's what really got me thinking about all this. Non-hunters like myself even know where the best places to hunt are (Big Black Bottom) and how to bait and track deer.

3. It is not uncommon to see and old, beat up vehicle pulling and older, beat upper (new word of the day) vehicle, down the highway (as defined in example 1.) with a chain.

4. The quality of a truck is determined by how much mud it will go through.

5. Yard rolling is done to people you like.

6. I went to an outdoor Christmas program last night at a church down the road. In this small country church, the members had enough farm animals to fill every scene. The narration was done in pure redneck accent. I would make an attempt to replicate some things that were said, but letters and punctuation really cant do it justice.


I reckon (yes, we say that) that's about all the good examples I can come up with right off. I'm sure there are ton's more, and if people will be kind enough to contribute and bring them to my attention I'll be sure and add them later. I would also like to add that, despite my formalish grammar style, I talk like any other Mississippian redneck out there. Y'all have a good 'un.