Redneck Values

April 24th, 2016

 

Out of the blue, Hans said, “Dad, you taught me the value of hard work.”

 

I had no ready response, so I let Hans keep talking.

 

“Yeah, I learned that you have to work to get what you want in life. That’s why I don’t like it when these politicians (e.g. Bernie) promise free stuff to people who haven’t earned it.”

 

Someone suggested to Hans that free college wasn’t really a bad idea. Hans responded by saying, “There has always been a way for young people to get the government to pay for college. It’s called: ‘Join the Army’. That’s what I did.”

 

That’s what I did too. Hans knows that there is no such thing as a free ride. He’s been learning that the hard way during the last eight or nine years of his life. He finds it inexplicable that other people don’t see that.

 

It’s not that Hans isn’t generous. He is. A while ago, when he was making the big money in the oil fields during the boom times, one of his combat vet buddies ran into trouble. The guy’s car broke down and he couldn’t afford to fix or replace it. Hans loaned his comrade $5000 to get a car. I think that it was really more a gift than a loan, but I suspect that Hans called it a loan so as to not hurt the pride of his friend. Hans is willing to help somebody in need, assuming he perceives that the person is trying to help himself.

 

Hans is fiercely loyal. He won’t turn his back on other people. He expects the same behavior from those around him. He is sometimes disappointed, but Hans has friends who really are friends. They can depend on each other.

 

Hans and his companions are an independent lot. They don’t want much from the government other than the government leave them alone. They are patriotic in a traditional way, and if there is any part of the government that they respect, it’s the military. Also, don’t mess with their guns. Don’t even think about it.

 

It could be argued that Hans doesn’t get the whole picture. He doesn’t. Nobody does. I find it interesting that Hans gets his news from the BBC. He watches the BBC because they are relatively unbiased with regards to American politics. He just gets annoyed when they keep reporting on boring stuff in the UK.

 

Hans got wound up about government give-aways and started ranting, “I don’t see why the politicians want to give stuff to people who just want to sit on their front porch and drink beer at nine in the morning.”

 

I asked him, “So, you never drank beer on somebody’s front porch at nine in the morning?”

 

Hans laughed, “Well, yeah, I did. But that was out in the country…where nobody could see me.”

 

“Ahhhh…”

 

Hans sighed, “I don’t care who wins this election, as long as it’s not Bernie or Hillary.”

 

Well, that narrows it down.