Proper English Usage That precious village I once lived in was crammed full (all 1,000 or so people at the time) of young white women adorned in bouffant hairstyles and fuzzy pink sweaters who socialized in strange near secret organizations like Job's Daughters or the Rainbow Girls, or more public presentations like the Girl Scout's and cheerleading societies, while the remainder were given National Student Association grants for their college educations and they wore dickies. And the college girls usually were descended from families of great wealth to foot the bill for their private and very expensive educations and they assembled to see musicals brought to the big screen of the local theater.

This was an oasis, of sorts, surrounded by a huge geography brimming with the descendents of German immigrant farmers and many many people who had some immediate geneaological or geographic or cultural connection to Texas. You could tell, because even a young man who at first glance before he opened his mouth appeared nicely featured and otherwise well turned out for an evening on the town in his finer western wear once he formed the question could display some modicum of fine southern manners in public by asking, "Say, where's the toilet at?" When they ordered, when they were young, they'd say, "Gimme a coke." When they were older, they said "Gimme a beer."

For my own reasons, I never liked rednecks very much. Nor really did Frank, I think. We'd comment on their stubborn attitudes, and willful ignorance. They were lazy. They had funny accents. Like they were too lazy to say the whole name of the town they came from. They'd call it "San Ber'dino". That was proper usage, their pronunciation of the place name.

  ¶ 8/22/2013 11:27:00 AM