So, I’ll admit, the Salon article from yesterday got me thinking about whether or not the least misguided premise of it was true. Are rural folks making a comeback?
When I was at the airport waiting for the Man from GM to arrive, I saw, much to my delight, many teenage boys sporting the same hairstyles teenage boys I smooched or wanted to smooch when I was a teenage girl wore: the parted down the middle, falling in your face, with the slight flip over at the ends.
When I was a freshman, there were these two fine boys–Tim and… for the life of me, I can’t remember the other guy’s name, but Tim was hotter–and they had longish, blond hair they wore this way. And, often, when I was standing inside the school, right at the doors, waiting for my dad to come and pick me up, they would be standing right outside the doors, smoking.
Sometimes, when it was raining, the smell of them, the rain, and the cigarettes was just about too much for me. I wanted so much to be the kind of dangerous girl they would love.
Ah, young stoners. The boys of my dreams.
If that’s what’s coming back, the aimless, stoned, kid with long shaggy hair, GM ought to be kicking itself in the ass right about now for discontinuing the Camaro. If that’s what’s coming back, I don’t know if that’s fair to call it “redneck.” In my towns, the rednecks beat up kids like that.
Tiny Cat Pants 
Ah, those were the boys of my dreams too.
But then I ended up marrying a straight laced doctor.
I wonder what that means?
i think there are two varieties of redneck that have developed–people pay attention to whichever one they like as conditions require, either the beefier farming-type who doesn’t like the stoners, or the kind of burnt stringy-haired fellow who tortured animals in the back of the barn when people were busy elsewhere. It’s interesting because I’ve known many of both types, and we generally only do see one or the other at a time in any kind of media representation of “The Redneck”.
Oh, I have always loved me some long-haired boys. I have for years tried to talk the kids into growing their hair long. I would let them have ponytails. Sadly, they will have none of it. They usually go with Marine-type cuts.
Where have I gone wrong? They will not indulge my inner hippie.