A Personal Note...And Reflections On White Trash Culture

I'm going to have to start this post on a sad note. My brother called me this morning to tell me that two guys that I grew up with died in a drunk driving accident last night. They were about 3 years younger than me, but they were pretty good friends with my brother and with my best friend's sister. One of them was a classmate's brother. I played Little League with them and went to highschool with them. When Nat told me about it I felt like I got punched in the stomach. Naturally I had to call Cat right away. Jacque (her sister) and Nathan could have so easily been with them, just as drunk, just as carefree. I'm pretty sure I don't have the emotional reserves to deal with anything happening to my brother, who is probably the person closest to me in the world. I keep thinking about their parents. I'm sure this will easily be the worst day of their lives, with a lot more bad ones to follow. It was also a wake up call. Everyone who drinks has driven drunk at least once. Never again. I haven't done it in a really long time but this just reinforces my dedication to the belief that walking 5 miles in the rain home from the bar is better than taking my life into my drunken hands. So please please please please please don't do it, if it's this hard to think about Thomas and Chippy then it would be a hundredfold worse having it be someone I'm close to.

And now, some reflections on white trash (WT) culture. After reading Nate's humorous recollections of the Looney Toons phase and how Looney Toons is now connected to those of the redneck persuasion it led me to think about the prevalent white trashiness in the area. There are the standard WT giveaways-trailer parks, NASCAR, the aforementioned Looney Toons paraphenalia, and Busch Light. You can be involved with one element without being considered white trash, but more than one and you're pushing it. So, if you're sitting in your double wide watching Dale Jr or drinking a Busch Light in your "Taz Team Racing" t-shirt then chances are you having some white trash blood running through your veins.

I would like to make the clarification between white trash and redneck here. Or at least tell you what I think the distinction is. White trash is a lifestyle, redneck is a choice. Rednecks (e.g. Jeff Foxworthy, my uncle Dave Z.) take pride in being redneck, and boast of it often. White trashers (e.g. Joe Dirt, Paul Hoffman) accept it as rote.

My question is this-Do WT people know they are white trash? If so, do they care? I know a couple that had a Dale Earnhardt wedding. The groomsmen wore black, yellow, red, and white tux combos and ties with 3s on them. I don't understand. Did they think this was okay? Another WT dead giveaway is bad English. "I ain't got no..." is a popular phrase. Or the plural form of you being "yous," as in "yous guys." I might be being a little paranoid here, but it almost seems like they have their own language and they're trying to keep us in the non-white trash society from understanding what they're talking about. Anyway, in case the answer to my question of whether or not WT is aware that they are, in fact, WT, I've formulated a list of things I consider to be white trashy. And before people accuse me of being a snob, I would just like to point out that I have partied at hunting camps, shined for deer, and knocked back a few Busch Lights. Doing so just does not constitute the majority of my life.

THE WHITE TRASH LIST
Regularly watches and can recite stats of all NASCAR races, probably has at least one friend on the amateur racing circuit
Can be found indulging in Busch Light or PBR (cans or 40s) regularly. Doesn't matter if it's warm, just has to be wet. Has used that phrase.
Thinks "dinge" is an actual color. Their favorite one, to be more precise.
A translator is needed to convert their terrible, double negative infused English into something decipherable.
As Nate said, they own at least one article of Looney Toons clothing. The diehards have Looney Toons tattoos.
One word-Mullet
Shining for/chasing deer is a regular Friday night activity. (This is actually really fun)
Goes to Jr/Sr keggar or any highschool party when they're 27 years old and think nothing of it.
Have lived and plan to live in Marenisco or Wakefield, MI your entire life. We're talking never ever getting out.

There are ALOT more things to be added to this list, but I don't want to go into all the standard white trash cliches like White Castle and corndogs. I'm speaking solely from my white trash experience. I, as an International Studies major, am very interested in other cultures and WT culture is one close to home. Perhaps I can prepare my master thesis on this subject...

By the By-If anyone who is reading this either does not want a link to their blog on my page or they want theirs added let me know.