Quote:
Originally Posted by RevBob
(Snip)
(You're going to get invited to church, and not in an ironic way.)
(Snip)
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This is probably the strangest thing, for people from other areas of the country. A common conversation-starter when people first meet is the question, "So, what church do you go to?"
The concept that somebody wouldn't go to church
at all doesn't really occur to them, right away. If you tell them that, they take a minute to adjust, and then some of the condescension peeks out. If you admit to atheism, the condescension gets much stronger.
Hmm. A lot of the counties are "dry," which means it's illegal to sell alcohol there. However, a fair number of the people in those counties do drink, and they'll cautiously feel you out to find out if you do, as well. As for social acceptability, a "beer-drinker" is just fine, so long as they keep it in their own home. Somebody who drinks "hard-likker" is considered a bit of a wild-child, unless it's "just wunce in a whahl." That said, just about everybody in a dry county who
does drink likker knows somebody who knows somebody who can get you some moonshine.
As for marijuana, nobody talks about it, but it grows excellently throughout the Old South. Basically, anywhere tobacco grows well, top-quality marijuana grows even better. So, you can get some dam' fine weed, down there, but you do
not talk about it. Ever.
In a lot of the rural Appalachian towns, people learned a long time ago that lies get discovered sooner, rather than later. Everybody knows everybody else's business, all the time, anyway. So, brutal honesty is surprisingly prevalent, and sometimes a little tough to deal with. That means, if somebody tells you he's gonna kill you, you need to leave town or buy a gun. Now.
The cops can't be everywhere, all the time, and those country roads are dark and narrow, at night.