Before you go any further, read this...

Dictionary.com defines a redneck as:

1. an uneducated white farm laborer, esp. from the South.

2. a bigot or reactionary, esp. from the rural working class.

It goes on to say that redneck is A slang term, usually for a rural white southerner who is politically conservative, racist, and a religious fundamentalist. This term is generally considered offensive. It originated in reference to agricultural workers, alluding to how the back of a person's neck will be burned by the sun if he works long hours in the fields.

While I can't say all that fits me to a tee, a lot of it is pretty damn close.

You see, I lost both my parents before I turned 12 years old. I bounced around in a couple of foster homes before moving in with my uncle when I tuned 15. By age 17, I was on my own. I dropped out of school half way through 11th grade so I could go to work full time. Three months after my 18th birthday, I got behind the wheel of a cab for the first time.

I've learned more about life in 28 years in a hack than any philosopher ever could know. I've had multi-million dollar businessmen, celebrities and pro athletes as well as crack whores, drug dealers and murderers in my cab. I refuse to be an airport jockey or one of those guys that only stages at the hotels, so unfortunately, I have to deal with more of the bottom feeders of life than I do the upper crust.

It is the dealings that I've had the bad apples that has made me what I am today...

The Redneck Cabbie.

You see, to escape the madness of the city streets, my mind drifts off (not while I'm driving) to a quiet country town. A place where everyone knows everyone, and a man's handshake is as binding a contract as a person needs. A place where friends gather to down a couple of cold ones and listen to music that you can actually understand the words.

A place where young men don't walk around with their pants falling down over their ass, and young ladies don't have to dress like sluts to draw a man's attention.

I think you get the picture. I know, boring as whale shit to most city folks. I'd be living in a town just like that if it weren't for the fact that there's just not much demand for my line of work in most small towns.

This blog will reflect these feelings. If I seem a little bitter now and then, its just because that wonderful little town is nowhere in my near future, and because the life expectancy of someone in my line of work doesn't extend much past retirement age, all I can do is dream about it.

Monday, May 7, 2007

No... I'm not a cop hater.

So... New Jersey Governor, Jon Corzine felt the need to apologise for not wearing a seatbelt on the day of that horrific accident that almost took his life. I don't feel an apology was necessary, but that's a different story.

What was not addressed anywhere that I saw in the mainstream media, was the fact that the state trooper, the same guy that would tag some poor schmuck for 5 over, was going over 90 miles per hour, and was operating his cell phone, according to various reports.

Why was there not more made over this? While Corzine is pandering to some group that filed a complaint about his "setting a bad example," nobody has said boo about the trooper's extremely reckless driving. In my opinion, it was the trooper who set the poor example.

I see it a lot here in Corpus Christi. Local cops buzz around this town at breakneck speed without lights and/or siren on a routine basis. I have a tendency to get out of the way of anyone driving that stupid, but more inexperienced drivers have a tendency to freeze up or panic when the see someone flying up on them. I don't think cops should be above the law where safe driving is concerned. If they're on the way to a call, flip on the lights.

Your fellow motorists would greatly appreciate it.

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