My Hatred Of Rednecks...

[Crossless2.0]

In my experience, limited though it is, you are much more likely to hitch a ride after your car has broken down from a redneck than from one of his city mouse cousins. For that matter, the redneck is more likely to stop and take time out of his day to poke his head under your hood to help you figure out what's wrong. And there's nothing like rural hospitality.

That depends on who you are. Could a black person get that kind of help as easily, or a gay person, or someone that looks Arab or Hispanic? Some might not care, but others that normally would might not so much. Here in Michigan, I went to school with someone that made black people move out just a day after they moved in, by burning a cross on their lawn. Rural hospitality doesn't seem to be unconditional for many.

*Shrug* Some people would help; others wouldn't. Most people don't stop to help, regardless of the racial/ethnic background of whoever they pass along the side of the road. So what conclusion do you draw from that?

I like cities, in part, because of the mix of people one encounters there. But that mix can cut both ways, it seems to me. Yes, many people in cities might be more open to people who could be perceived as 'other' by folks who live in more secluded, homogeneous areas, but by the same token some of the most virulently bigoted people I've ever known also came from cities.