Country Attitude

I have come to realize that the country is not a place but an attitude. I have had the opportunity to see many places on this continent from the hills of Virginia to the pacific ocean and north to Alaska and even south into Mexico. And most of these places I have driven through so I have had the opportunity to meet and interact with the people from all over and see there homes and how they live day to day. I think that this has given my a unique view of the people from many walks of life here on this continent.

The one thing I have noticed is that country is a way of thinking it doesn’t matter if you are in the hills of South Virginia or the mountains of California there is a certain way of thinking. That is that people out in the country are generally more self relient out of neccesity, but really they are just more polite. In the city everyone is worried about themselves and their day to day grind or whether they will get mugged or killed today. That’s not to say that these things don’t happen in the country they just don’t happen so often. In the city even the drivers are rude and usually hateful this just doesn’t seem to be the case in the country.

I have been raised in a small town most of my life and really didn’t start traveling until I joined the Airforce. In that small town everyone waved as you passed everyone smiled and held the door for each other. Now that I am back in that small town I see that some of the city has bled over into this part of the country, but most still smile and wave, even to strangers.

I had a flat tire yesterday and I like to never got it changed. You see so many of my neighbors and people I didn’t even know stopped to help that I was overwhelmed with the well wishes of so many people. It reminded me that there is still good in the world and especially in my town.

So as you can see country is an attitude found in the actions of the people who live it everyday. You may not live in the country but you can act like you do. Whether you live in a cabin in the woods or an apartment in New York city you can have a little bit of country everyday. Try it, start smiling and waving at your neighbor as you pass. Get to know your neighbors help them when you can and encourage them when you can’t. Be polite, hold the door for the elderly woman coming in from the cold and share a meal now and then with someone who needs a hand up. Do these things and you can always keep country close to your heart.