Thursday, April 23, 2009

Yes, Virginia or the Number 2


Dear Editor,
I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say that people cannot have a garage door on their ceiling. Papa says, “If you see it in The Sun, it’s so.” Please tell me the truth; can people have a garage door on their ceiling?

Virginia O’ Hanlon




Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe even what they see. They think there is nothing can be comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole truth and knowledge.
Yes, Virginia, people can have a garage door on their ceiling.






I asked a question of you all the other day.
I wanted to know how you defined the terms;
*Redneck
*White trash
*Blue collar
*White collar
I was poking around, trying to find out how you would define me, what color I would be—after this post.


This post will seem to go on forever, ignore the voice in your head that says you have better things to be doing.


My parents were both raised on farms and couldn’t wait to grow up and leave that life behind. They are/were very intelligent (book smart) people. Smart to the point that their social interactions with others weren’t very good and as a result only ever had a small circle of friends. My Dad was a civil engineer and my Mom was a R.N.I am the oldest and only birth child in my family. I really only had a couple of friends before I went to school, I had a pretty secluded childhood. So secluded that I had read the dictionary through to the “H’s” by the time I was 4. We didn’t have a television in my home till I was 5. My home was filled with classical music and lots and lots of books. Mozart clears my head, Beethoven speaks to my darker side and Bach makes me smile. Debussy is my favorite composer to play on the piano. We were not fantastically rich but we were comfortable. I went to college for a year and a half until I got mono and had to go home.


My point is, that I was raised to be a cultural snob, (I promise I am not—but my Mom keeps the hope alive) raised in what I think is considered to be a very white collar home.




In 1986, I married my husband. We moved around a lot in the first 8 or so years of our marriage; Alaska, Utah, Louisiana and finally Montana. During those 8 years, we always rented. When we moved to Montana we bought 10 acres of land and this****

***That is a little 5 year old Natalie in 1994***


Yes, Virginia, this is a garage. When we bought the 10 acres, this was already on it, not quite finished but we thought it would be great. We would finish the garage and move into it temporarily while we built our house, up on the knoll that I am standing on to take the picture above. The picture below was the view we would have from the house when it was built.




This concludes Part 1 of a 2 part series. We hope you’ve enjoyed your trip. Please remain seated till the story has come to a complete stop and thanking you for flying Garage Door Airlines.

P.S. I TOLD you guys I was a whiner—sheesh!! Sorry though—I WAS a little out of control. Nothing but pearly whites from here on out—hope you had a happy Thursday!

34 comments:

onlymehere said...

I can hardly see where this journey leads you and me!! I'm staying tuned.......

Carla said...

Ok, I'm caught up-whew-what a ride!
And now you leave me hanging.
Cruel, just cruel!
Loving your view by the way:)
Oh yeah, its April 24th,
WHERE IS PART TWO????

Anonymous said...

I'm going to make a quick judgment...you my dear are none of the above! You are sweet, kind, and funny!

There!

Susan Anderson said...

Lovin' the "Yes, Virginia" parody, to say nothing of the autobiographical information. Can't wait for tomorrow!

=)

Karen Sue said...

I think you hide that whole snob thing quite well. There is hope at the retirement home that you can DEMAND people to wait on you hand and foot...they might not know any better yet. I've often wondered how many chins would disappear if I raised my nose a notch or two. Have a sunny day...

Nana said...

Reading the dictionary huh? You sound like my son in law.

My neighbor has a very modern home.
He has a glass garage door that leads out onto his deck. When it is open he has a garage door on his ceiling!

tiki_lady said...

I have seen on PW's website her sister betsy wetsy has this amazing modern home in some city and in order to let the light in from the upper levels, she has glass reflective garage doors that when you open it, you can eat on the terrace! it's amazing and it is off of her bedroom so she can sleep under the stars too. Ok, where is this story going to take me. I cant wait.

chelle said...

I'm hooked!

"Yes, Virginia" parody, so cute. m

CB said...

I can't wait for part 2!
BTW I love Montana it is beautiful country!

Little GrumpyAngel said...

interesting part 1. i will most definitely be back for part 2. i am really curious about the garage in your ceiling story now.

i love that you use Virginia-Santa Clause approach for this post. very creative!

tammy said...

Wow, 10 acres! Looks so pretty. I want to see a pic of the house that you built.

Great post.

Unknown said...

Oh man....I just want a small (I mean smmmmmmmaaaaaaaallll) corner with that view, I promise you don't have to share much!

Well I can't promise to keep my hands inside the car, but I'm hooked on the ride..

I want more of Virginia!

DesertHen said...

Can't wait to hear the rest of the story...=)

tammy said...

Redneck = good ol' boys. Not necessarily a bad thing.

Whitetrash = my former neighbor that would have babies just to collect welfare assistance. Whitetrash people may also have an old sofa in their front lawn, as well as various broken down cars adorning their lawns as well.

Blue collar - Hard working men who most likely work with their hands, don't have to wear suits, and work hard for their money.

White collar - Bankers, CPAs, lawyers etc.

{Three entries for me now!}

Jan said...

Redneck - they are laid back and not worried so much about what the world thinks.

Whitetrash - Paris Hilton and sorry but Nancy Pelosi right now.

Blue collar - Love them. Hard working men that has family and God and country on his mind.

White collar - Those who go to the dry cleaner more in a week than I do in a year.

You are so funny Lisa.

Jan said...

Answered questions, follow, answer more questions, link so

good for 4.

Susan Anderson said...

Okay. Here goes:

redneck- the guys in deliverance
white trash - the guys in deliverance
blue collar - policeman
white collar - priest

heehee

Mikki said...

OK, I am practically positive I commented on this post way back when with my thoughts on those things. Hmmm, where did my answers go??????????
sigh.
Well, here I go again. Hopefully I do it right this time. I hope I haven't been leaving you comments that aren't getting through. Maybe I'm stuck in some wierd limbo dimension of the blogosphere and don't even know it?????? Yeah, I think I've lost my marbles.
OK, here we go:
Wait a minute, I think I just discovered where that comment is at. I'll be right back....

Mikki said...

Nope, it wasn't there. I've completely lost my mind. Ok, anyway:
Redneck: to me is someone who is perhaps ignorant, just your good ol' boy type of person.
White trash: someone from the wrong side of the tracks, this person is probably who I most closely associate myself with.
Blue collar: the working man (or woman), who really works hard for his money. America's laborers.
WHite collar: the guys who sit behind desks, pushing pencils. Don't get their fingers dirty doing their jobs, no callouses on their hands.

Annette Lyon said...

Redneck and White trash--they're both somewhat geographical to me. Redneck would be more from the South, but someone with little education or polish from another area might be considered white trash. White trash is more derogatory, though.

Blue collar--just someone in a more hands-on job that doesn't require an education.

White collar-what the vast majority of careers are nowadays--ones that require education.

Fascinating question.

Kris said...

Love your blog. Can't wait to hear the rest of the story.

Redneck: Anyone that thinks it's okay to marry relatives.

White trash: Anyone who actually marries a relative.

Blue collar: General labor

White collar: No labor

ikkinlala said...

Redneck: Someone who favours activities or types of entertainment that are considered unsophisticated by the mainstream. Can connote a lack of education, but the only place I've ever been called a redneck was at university. I'm aware of historical connections to the American South, but that's not how the term's used here.

White trash: Someone (white) who abuses the welfare system.

Blue collar: A working person with a job for which people tend to shower at the end of the day.

White collar: A working person with an office or professional job. As much as I'm tempted to say "with a job for which people tend to shower in the morning" for the sake of balance, I think there's a huge group of people who wouldn't fit into that classification scheme. For instance, I wouldn't consider teaching kindergarten a white collar job.

...Laura... said...

I'm still trying to catch up on all my reader blogs, so here goes-

redneck: Crazy inbreeding cousins who live in the woods and eat wild rabbits and wear overalls and have weird birth defects, bad teeth, and accents

white trash: my family(jk) and most of the rest of montana! haha! People who have at least 4 broken down cars in their front yard, next to the pile of dirty diapers and three legged dog while their 6 children from different dads or moms run around the yard naked for hours, and they all go in to town not caring what they look or smell like.

blue collar: public service workers, bus drivers, garbage men, etc.

white collar: people who live in big cities and work in high rises and are required to wear suits to work...aka... nobody in Montana!

LKP said...

ok, i found you by way of jan. i'm not sure anyone wants to hear my version of what the 4 terms mean to me, but just to humor you in case you DO want to hear my thoughts:
1)redneck... i myself have some redneck tendencies (i love me a good rodeo, some country music, and working on cars where ever they stopped-not strictly out of site in a garage...could be the side of the highway, my front lawn-if that's where the car died of course, or the middle of the street) perhaps that makes me more just plain jane country though....no really, though, redneck is more than just nascar & big trucks & the smell of diesel & tractor pulls & boots...well maybe that's a lot of redneck life, but rednecks say what they're thinking and leave no sugar to it. they're a get right to it, and move on kinda people. no bull, really. they don't have time for bull. they've got things to hunt, things to fix, good family time to get in, and life to love! spent several awesome years on a farm so far from my church & school friends that very few times was i able to hang out with them since their parents didn't want to make the trek to come pick them up. but life was good then. i remember wanting to live in town so badly, and now i really wish i lived out there again! life's slower paced & richer in experience & luster as a redneck. it feels more wholesome, and connected to my roots. so i guess i'm pretty redneck, i just happen to be living on the edge of a town, in a suburby area...can take the girl outta the country, but ya can't take the country outta the girl!
2)white trash is a term most often used for someone with a complete lack of self-respect inwardly with an obvious outward expression of it...as in why just stop with lack of self-respect, how about complete lack of respect for EVERYTHING. (wow this is going to make me sound like such a jerk)...often the lack of respect is obvious in an unkempt yard/property...unkempt physical hygiene...unkempt genetic make-up (as in, hey my brother's lookin hot...so's my uncle...wait my uncle IS my brother...oh well, still looking hot)...does that make sense? honestly too, white trash don't have to live in a ghetto to live this way. we've lived in many different places, whether its city or country or in between, white trash is everywhere, and it seems to be a way of living that is passed on from one generation to the next.
3) blue collar: that would be my dad. he's not the typical detroit-area factory worker kinda blue collar, but he had very little by way of college education (maybe 1 yr if he was lucky), and ever since then he's worked his knuckles bloody for everything he has. when i'd go see him every other weekend, i used to think "oh course we're blue collar! dad's work shirts are pale blue & have a collar!"...but its so much more than that. blue collar shares many things with redneck, in the sense that life means more cause they've had to work harder to hold on to it. they work for the man, and stretch to make ends meet without respite. there's not much room for vacations, or extra fun things that cost money, or to be sick for that matter. gotta work to live. the little time to exhale they squeeze in where they can. they wake up early for work and come home at dusk, just in time for family dinnertime, then do what they can to help out whether its help clear the table, or quick-change the oil in the car, or take the trash to the curb...usually they can spare only the brief moment to lean over and kiss the kids on the forehead as they pass by the homework laden table. they retire late, exhausted, and wishing they'd had more time, only to awake 4 hours later to start another day. THAT was my dad, and he is truly blue collar.
4) White Collar: i can't act like i'm an expert on white collar, since i'm nowhere near there. but from redneck-bluecollar ville in which i reside, white collar appears to have things more starched & organized. hair's always in place, children are well-groomed, all with belts & tucked-in shirts. seems only one must work outside the home in a white collar family. suits & ties, briefcases. kids are in EVERY sport & dance/musical class available. parents don't miss a single game/event. usually the moms are up to their neck in appointments-juggling those for the kids' activities, their own of PTA, luncheons, & spa or yoga class (don't get me wrong, i'd love to do all those things if i could 1st of all afford it in $$$ as well as in time-the difference is that somehow those ladies CAN!). white collar kids are more "cultured" in music & reading & language.
All in all, these differences are great as they teach us tolerance one for another. this little exercise has been helpful for me in recognizing just where i really fit in as a daughter of God, and that as neat as it would be to have all i see with white collar, it would really be too overwhelming for me and God knows it. so i'm okay as a redneck-blue collar (and i'm pleased to not fall into the white trash category). NOT judging, just saying i see where i am, & where i could be if i made decisions even the slightest bit different. Thanks. I'm glad to be me, raising my daughter as well rounded as i can without losing my mind over it. =)

nikkicrumpet said...

Hmmm...lets see....definitions.......Redneck: a person with a loaded gunrack in his truck, a coon dog in the back, and a southern cross flag flying from the antenna

White Trash: a person who trades his food stamps for cash so he can buy drugs and beer, and the weeds are so high you can't see his trailer from the street.

Blue Collar: an average Joe..working hard for a living..just trying to support his family and make a good life.

White Collar: the people who prey on the first three hehehe. No that's not fair because my hubby is "white collar". Ummmm people lucky enough to have parents who could pay for college, and lucky enough to get a good paying job that doesn't require them to sweat.

Da Bergs said...

You are one of my VERY favorite bloggers, so you are NOT a snob!!!

Okay, following the rules... want to be entered 4 times and WANT TO WIN!!!

Redneck ~ this one is tough for me... I was raised in Texas and to ME, a redneck is a good looking cowboy that uses the word aint.

White Trash ~ Okay, you asked for it... this is a white person that has NO morals or values!

Blue Collar - Someone who didnt have the opportunity to go to college but works hard for his family!

White Collar - um, someone that is driven and blessed... how's that?

Okay, on my way to follow the rest of the rules... more questions!

Messy Jess said...

Red Neck - Jeff Foxworthy

White Trash - pretty darn close to red neck but more like a trailor court thats run down

Blue Collar I always thought that was the working class

White Collar I'm assuming it's the really rich people??

Sher said...

Redneck: someone who works outside, therefore getting a sunburn and getting a "red neck"

White trash: I think of a 40 year old bimbo with missing teeth, lots of eye-liner, teased hair, mini skirt, and wife-beater tank top that doesn't cover enough from the top or bottom, smoking a cig, wearing 4 inch heels, and drives an El Camino.

Blue collar: My husband. Someone who works in the "manual labor" industry. Construction workers, auto-mechanics, garbage men...

White collar: Someone who works in a bank. A suit.

Jess the photographer behind the lens at JWilsonPix said...

I so love the view from your house!!! How awesome was that!!!

Ok so ...

redneck; someone who uses duct tape to fix everything....if they cant afford to get the right stuff to fix whatever it is right then... (I think I fit this one...lol...)

White trash; to me is people who abuse the system, who dont care to make the world a better place and who expect everything for nothing from everyone.

Blue Collar; people who work in manual labor jobs.... the foundation of our country... the people who work in factories and construction type jobs

White collar; people who have to wear suits to work.... thus the white collar.. =)

*** LOVE your background by the way!!! Is that the San Diego temple?...

onlymehere said...

Redneck - Brandon, he's a roofer and his neck burns all the time.
White collar - Larry's church shirt.
Blue collar - us. We're definitely blue collar workers.
White trash - definitely us bz our neighbor told us we were! Granted he said this bz we hadn't put our yard in yet when we built the house. Mom had died and we paid her funeral costs and it definitely made us short on $$$ so we waited until the next year to put in our lawn. Can I say, he was also our home teacher and we celebrated when he moved?!

Kritta22 said...

Redneck- Have you seen redneck wedding? This is my definition. If the after ceremony activites involve Budlight and mud.
White collar- I'm going to say people that dress up to go to work.
Blue collar-The guys that are on Dirty jobs
white Trash-trailer trash is inchangable...most of the time without teeth and on welfare.

Anonymous said...

Redneck: When your wedding attire is camouflage

White trash: Someone who drinks and smokes while pregnant

Blue collar: Average America

White collar: Not average America

luckydolls123[at]verizon[dot]net

Anonymous said...

Well I've come back to answer the questions and satisfy my selfish desires to enter a totally AWESOME and GENEROUS giveaway!

Yowza Lisa! You have outdone ??? Too many to name GF.

Redneck: Someone who says "Git 'er done" all the time.

White Trash: Anybody who says, "Where da heek is my-ine!"

Blue Collar: Anybody who says, "If you build it, they will come."

White Collar: Any criminals, I mean, anybody who works for AIG.

heh heh

I still stand by my original comment, you Lisa, are NONE of the above. You're just too real and sweet! :)

Shauna said...

YAHOO! Number 4 is the BEST :)