Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2004/12/10
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Crips! Why is everyone so sensitive these days? S. Dimitrov On Dec 10, 2004, at 4:42 PM, Buzz Hausner wrote: > You're right, Marc, and I seek to retract my observation. You are not > the foundation of a stereotype. You are, however, the ultimate > idiosyncrat! > > Buzz > > -----Original Message----- > From: lug-bounces+buzz.hausner=verizon.net@leica-users.org > [mailto:lug-bounces+buzz.hausner=verizon.net@leica-users.org] On Behalf > Of Marc James Small > Sent: Friday, December 10, 2004 7:29 PM > To: Leica Users Group > Subject: RE: [Leica] But Then,Nobody From Anywhere Else Could > BelieveinStereotypes... > > At 06:40 PM 12/10/04 -0500, Buzz Hausner wrote: >> Some of us...well, some of you....Marc are the rock upon which the >> stereotypes are built! ;<) > > Allow me to go further: > > I do have a broken-down car in my back yard. (It is a 1967 Sunbeam > Alpine, > a British sports car, which needs to be moved into the garage and which > will be so moved once we sell off more of the furniture stored there.) > > My guns are all at the office, in a closet. I only own an Argentine > Mauser, rechambered to .30-'06 and fitted with a really great Ukrainian > scope. My wife, however, came equipped with everything from a pellet > gun > to a 12-gauge shotgun. She swears that she can outshoot me (I always > scored as a marksman or sharpshooter during my military service on both > pistols and rifles) and I've never challenged her on this, as she is a > VERY > serious person and might blow me away if I outdid her on the range. > (And, > no, neither of us hunt though we both enjoy a bit of venison, elk, or > moose > from time to time from her son-in-law or from my own son.)) > > I do know my age, I am not married to anyone to whom I am related, even > most distantly. But, then, I do like scrapple and eat opossum and > squirrel > and raccoon on occasion. I have had groundhog but it is far too fatty > for > my taste. I also eat escargot and oysters on the shell and eel, on > those > rare occasions when I can get it. > > And I do speak Mountain. I was, around five or six years back, in the > General District Court for Franklin County, Virginia, when a witness > irritated the Judge, who could not understand his talk. I did > understand > it: his dialect was close to that of many of my relatives. I stood up > and > offered to interpret. To my knowledge, I am the only certified > "Hillbilly" > translator in the legal history of the US. > > I am certainly not the Poster Boy for the American Stereotype, though: > Jim > Brick or Eric Welch fit that role far more succinctly than I could ever > do. > Consider: > > a) I have been awarded, from Yale University, no less, a Master's > Degree in > Classical Languages. > b) I served as an officer in the US Army, the Virginia National > Guard, and > the Army Reserve and retired as a Lieutenant Colonel. > c) I have two books in print, both of them really well written and, > in one > case, full of multilingual citations. > e) I was graduated not only from elementary school, but also from > Junior > High, High School, College, Graduate School, and Law School. > > None of this allows me to move too far from my Mountain roots, of > course: > my father's family is best exemplified by the Ward Bond character in > that > epic 1947 Cecil B DeMille vehicle, THE UNCONQUERED, while my mother's > family included ancestors who founded the first European settlements in > what is now West Virginia (I know, I know: we have been apologizing > ever > since, but no one has yet accepted this!) (One of my > fourth-great-grandfathers was "chased arouund a tree three times and > then > killed and scalped" by Native American Agrarian Reformers; his son, > who > witnessed this, served as a Scout during the Revolutionary War and went > on > to volunteer for duty in the War of 1812, where the military told off > this > dottard as a sentinel.) > > Many in my DNA strain have one foot shorter than the other, a genetic > trait > inspired by their need to walk around the hillocks of the Appalachians. > > Me? A stereotype? Goodness, no! I am just one of those who has a > great > pride in his family, though: most are good-hearted folks living their > lives as they wish and content with the lot that God has given them, > while > a few of our minor products are idiots and a few are certified morons, > about the norm for any extended clan. > > Sadly, the death of my mother and the ill-health of my aunt means that > the > family is exploding apart. Fortunately, one cousin of mine is most > involved in holding the family in a common bond. No one is doing the > same > on my father's side and I am close to being out of touch with all of > the > descendants of Garfield Small, though I, as the senior grandchild, > possess > his papers. (For that matter, I am the only holder of a signature of > William Small, that laggard who first brought this name to these shores > in > 1828, almost the last of my folks to move over to this land where the > streets are paved with, well, paving blocks.) > > Marc > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > >