And y'all thought I was bullshitting you about Macon County.....
A humor video, but these two old boy's attitudes are pretty typical of Macon County and what I run into - "If you want to move down here, that's fine, but you adapt to us, we don't adapt to you."
Right on, that's the way it should be. It's been seven years now and I've yet to have anybody treat me different because I moved here from California. Thank you for accepting me.
I was in the gun shop one day a year or so after we got here and Brent was reviewing my 4473 and decided to mess with me in front of a couple customers. "Hey Ken, where did you say you were born again?" he asked with a smile on his face.
"California," I muttered, scowling at his smug self.
An older gentleman turned to me laughing and said, "Well, you're in Tennessee now, Friend. That's all that matters, isn't it?" and then he stuck out his hand and introduced himself.
The Macon County Finger: I had to change my driving habits after I moved here. I used to drive with my hands at 4 and 8 on the wheel but I had so many people 'fingering' me that I now drive with one hand draped over the top of the wheel so I can finger back.
My sister-in-law came out here from California with her daughter and new granddaughter for a visit a couple years ago, and after a couple days I had to make a store run for diapers. I don't know shit about diapers so I took Lisa's niece with me. As we were coming back from town, Skyler asked me "Do you know all these people, Uncle Ken?"
"What do you mean, darlin'?" I asked.
"Every truck we've passed, you waved at each other!" She just couldn't wrap her head around the fact that Macon County people are just friendly to strangers for no reason other than to just say howdy to each other.
It's not just Macon County, though - I see the same thing up in Allen County, our Kentucky neighbor to the north.
I have made a couple observations about the Finger though: Women generally don't do it, and it's rare when somebody in a car does it. And it only seems to happen out in the country. As soon as I hit the 'city' limit, even before I get into town proper, it stops.
Some youngsters do it, others don't. It's the farm kids that do it, though - you can tell that they're farm kids by the equipment in the back of their muddy trucks.
It also doesn't happen on major roads like Highway 52, probably because of the amount of traffic. Why, sometimes traffic is so heavy I'll have 5 or 6 vehicles in my field of view - a man could get hand cramps from fingering so much.
But yeah, I'll be driving down my road with my hands down at the bottom of the wheel without another vehicle in sight, but as soon as I see a pickup or tractor come around a bend, my right hand goes over the top of the wheel without me even thinking about it.
Just one more reason why I love it here so much.
I love it too. It used to be like that in Warren county too. It's turning into North Nashville. I live in and love Allen county KY.
ReplyDeleteSteve in KY
Got here early 01/15, it was a great thing moving to Tennessee. Humphreys co. is a rural ranch/farming area. Same rules. You don't wave at other men's women.
ReplyDeleteThat's what we learned when we first moved to WNC from California back in the mid 70's. The country folk waved at ever' body. The college kids, not so much. ( We moved to the home of Western Carolina University.)
ReplyDeleteHow are things in Cullowhee? The Wife and I just bought a house in Andrews, coming from Waynesville.
DeleteWasatch County in Utah is the same way, even folks walking will wave at you as you drive by. Doesn’t happen on the freeway, just in the towns. One difference I have noticed and it must have been a Kalifornia thing, is that Jeep drivers in Utah don’t wave at each other as they did in Kali.
ReplyDeleteThe only people around here driving Jeeps are women. If I see a man in one, I just assume his truck broke down and he's driving his wife's vehicle.
DeleteOften part of ones “in briefing” at a new duty station involved talking about the local culture. Wurtsmith AFB was in rural Michigan and guys were warned not to get antsy if they came upon cars/ trucks stopped in the middle of the road with farmers just chatting with each other. The “inbriefing “ I got in iceland referenced how forwardly friendly Icelandic women could be, they were, oh, they were.
ReplyDeleteAround here, one of the talkers will pull his truck forward so you can weave around, then he'll back up again to resume the conversation.
DeleteIn Ohio, we call that a "West Virginia Phone Call".
DeleteLived nearly all my life in New York until early retirement took me down Texas way last year. So kindly enlighten a carpetbaggin' Yankee as to what this 'fingering' thing is. Presumably something friendly, from the context. We had a very different take on the use of 'finger' while driving up north, and I can't imagine you are referring to flipping the bird to erry good ol' boy you pass down in Hootin' Holler.
ReplyDeleteUm, you might try watching the video I thoughtfully provided for you.
DeleteKen, you forgot, "Bless your heart." Here in rural Putnam County Florida we put the hand at 12 and raise four fingers, I know, takes more work but we think our neighbors are worth it. More than a few years ago just after I had received my CCP I walked in and sat at my favorite bar and grill and when I realized I was still armed while talking to the Owner / bartender I stood up and made ready to head out to my vehicle. Mike realized what what I was up to and said, "Sit down, relax." He then scanned the room and smiled at me and said, "If something bad starts I count five guns that would come and you would make six." He wasn't counting his own.
DeleteAin't just Macon County, happens plenty across SD, though closer you get to Sioux falls, they don't "wave". Think it's more of a rural thing....and a good thing.
ReplyDeleteI grew up North of Soo Foo on the east side of the line. Everybody waved. Rural folks are just like that. Maybe it's because we haven't been jaded by jerks.
DeleteI still wave, let's people know that not everyone is against them.
Rural SD, yep; gravel, definitely; 2-lane blacktop, mostly. One finger for cars, two for pickups, whole hand for farm equipment or if you recognize the vehicle. Yeah, near Sioux Falls, and the Black Hills (tourists), not so much.
DeleteIn small-town and rural Texas the finger is pretty common as well, and also 99% confined to people in trucks. Not too long ago (1980's)Texas used to have signs on the highways and Farm-to-Market roads that said 'Drive Friendly'. And people used to; For instance, if the road had a paved shoulder, people would pull over to let you by and save you the trouble of a lane change - even if they were speeding, too, they'd pull over to let you by.
ReplyDeleteAggie - The Panhandle of Texas still has those signs as you cross from NM or OK.
DeleteGrowing up in north Texas in late 50's and early 60's, we always waved at cars when on rural highways and "farm to market roads" (that was their official designation). Always pulled over on the paved shoulders to let cars coming up behind to get by. VERY rarely did I hear a horn honk - even if the car in front was sitting at a light that had changed to green, the most that would happen is a light tap on the horn, which would solve the problem and be acknowledged by a friendly wave by both drivers.
DeleteGot those signs in suburban San Antonio, too. Not that anyone pays them heed.
DeleteSame here in Virginny.
ReplyDeleteStill wave, or nod.
Polite goes miles.
Ragnar
Rural western Virginia, same thing. The unofficial rule though is that you only do it on unpaved roads unless you do recognize the other vehicle. And there's a code to whether you wave with one finger, two, or the whole hand. Can't recall it off the top of my head, but I've seen it written down in an old newspaper article. Something to do with "just hello" or "stop and talk" or "meet you at the coffee shop."
ReplyDeleteNow I know I've been pronouncing it all wrong. It's not Lafayette, it's LuhFAYit. I stand corrected.
ReplyDeleteThe little mountain town I grew up in in California was friendly like that. On a two lane road everybody waved at everybody else, stranger or not. That was pretty much because everybody worked at one of the sawmills (there were 3) or in the woods. It was one big brotherhood of the timber industry. Then as the mills closed it changed as the good folks moved on to find work elsewhere. My final chapter in the town was when one of the mills mechanics sold his place to a pudgy little retiree from I don't know where. On one of my last visits to my P.O. box I met this guy coming in as I was leaving, and held the door open for him. Not only did he not smile or thank me or say hello, he didn't even make eye contact with me. That's when I knew my town was gone.
Sad that. It was once a wonderful place full of productive people. Not any more. The old mill site in the valley is now full of junk pickups and the property is surrounded by marijuana grows. A real Democrat Utopia.
I've heard it pronounced here every conceivable way except the way the rest of the country pronounces it. LuhFAYit, lafett, lefit, you name it.
DeleteOkay. Now I'm completely confused.
DeleteI think I'll go with LuhFAYit. It kind of rolls off the tongue.
That's the way I say it. Hard A.
DeleteYeah oilfield country is the same. My dad said you do it to show you're not a jerk and you never knew if you'll need some help out in the field.
ReplyDeleteSame thing in Robertson, Henry, or about any rural county.
ReplyDelete--Tennessee Budd
Same thing takes place in the Texas Hill Country (west of Little Moscow on the Colorado). Daughter was visiting from South East Texas and while driving in my F 350 asked me if I knew all those people I raised my index finger toand who were offering the same salute back. It's the same thing as riding down a dirt road in the East Texas Big Thicket, passing a house and the driver of the vehicle and people on the house porch raising a hand to acknowledge those passing and those sitting.
ReplyDeleteIt is a rural thing as I done it without thinking in San Antonio and gotten the middle finger salute back.
Cletus Valvecore
I'm with you, out here. Left Austin 23 years ago to move back to Texas. I don't wave on 71 or 290, but do on Fitzhugh or Hamilton Pool Road, unless faced with a long stick of citiots. Jeep wave is strong here, too.
DeleteLC LtC
By all accounts, California does something similar. They just use a different finger.
DeleteIf folks aren't waving at cars they see on the road, that's no fit place to live.
ReplyDeleteSouthern Missouri (South of I-70 and especially south of I-44) uses the finger consistently unless the vehicle is turning on one of the snaky roads and then we give the nod.
ReplyDeleteRead the article, then had to drive into town to stock the larder. Several times, going and coming, I found myself giving the index finger wave to folks and getting it back. Made me smile each time. Thanks for sharing. It made my day.
ReplyDeleteThey do it in rural Texas too…. Except you place your wrist on top of the wheel and raise the whole hand from the wrist up…
ReplyDeleteAnd primarily on just the two lane paved or gravel/dirt roads
Grew up in rural Nebraska. Same thing with the finger wave happened there as well.
ReplyDeleteMy wife and I call it the one finger howdy. If you see someone you don't like, change fingers
ReplyDeleteSame thing down here in Lower Arkansas. On the State Highways, not so much unless you recognize the vehicle. But on the County Roads? Yeah, every time.
ReplyDeleteOf course, down here, for about half the year, we've got our left arm hanging out the window. If it's Heating or AC season, we wave with two fingers usually, but one is acceptable.
And yeah... Most women don't respond, But all the guys do. We be back-roading Country Boys, and we all would offer each other a beer if we stopped side by side. (It's happened tme often enougth that I know how it works).
If you are out on the County Roads, you are part of the Redneck Brotherhood, and deserve to be recongnized as a friend.
And when the Rancher is driving his cattle across the road that runs through the middle of his property and you got to stop for ten minutes or more while they get it done? I asked them if they wanted a beer about the time the younger guy came over and was handing me one.
A Country Boy will survive.
Rural Iowa has the same habit, a polite gesture to acknowledge the others on the road. I failed my first CDL driving test for "taking my hand off the wheel" doing this.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in rural south GA. The wave was the norm outside the city limits. I move to NE metro Atlanta 28 years ago to a small non-hoa neighborhood. I would do the wave in the neighborhood and it caught on after about 2 years where almost everybody was doing it. About 10 years back we started having a 10 to 15 percent turnover rate in our 33 home neighborhood. We lost half our base in 8 years and the wave is only prevalent among those of us who have been here 15 years or longer but it is starting to catch back on.
ReplyDeleteIn rural Texas, you'll also see/do a head nod if one party is on foot. Also, hard to believe it's been going on seven years since you retired/moved. Pass on a hello and best wishes to Angel the next time y'all talk.
ReplyDeleteDon't know much of Macon County, TN, but in East Tennessee there is the Jefferson County Finger, the Union County Finger, etc. Not sure about Knox County. Probably not.
ReplyDeleteHi Kenny!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!,
ReplyDelete"10-4!!!!!" Back few spins around the SUN I too lived in So. Cal.! Then!! Funny how that goes.. the Company I worked for's CEO decide to up stakes and move lock stock and Barrel to NORTH CAROLINA... 86th Airborne country, Fayettenam!!! (as we sometimes called it!!) Anyway, had to get a residence once we got "Settled in" and my Real Estate agent was a Sampson County Country Girl ... Sure enough she hooked me up with a nice diggins but before ya' could finish a Beer........ I didn't have any "Closet space" ..... funny how that goes... Well as things would have it we would spend time at my digs and hers out in the "Country" Sampson County out 35 mi. east of Fay town...
And as ya mention about the old hand at the 12 o'clock and they'd drop the middle finger and I thought?????????? WTF? So, one day I asked Peggy... about that and she said,"" That's the Sampson County 'Hi There!!!!!'" We'll I settled right back in to bein' the Red Neck i was before I left Louisiana for the NAVY.... Man it was sure nice to be back "HOME!!!!!!!"
PS Peggy and I were together for 13 years and married for 10..... lost her to Pancreatic Cancer back in 2010.......
Blue skyz Buddy......,.
skybill
It's just rude not to say hi to the folks you come across. Especially when you are in an unfamiliar area and they check you out as you drive by. Smile and give a greeting as you drive by, let them know you ain't there for mischief.
ReplyDeleteDaryl
The Hi Sign (top of wheel forefinger raised) has been a rural Texas tradition for years. Signifying if you have vehicle problems, we will stop and render help if we are able to. You don't see it very often now, urban drivers probably aren't even watching for it.
ReplyDeleteWindow tint makes it a default wave
ReplyDeleteSmall Town Oklahoma use to be that way too. Don't know if it's the same.
ReplyDeleteIn my North Dallas neighborhood, we wave. Well, the locusts from California don't. Another thing that took me by surprise when I moved here over 20 years ago is the nod. When you encounter another man, say at a 7-11, paying up at the restaurant counter, or walking in/out the door, you nod. Sort of an acknowledgement. That move is unknown to the youngsters under 40.
ReplyDeleteOh shit, not here! The nod happens if you both are moving, but waiting in line with somebody else warrants a conversation.
DeleteWestern Pennsyltucky. We had one old farmer who lived to be in his 90's. Driving in his old pickup 20 or 30 mph on any road. Waved to him for 20 years before we knew he waved back. His hands at 10 and 2 oclock, dirty windshield with trash. He used his right pinky
ReplyDeleteHowdy, Neighbor! I'm just down the road from you, near Penntucky!
DeleteThat would be Penn Valley, CA, home of the county's first Dollar General.
When we first moved here, Lily remarked that men never talked to her but would address me directly. I explained: in polite company you don't mess with another man's wife. These are just the rules.
ReplyDeleteHere in my part of Texas there are two waves . One is the one finger with the wrist over the wheel. The other is the one finger with thumb and other three gripping the wheel. That' one tells you the front end is way outta alignment and they are doing their best not to bounce across into you as that would be unfriendly you know.
ReplyDeleteSame wave here in the West Australian outback. True "bushies" always respond, newbies and "blowins" not so much.
ReplyDeleteI drive a few oversize loads up north and use the finger wave to all other trucks. Most respond in the same way but large company robots not so much. Its a shame as we all share the same truckstops,pitstops and road information. I guess working for the big shiny boys has its rewards but once a tradition is gone it doesn't come back
Yep, my part of Texas we still do the 'wave', and there is also the 'nod' meeting somebody coming or going.
ReplyDeleteKinda late to the party, but I just read this today on a blog…
ReplyDelete“ Did you know that the index finger was called digitus salutaris, and that the ancient Romans held it up when greeting people? We don’t do that very often these days. I believe modern usage, at least on roadways, more commonly employs a different finger.”
Heh.