I saw some strange things today.
These include, in no particular order: a man wearing a t-shirt that read "Tits Clits Or Bong Hits;" a middle-aged biker chick with a patch on her leather vest that read "My inner child is a mean little fucker;" Karl Marx in a muscle shirt and cargo shorts; a mentally handicapped guy wearing hipster glasses and size-0 gauges in his ears; a group of 40-year-old women trying to act like teenagers; a shirtless middle-aged man with a gargantuan potbelly and a bushy mustache smoking a cigar whilst exposing his ass-crack to the world; a man with a prosthetic leg and Confederate flags tattooed all over his shoulder.
These people were gathered all in one place today at the Frederick Fairgrounds. The 2010 Outlaw Jam (the first and, hopefully, last of its kind) drew a staggering assemblage of rednecks, bikers, and redneck bikers. Today I saw more horrendous tattoos than I have ever seen in my life. I saw hairstyles which stretch the very definition of that word to new lengths. I saw basically the worst that America has to offer. I cannot think of another situation in which a family of Jews could possibly fit in worse.
The event was an all-day affair, but my family and I did not arrive until 4 pm when the main acts began. We came to see Candlebox, Blue Oyster Cult, and Bad Company, with Bad Company being the headlining act and the one that most people were there to see. Candlebox did not leave much of an impression on me, as I know exactly one of their songs. Blue Oyster Cult was very impressive, especially since they played at the Fourth of July celebration at Baker Park two years ago and I recall that performance as being lackluster. Today, the guitar solos were supercharged and technically dizzying, especially on "Godzilla." They were accompanied by "monster bass player" Rudy Sarzo, who has played with such acts as Quiet Riot, Ozzy, Whitesnake, and Dio.
Bad Company did not disappoint. Paul Rodgers, the singer, has not lost anything with age and the music sounded even better than it does on the albums. Bad Company is not a band that I necessarily get excited about, but they are still a truly classic rock and roll band and they put on a truly classic rock and roll performance. Bad Company is a band that both of my parents grew up with and so this was a pretty big deal for them. I, for one, appreciate the lyrical depth of Bad Company's music; with songs like "Can't Get Enough of Your Love," "Ready For Love," and "Feel Like Makin' Love," this is a band that is not afraid to tackle the more dense, challenging themes.
Being immersed in the beer-soaked heart of Fredneck only served to remind me that, although I have lived in Frederick County since I was in kindergarten, I have never and will never consider it my community, and its people will never be my people. I'm not ashamed to live where I do, but I'm certainly not proud of it either. It's not something I generally think about. The fact that I live in Frederick County only enters my mind in those rare instances when I have to deal with large numbers of Frednecks and in the more common instances when I have to listen to people from Montgomery County talk about how great they are simply because they live in MoCo.
This I can never understand. MoCo people are the only people I have ever known to a) see their county as a source of pride and b) feel a sense of camaraderie with people who have nothing in common other than happening to also live in Montgomery County. The only bearing that my county has on me is that it determined what schools I went to, and since Mt. Airy sits on four counties, it's just as likely that I could have ended up in living in Carroll, Howard, or even the prestigious Montgomery County. My girlfriend makes fun of me for shopping at Wal-Mart, but I find it more bizarre that there are apparently no Wal-Marts in all of Montgomery County, at least according to her. Why is this? Does Montgomery County consider itself "too good" for Wal-Mart? Does it even matter?
Clearly, there is a class issue at the heart of this matter, as Montgomery County is the second-wealthiest county in the entire nation. But I've gotten sidetracked here. My point here is that I hate being surrounded by rednecks, but what I hate even more is people assuming that I myself am a redneck simply because of where I live, especially since that could not be any farther from the truth.
But I'd like to hear some feedback on this issue. Post a comment telling me whether your county is actually important to you and if you have had any experiences similar to mine in dealing with people from Montgomery County.
I personally love frederick. Yeah its "redneck," or should i say "fredneck." but its not really. i mean, in moco, we have rednecks too...given theyre close to frederick... and frederick has prissies too... just not a lot of rednecks here and not a lot of prissies there.
ReplyDeletei know a ton of people from frederick who have frederick pride, however, they have no where near as much class as you do.
being someone who was born in north jersey, lived in NYC, boston, massachusetts suburbs, and then moco, plus a few other random places that didnt impact my life all too much, i can tell you that moco is nothing like anywhere else. everywhere else i lived, it was a small TINY shack of a house. not so much here... everything is live large in moco.
my cousin from missouri visited this weekend, and i took her to a local dive bar, its probably the closest moco will ever get to frederick style, but its so real, and so unlike the bars up the street from it. locals chillin mingling... i dont know. she was in like culture shock though cuz this place was RIGHT ON 355 accross from white flint mall, which is the prissiest mall in the county.... but it was like a 1 room shack bar.
i dont know. i love everything about moco. from its ridiculous potomac houses, to its shitty sketchy areas that if you stop at stop signs the cops will pull you over assuming you're stopping to do drugs, to its fine dining, to its shack-tastic bars. my friends and i rat on this "shit hole" all the time...last night we toasted "to being moco, being classy bitches and hos, and to never leaving this town, even if we wanted to." while sitting on the patio of the bar smoking cigs and drinking beer.
that being said. where i live, is a nice neighborhood unlike anywhere else ive lived... on the border of suburbia, stupid rich potomac, and countryside darnestown/poolsville. the outcome? comfortable sized houses that arent too big arent too small, a decently sized plot of land that some people in my neighborhood ignore, some have horses on, some grow crops on, and some build out into. me? i have a john deere. i race my john deere with my neighbors. then i go to bethesda or dc or rockville or something with the crew. but getting to the highway or civilization requires driving 20 minutes AT LEASTTT. so usually i walk a mile to the closest shopping center (a dominos pizza, convenience store, beer store, and small ass gym is all there is there, its in bumfuck) get some beer, and keep walking to a friends house nearby. its closer and more convenient and the epitome of my life. and everyone else i know here's life. theres always something to do, yet we always complain that there is nothing to do and how much this place sucks, find a drink, and cheers to this shithole town.
i love it.
Thanks for your comment, Amanda!
ReplyDeleteI think what I take most from what you've said here is that places, like people, have a tremendous amount of diversity across the board. People like to generalize about their towns, their counties, their states - as broad as you want to go. But unless you've actually seen every inch of your town/county/state/etc, then all you really know is your particular slice of it. It's not where you live, it's how you live.
I have many many feelings on this subject. I have always lived in Montgomery County, and I have always had MoCo pride. I live in the corner of MoCo, dangerously close to both P.G. and Howard Counties. I never felt like i fit in with the yuppie rockville/potomac rich people culture that exists on the other side of the county from me. Nor do i fit in with the culture of P.G. or Howard. I fit in perfectly with the culture in the Silver Spring/Burtonsville area.
ReplyDeleteLike you said Justin, "Your particular slice". Justin, you always felt like you did not associate with your slice, whereas I feel as if my slice is perfect for me.
Yes i have MoCo pride, but that pride derives from me being satisfied and comfortable in my slice. No matter where i live, if i felt that same comfort and association, I would have pride in that area too.
And the reason I make fun of you for shopping at Wal-Mart is because it is a common practice that frederick county citizens participate in, and i find it funny that you buy into the cultural practice of shopping there even though you "never consider it your community".
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry, but they just keep rolling back prices! I'm just not that strong...I'm just not that strong.
ReplyDelete