On ladies

Let me just say, I'm terrible at guessing people's ages. I often can't tell if a girl is heavily made up, or twelve. I could probably blame this on cultural shifts in ideals and the progression of youth-as-fetish media, but I'm feeling extra lazy so I'll just take the blame.

But ladies here are easy to gauge: if they don't have brown, leathery skin, they're probably underage. That is because everyone (everyone!) smokes, gets tan, and has babies, usually starting from 12-16.

I just heard an amazingly pathetic story from this morning's bartender. She's really nice, she's one of the more professional bartenders I've seen here, and we started at about the same time. She told me yesterday she was worried about what to get for dinner for her dinner: was she going to cook? get pizza? She was badgered into cooking by her daughter. She got off at six, went straight home, spent two hours cooking and nobody ate. She was (rightly) quite angry.

Her daughter is fifteen. Why doesn't she cook? Does she even know how? Her mom has her on the pill, because although her daughter claims to not be sexually active, her mother (wisely) doesn't want to take any chances. I "minded my own damn business" and failed to mention that her daughter's likeliness of getting an STD will skyrocket if she depends on the pill as a contraceptive, and should use condoms as well.

Don't forget, education is a shitty here. And Good Christians won't hear of sex ed in schools. Also, the only abortion clinic in the area (pensacola, 45minutes away) closed two years ago.

If you search for ABORTION CLINICS on google maps, "pregnancy crisis centers" pop up, along with planned parenthood clinics. Good Christians lay out fake emergency numbers so that any scared girl can call and get convinced to keep her baby and fed lies about medical risks, because that's the Right Thing. Security-minded individuals will recognize this as a religiously justified phishing scam. 

Fuck alabama.

An introduction

I recently (around the 25th of july) moved to a small town on the border between alabama and florida, and spend time in both states. I work at a bar.

I moved from a small city in Maryland, up north, which is much more liberal than this place. I am going to try to post here every time i have a conflict of culture. I swear a lot, and have given up on being nice about some topics: I've absorbed a lot of racism and sexism from this area. I am not excusing my own shittiness, merely warning of it.

here are some things I have noticed so far, and will blog about.

• Racism, fucking everywhere. And no racist thinks they are racist, and makes excuses for it.
• Disability scamming. Everywhere, especially pensacola.
• Military culture. Nearly every male I've talked to has spent at least some time a branch of the US military, usually navy or army.
• Terrible home life. THe best paying jobs are offshore, leaving little time for relationships.
• Awful women. With smashed/rotten teeth, a couple kids by age 25, and a strong cultural fascination with "redneck bitches with an attitude"
• Pride. Regional pride is a strong indicator of a dying or stalled culture. There is a lot of it here.
• Dehumanization. A lot of guys say "bitches" where you and I might say "girls" or "women". even in front of ladies.
• Unapologetic alcoholism. Drinking at 8am and not even ashamed.
• Faux culture members. Drugstore cowboys and sad sack bikers.
• Knives. Everyone carries at least one knife (sometimes a pistol) when they go out.
• Family ties. A very strong force, here. I live with my cousin, and I had never met him before he called and invited me to move into his place. I was there a week before he came back. Letting a stranger live in your house for a week is some kind of trust, man.

I also might bitch about my own shitty life. My purpose is to document my time here, any changes to my personality, and get better at writing.