Call Me Beverly………….Hillbilly!

I was born in Charleston, West Virginia. It is a beautiful and friendly place. I am convinced it is the only place in the U.S. that people still believe in the inherent good of others, although that’s not how West Virginians are a portrayed in the media. I once travelled there to see my Grandparents and on the way, someone in the Cincannati Airport stole my wallet. I arrived in Charleston with no money, no driver’s license, and no credit cards. I still had my check book and the kind people at the Allegheny Airlines Ticket Counter allowed me to write a check for $25.00 which was enough for me to take a cab to my Grandparents’ home. Another time in Charleston my sister and I went shopping at a drugstore and my sister got home to Kentucky and realized she didn’t have all of the items she purchased. She asked me to go back in there and let them know and pick up the items. I was reluctant to do so, imagining I would be laughed right out of there. I was so wrong, the salesperson remembered us and went to the shelves and retrieved the items my sister was missing.
Typically when I mention I am from West Virginia I get the usual jokes about marrying my cousin. I confess I hate to wear shoes and take them off as often as I can. But I have never dated, let alone married my cousins, I have all of my teeth, I went to college, my parents and my sister went to college, and I wasn’t raised as racially prejudiced. I have never called a swimming pool “the cement pond”. I never used a piece of rope for a belt. I never called my Dad, “Pa”, although I did call my Grandfather PaPa (pronounced PawPall). I never called my Grandmother “Granny” she was of course MaMa (pronounced MawMall). The new awful stereotype about West Virginia are the knuckleheads attempting crazy stunts on an MTV show called Buckwild.
Just like any prejudice or preconceived notions assuming that being from West Virginia means a bunch of negative stereotypes are true about me is not only incorrect about who I am, it limits how we can interact. Especially if when we’re talking you are wondering if I grew up using an outhouse instead of having indoor plumbing. Next time you start make assumptions about someone when you hear where they were born, take a minute and make sure you’re not limiting your interaction with them based on your preconceived notions. Y’all come back now, ya hear.