Rural communities are great in that most people go to church, have fairly high morals and ethics, and are generally peaceful people. They’re rich with tradition and are all about appearances and what is considered proper. God help you if you’re one of us who has an opinion about, well, everything. I am the person who looks at an event, for example, that has been done at 5:00pm since the dawn of time and asks “Why is this at 5pm when people work? Why can’t we do this at 6pm? 5:00pm was great for farmers wives before farmers wives got jobs off the farms. Maybe 6:00pm would be better.”
The crowd panics looking around in fear of being trampled by the horsemen. Trumpets can be heard blasting from the heavens. People are chopping wood for the fire to burn me for being the angry, dissenting demon-spawn from hell. The apocalypse has begun.
Next comes, “Why are you so angry and argumentative?” At this point, I’m usually thinking, good lord everyone is crazy. I’m the only one present who isn’t mad and throwing a fit. I’ve found the best tactic is to let them all throw down about tradition etc. Then I point out that the trumpets were just the train whistle. The horses got out of the neighbors pasture. The wood is for the bonfire. See ya at 5pm!
Middle of the Muddy Road 