Monday, March 10, 2008

Hillbilly Luddite Wants Return to Old Way of Drying Clothes

Icelanders still cling to the old ways . . .
so why can't we hillbillies?
Harder to sabotage...
(Image from Wikipedia)

Seldom does my tiny, utopian, Ozark town of Salem, Arkansas hit the national news, but when it does, you can bet that the entire nation will understand why I love my hometown.

Well, a fellow Bensalemite whose bacon I've occasionally saved has repaid the debt by forwarding this video of yet another denizen of our hometown with too much time and too few ideas:
Dirty trickster drops Ding Dongs into dryers

A security camera at an Arkansas laundromat caught a dastardly deed on tape: a man spiking the dryers with Hostess Ding Dongs. An attentive customer noticed the prank and alerted police and the suspect was charged with a misdemeanor. No laundry was harmed or chocolate-coated...
I wonder which one of my friends is the alleged perpetrator. Could even be a relative. And that laundromat looks remarkably like the one where my grandmother used to work . . . though I suppose that all washeterias look pretty much the same everywhere.

I do love my hometown, but getting out of that little Ozark river valley broadened my horizens, bringing me to see that the world offers more possibilities than Hostess Ding Dongs in dryers.

From living in Seoul, for instance, I know about Orion Choco Pies...

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12 Comments:

At 5:23 AM, Blogger jeanie oliver said...

Ah, the riches of Salomon's house were after all, invention and discovery through experimentation.So...the perp has a great defense through great literature! Bacon probably didn't envision discovery through security camera, though.
later
JeanieO

 
At 5:26 AM, Blogger Horace Jeffery Hodges said...

With more experience comes greater wisdom, Jeanie.

Bacon would have learned...

Jeffery Hodges

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At 5:32 AM, Blogger jeanie oliver said...

do you think of yourself as Jeff or Jeffery. or is your college persona "Jeffery" and your ozark persona "Jeff"
Jeanie

 
At 5:35 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I too have been somewhat puzzled where this is concerned. Elucidate please.

JK

 
At 5:40 AM, Blogger Horace Jeffery Hodges said...

For Jeanie, JK, and all other interested souls...

Online, I'm "Jeffery" -- but "Jeff" is also fine. Offline, I'm usually "Jeff" though people who get to know me online first before meeting me offline will initially call me "Jeffery."

Now that this point is cleared up...

Jeffery Hodges

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At 6:35 AM, Blogger jeanie oliver said...

ah, a rose by any other name...

I was just curious and bored!
Your turn of phrase(and I may misquote), "getting out of Salem", leads me to wonder, did you always want to be a qypsy wanderer and feel constrained in Salem? Did you want to see the world or escape the bonds of a small town?
Jeanie

 
At 6:59 AM, Blogger Horace Jeffery Hodges said...

Actually, I liked Salem and the Ozarks -- and still do -- but at 18, I wanted to see the world . . . and I have seen a bit of it. What I've seen has generally made the Ozarks look even better, but there's still more to see.

As a Baylor student visiting the Ozarks at Christmastime and seeing what my old buddies were up to, I could perceive that staying would have been a trap, but I've now grown enough that it wouldn't be anymore if I were to return.

Jeffery Hodges

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At 9:16 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

When I was sixteen, essentially destitute, no means of transportation, I looked around at our farm, and said to myself, "If I can ever get away from this place, I'll never come back." Guess what? I came back at age 42 and it looks as though that was my last earthly move. We have had our share of both good and bad, but all in all, we are pretty content here. There is a song that has a line, "Time had made a change in me," and after those years of seeing a little of the world while in the US Navy, marriage, work experiences, Bible College, 14 years in ministerial work, putting three boys through college, living in four different states, turns out I'm an Ozark hill billy after all.
Cran

 
At 9:41 PM, Blogger Horace Jeffery Hodges said...

Uncle Cran, there are a lot of good reasons to return.

Jeffery Hodges

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At 7:21 PM, Blogger Al-Ozarka said...

'Tweren't me!

 
At 7:30 PM, Blogger Al-Ozarka said...

BTW,

I've traveled quite a bit in my life starting early in my childhood. I've experienced life in Japan, Greece, and the U.K. as well as enjoyed time in a number of other places around the globe...and in the USA. I've been back in the hills now for 13 years.

I've lived the city life. I've lived the coastal life...on the shores of several seas.

As a middle-aged father of four, however, I am content to stay in these hills until I die. Been there. Done that. Prefer this.

 
At 9:35 PM, Blogger Horace Jeffery Hodges said...

Well, Daddio, I have to admit that the resemblance is rather distant . . . though the culprit did look thin enough to fit the contours of our mutual friend...

As for your BTW, I can surely understand your point of view. There's something comforting about the mysterious yet downhome Ozarks.

Somewhat off-topic . . . one of these days, I'd like to see "hemmed-in hollar," you know?

Jeffery Hodges

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