I helped a neighbor build a barn today. It helped get my mind off the low-grade withdrawals that I'm going through during my taper. It wasn't as hard as it sounds -- it was a steel barn with a wooden frame covered with panels of sheet metal. The sad thing about the barn is that it doesn't look like the beautiful wooden barns of 100 years ago. It's almost the opposite of those nostalgic old barns. If Walmart sold barns, they would probably sell barns that look like this. Not that there's anything structurally wrong with it, but it's got an emergency-housing-for-cows, pre-fab look. It's a structure that could be completely dismantled, moved, and re-built in few days, and nobody would be sad to see it gone.
The hardest part of the job was dealing with the neighbor. My withdrawal symptoms made it even harder. I was raised White Trash as well, so I know the signs when I see them. This guy is from a very solidly entrenched White Trash background. Not that everyone from this region is a redneck, but he has chosen to embrace all of the worst aspects of American culture, those that were flung in my face during my childhood, and from which I have tried to distance myself, for example, by getting an education. And just dealing with his overall bigotry, especially his racism and homophobia -- "n***r this and f****t that" -- was draining. I'm not going to go back there again to help him finish. It was nice learning some steel barn construction techniques, but I've had enough.
The hardest part of the job was dealing with the neighbor. My withdrawal symptoms made it even harder. I was raised White Trash as well, so I know the signs when I see them. This guy is from a very solidly entrenched White Trash background. Not that everyone from this region is a redneck, but he has chosen to embrace all of the worst aspects of American culture, those that were flung in my face during my childhood, and from which I have tried to distance myself, for example, by getting an education. And just dealing with his overall bigotry, especially his racism and homophobia -- "n***r this and f****t that" -- was draining. I'm not going to go back there again to help him finish. It was nice learning some steel barn construction techniques, but I've had enough.