Before I get any hate-mail saying that I’m a poser, I’ll be honest with you. Yes, I currently live in Atlanta. Yes, I love it. And yes, I don’t anticipate moving home to Cresco, Iowa anytime soon. However, I lived on a farm for 18 years, 22 if you count the college years. I’ve shoveled manure out barn windows, I’ve walked rows and rows of soybeans to pick fist-sized rocks out of fields, and I’ve watched my father wake up at 3:00am only to don a pair of elbow length plastic gloves to help out an animal in labor. And he wasn’t going out to the barn in 20 degree December weather to tell the animal to “breathe deep.”
I always rolled my eyes at my parents’ “when I was your age, I walked to school uphill both ways” stories. Now that I’m 25 and have had the rose-colored glasses off for a few years now, I know what they’re talking about. The internet and news feeds of today make information about celebrities, politics and the general state of the world readily accessible. While I’m already in shock at the stupidity of my peers (Britney Spears, anyone?), I really fear for the peers of my 13 year old brother, especially since they have the Lindsay Lohans of the world to look up to.
About me: I don’t see the point in owning a $300 purse. My parents did not pay for my college education. First impressions mean a lot to me. I worked 50+ hours a week when I first moved to Atlanta – because I was broke. I think people who have had cosmetic surgery looked better before their procedures. I’m 5’8’’ and 149 pounds – and I like it. I’m not afraid of eating a hamburger loaded with cheese. I think everyone should work in retail or restaurant/bar service at some point in their lives. My living room still does not have curtains or anything on the walls because I’m not going to rack up credit card debt just so I can have a nicer place than my friends. I can’t bear to spend the same amount on a piece of clothing as I would on my car payment. And lastly, although I hated farm work growing up, I wouldn’t have traded what it taught me for the world – to be a money conscientious, responsible, hard-working individual who knows nothing is entitled to me. I have to earn respect, recognition and friendship on my own, and no amount of money or people connections in the world will lead to a true form of any of the aforementioned things.
Oh yes. And I also learned to always wear underwear and to take a cab when I'm drunk. So what if I didn't learn that on the farm? Thanks Lindsay and Paris!
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