My great-grandfather James Burton Hankins was a dirt farmer in rural Fayette County, Alabama, and a fire-and-brimstone Baptist preacher on the side. I never met Grandpa Jim, as he died in 1950, four years before I was born. Dad, Mom, and my grandparents told me many interesting stories about him.
I’ve seen pictures, and he was an imposing figure, standing somewhere around six feet five. That was very tall back then and still is. My father inherited the tallness genes, yet my brother and I took after Mom on the shorter side.
Grandpa Jim didn’t mince words, while I took after him in that respect. A bucket of manure was called a bucket of manure and still is, as my brother and I were never allowed to use the S word.
Political correctness wasn’t invented that far back, as some of the comments my grandparents used still have me chuckling to this day. My favorite is ‘shacking up,’ which I only tell people when my wife is around. Joleen deplores that remark and quickly launches into an informational about how long we’ve been married: 49 years and counting.
Some other terms my grandparents and parents used were ‘illegitimate child’, although I can see that one not bein’ accepted, as it was no fault of the child that parents weren’t married. ‘Shotgun wedding’ is one of my favorites. Living in sin was often mentioned, and that’s still very relevant.
Sometime back I spotted a small sticker on the rear window of a beat-up car that read: MEAN PEOPLE SUCK. I’m not sure that Grandpa Jim ever owned a car, but if he did, that’d be a sticker he’d place on it. My wanting to know whether mean people suck is referenced in the Bible; I looked it up and found that Proverbs 15:9 comes close.
“The Lord detests the way of the wicked, but he loves those who pursue righteousness”.
I’ve encountered mean people throughout my life, many of whom took their anger out on children, spouses, pets, and even strangers. This meanness is sometimes fueled by ‘liquid spirits,’ although most of the time it’s the spirit of Satan dwelling inside of them. I took the person driving this vehicle as being kind-hearted, although they could’ve just bought it with the decal.
My former pastor in Anchorage, Dr. Jerry Prevo, was small in stature, but I saw him stand up to larger, unruly characters over the years. He never backed down, although the left-leaning ‘Anchorage Daily News’ constantly waged a war against him for unapologetically preaching the Gospel and stepping on people’s toes. Sadly, that city has now joined the vestiges of other Democrat ruined populaces, to put things bluntly.
It’s not the case in this town yet, or in many states in the Bible Belt of the South, but there’s a growing movement in the East to ban preaching the Holy Bible on the same lines as hate crimes.
If you spot a fish emblem on the back of a car or truck with Darwin written in the middle, you’ve undoubtedly just encountered one of those indoctrinated atheist types. They didn’t just buy the vehicle this way because any knowledgeable person would promptly remove it.
Some will now say, “Gee, Mr. Hankins, you sure can make up a good story based solely upon mean people decals and plastic Darwin fish emblems!” Yes, I can. It’s called stereotyping, and I’m an expert here; just ask my wife.
One of my favorite people to stereotype is those riding Harleys with ‘ape-hanger’ handlebars. I tell Joleen that they’ve watched “Easy Rider” just a few too many times. Real bikers won’t disagree, or at least the honest ones!
Another good story that hits close to home.
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