Don't Guns Make It More Dangerous Out There?

This one's for all the weenie-tots and ferners (Ferner is a word the people of Kentucky frequently apply to anyone who was born outside of the county. The actual word should be foreigner, and I am one since I wasn't born in the Commonwealth. The 27 years I've been in this part of the country are irrelevant). In this particular case, I'm using the word ferner to refer to people from urban areas, and people from outside the United States, both of whom often have trouble understanding the gun culture of much of the United States, especially in the rural areas.

The first statement such people usually make is that if the bad guys don't have guns either, then no one would have guns, and things would be safer. When I stop laughing, I try to enlighten them. Most are not interested. Here's the reality:

1) I've never had a problem with felons with guns. If they display it in a manner that's obvious, that's a long stretch in jail. That's not about to happen. Also, they are mainly drug dealers who only want to protect themselves and 2-bit thugs who only pick on the weak. The fact that I am still alive speaks to the fact they they are not that violent. I know, this is contrary to what the city folk in the United States know, but in flyover country, it is generally accurate.

2) Law enforcement is an hour away, sorry, I can't wait that long.

3) My main problem is self-centered narcissists, both the locally grown druggie type, the local nobility and those that come down to vacation. For some reason, you find these people running around in packs or a half dozen or so. They also usually have a like number of large dogs running with them who occasionally run off to attack someone's pet, much to the amusement of these sub-human life forms. In other words, typical inner city wanna be thugs with dogs added. And, let's not forget the coyote attack of a few months ago that cost a child it's life. Carrying a sidearm seems like a logical decision in such circumstances. Amazingly, groups of wannabes tend to avoid people who might be armed, and thus able to cause them problems. Of course a better one would be for the police to act. But, that would cut down on the profits of the local nobility, so that's not about to happen.

Hillbilly Politeness

For some reason, the people here pride themselves on being polite. Unfortunately, they don't have a clue what that means.
An example might be in order. The other day, I was out working on my house. The quarantine has given me a lot of time to catch up on things. I was using power tools, cutting wood for my porch, when a power company truck drove by. They said hello and waved. I waved back. Seemingly, just a friendly gesture. That is, until they stopped 50 feet down the road to cut off  the power for a half hour. 
I understand the need to cut off the power, I really do, but what mental midget would insist on saying hello to someone actively engaged in using power tools, and then not tell them they were going to cut off the power? The type of mental midget that has a psychotic need to be seen, but really doesn't give a crap about anyone else, and even takes pleasure in causing problems, as long as they can remain the "polite" one. That's the kind of mental midget.

When Ohio Returns to East Kentucky

Well, the Ohio people that were hiding across the street have reached the end of their quarantine period. How can you tell? Easy, when they were under quarantine, they stayed quietly in their house, except when they went travelling by lawnmower to visit neighbors. They parked their truck alongside of their house. Maybe because trucks become invisible if they are more than 5 feet from the road.
Anyway, now that the quarantine period has lifted, they have moved their truck right next to the road and they have taken to going outside and screaming at each other.
I guess the only thing that makes people from Ohio act like human beings is the threat of arrest.

The New Normal

Things are quieting down in the Eastern part of the Commonwealth. There are rumors that the lockdowns and store closures will end soon. The hillbillies have responded in their normal fashion. With utter stupidity.
The 4 wheelers and golf carts have been out and about non-stop, and people are now visiting relatives they haven't seen in a couple of weeks. In the stores and about town, social distancing has become a thing of the past. Basically, everything has turned back to normal.
It will be interesting to see if there is a spike in illnesses in the next couple of weeks.
Whatever happened to don't panic but exercise common sense? The people of the hills went from buying all the toilet paper, water, and milk, to ignoring everything in the course of 3 weeks. That in itself I would understand. They're stupid. But, they are still buying all the toilet paper, water, and milk while ignoring the problem. They seem to be perfectly happy to keep both contradictory ideas in their heads simultaneously.
Of course, there is always the possibility that they want another round of the disease to spread. After all, unless you're in a nursing home, most people survive. Quiet a few more than survive the average, drunken, Friday night. Unemployment has been massively expanded, so they get a free paid vacation, and if Grandma dies, they hit the lottery when they get to sell her house. Life among the hill people makes one cynical.   

Police Don't Social Distance

What to do when those who are supposed to enforce social distancing refuse to social distance themselves?

The other night a police officer in Albany, Kentucky decided to explore the local talent in his squad car. No one would have been the wiser, except that this individual was a hillbilly as well as a law officer. Something was bound to go wrong. In this case it involved the radio mike being keyed during his amorous interlude. Now, bear in mind, that it a rare hillbilly home that doesn't have a police scanner. So, the other night, a large portion of Albany, Kentucky was treated to cop radio porn. From all reports, they were rather loud.

More Ohio Hatred

Well, some of the Ohio people came back. They were supposed to stay in quarantine for 14 days, but they managed 5. Yup, Ohio people need constant stimulation or they die apparently, or that might be just wishful thinking on my part.
But Ohio people know that they are hated, so they don't want to just flaunt quarantine. After all, Andy might go Louisville on them, and they might end up with ankle bracelets. What to do?
Well, the law is not totally strictly enforced. People in Kentucky try to be nice. So, if people are doing things, like working on their houses, they generally aren't going to be bothered. So, yesterday saw the sight of Ohio people visiting in the neighborhood across the way on lawn mowers. You got it. Let's not just walk and be quiet about it, let's drive the neighborhood on lawnmowers. And people wonder why I hate Ohio.
Of course, it's the neighborhood across the way, so, I'm not going to bother about it. Maybe the Ohio folk will get what they deserve. I would mention that the neighborhood they are wandering around is the neighborhood that Somerset's finest lives in, but that should be expected.

The Things You Find Out

It's amazing the things that occur during a time like this.
My little subdivision has a strange character. It started life as a small collection of family farms, started turning into a subdivision, stopped that growth, then all the spaces that weren't filled with farmers or residents, filled up with tourists.
In any event, like most places like this, there is always that strange house. The one that has lots of visitors who only stay for a short period of time. It makes you wonder.
Times like this tend to eliminate the wonder.
Now, the traffic is no more. The first week, no one went to the house. The second week, there was some 4-wheeler traffic, but they didn't stay long, and didn't repeat their trips. By week three, people would walk down to the house, usually surrounded by a flock of large dogs. They too didn't repeat the visit. I guess the house is out of whatever they were going there for.
I wonder what that is.
I would make a comment about the police officer who lives in the neighborhood, but if you've read my blog, you know about the cops of Appalachia by now.

Ankle Bracelets

Apparently in Louisville, if you break COVID - 19 quarantine, you get fitted with an ankle bracelet, and made to stay home. It sounds like a logical response.
Those screaming about the loss of liberty obviously have no sense of history. Compared with what America has done in the past to those with smallpox or the Spanish flu, people are being quite tame now. And honestly, if you test positive for a contagious disease and then put others at risk, you should be charged and tossed in jail.
100 years ago, people with contagious diseases obeyed quarantine orders, often in a place of the state's choosing. If not, they were lucky if the police got to them first.Now we are much kinder and more sympathetic. The result, instead of thinking about their families and community, everyone is running around licking groceries in order to get some hits on Facebook, and because no one can tell them what to do.
When the Founding Fathers stated that our system of government was only fit for a moral people, they didn't mean that only a moral people could keep the government in check. They meant that a moral people could have a relatively free form of government. An immoral people need constant draconian laws if they aren't going to destroy everyone and everything around them.
When you look at the fact that Louisville has 10% of the Commonwealth's population and almost 50% of the cases, you can see why the government there thinks that ankle bracelets are a good idea.

Quarantine Selfishness

Of course, Kentucky is not the only state that is having problems with out of state types. It seems a lot of tourist areas are getting slammed.

Again, I would understand if people ran to a rural area to get away from the disease and then sheltered in place, but to run to a tourist area? It doesn't do anything to help and puts others in danger. Which is just what is to be expected from most of these people.

Rhode Island is officially going after New Yorkers and forcing them into a 14 day quarantine.
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2020/03/28/rhode-island-hunts-new-yorkers-to-curb-wuhan-coronavirus-outbreak-n2565901

Maine not having gone so far, is seeing its citizens doing the same. Some residents cutting down a tree to keep some people from New Jersey quarantined after their government wouldn't do anything.
https://www.businessinsider.com/vigilante-maine-residents-try-to-covid-quarantine-neighbor-with-tree-2020-3?op=1

It seems that the tourists who have been annoying the people of the places they visit forever, and yes, the average American tourist is just as annoying when they are travelling domestically, are now trying to shelter in those places while maintaining their partying lifestyle. Let's face it. If they just hid in place, no one would even have noticed them. Their selfishness knows no bounds.