Rick Johnson is one of a handful of good folks that I often run into when visiting Bath County. He is full of old sayings, country jokes and common sense anecdotes. He's got a certain zen quality to both his actions and his words. I'm convinced he could build a house with one hand tied behind his back smiling and whistling all of the while. There is a lot of agreement among friends up in Bath County, but no one expresses it quite like Rick when he utters the phrase, "That's what I'm saying" with an emphasis on I'm and a silent g on saying. When you hear that, you know you've stated the obvious or hit the old proverbial nail on the head.
That's the birth of this new feature on Backforty. Like most people (who don't have a blog), I find it much easier to point out when someone else has nailed it than I do crafting my own righteous points-of-view. So I will try to point you in the direction of those who say it best whenever I come across them. With all of that said, this may not be the finest example of such a point-of-view, but when I read it, I immediately found myself thinking, "that's what I'm sayin".
From today's Asheville Citizen-Times opinion section
Pigs don't deserve the reputation they've gotten
B.D. Howell, Asheville
• published October 8, 2008 7:31 am
Pigs are good animals but you wouldn't know that listening to many
everyday labels attached to the pig. Wasteful government spending is
“pork.” Police officers are “pigs.” A sloppy person is a “pig.” A
perpetrator of infidelity is “pig.” A person can even be branded a
“pig” of the sexist or capitalist variety. It's true that any given pig
may under a variety of circumstances display something seen as
disgusting.
But what animal doesn't? Like so many animals in the
world, pigs are terribly exploited. They are mistreated, neglected,
undervalued and misunderstood. The least we can do is apply non-pig
names to habits and traits viewed in our society as reprehensible or
unethical.
It is time to take back the good name of the pig.
B.D. Howell, Asheville
