White Trash?

What is it that makes a person white trash? Is it a simple equation involving the amount of blue tarps you own divided by the number of years you’ve completed in school? Is it something more? I may be unusual in this, but to me the term has a very positive connotation. It brings up memories of pheasant hunts, pig-roasts, fishing trips, .22 rifles, and drinking beer from cans. My definition of the term ‘white trash’ is undoubtedly more influenced by these memories than by any amount of time spent in trailer parks or shopping at Wal-Mart.

On my way to church a few weeks ago I saw a man walking across the bridge from Washington into Oregon carrying a plastic garbage bag full of aluminum cans. Now that’s white trash! Journeying from the wilds of Vancouver to the land of the $.05 refund, carrying your wares on your back! I see such a thing and have a tendency to glamorize. But you can almost guarantee that there’s no thrill in it for him. That degree of trashiness requires more dedication than I’m willing to put forth.

By contrast, when I go out shooting I make sure to have something cool to listen to on my MP3 player. I may bring along my Ruger 10/22 (a definite white trash kind of rifle) and a bunch of homemade targets, but I’ll be coming home to a condo with white carpets and a cat who’s afraid of squirrels. I make my own wine, but I use high quality ingredients and good equipment (copper tubing and whiskey stills not being in evidence). I like songs like “Copperhead Road” by Steve Earle because they’re edgy and talk about moonshine, but I listen to them on my $1,000 laptop while my roommate watches golf on TV.

Monday through Friday I work at a good job as a bookstore manager but I spent my summers as a kid shooting at crows and squirrels with a slinghot. I have a double major in Philosophy and Political Science but I like to go out to the forest service roads East of Hockinson and shoot golf balls.

So is it okay for me to appropriate a phrase like ‘white trash’ and make it my own? Maybe it’s all right if it’s more of a goal than an actual description. Consider this post my first step in furthering this goal. Am I allowed to call myself ‘white trash’ without degrading the meaning of the term? Maybe on the weekends. Anything else would require too much commitment.