Farm Girl Goes to Town

I had an interesting day. I spent all morning and most of the afternoon working in the garden. Then I had to run to Home Depot and the bank before going to a meeting for class. For some reason, I decided not to get cleaned up before going in. After all, I reasoned, I was going to be going back out as soon as I returned, so what was the point of cleaning up just to get dirty again? Besides, I am ridiculously proud of all the dirt on my clothes and boots, of the mud under my fingernails, and the sunburn on my arms. They show that I am a working girl –I am doing the work of the Earth Goddess (sorry for the religious reference, but I am a pagan after all). Besides, I was kind of interested in how my fellow classmates might react to me showing up looking like a redneck farmer.

So, call it laziness, call it practicality, call it pride, call it a psychological experiment. Farm girl went to town today. And, it was interesting. I actually got some respect at Home Depot! I don’t go to those stores often, but I had to pick up some wood for my trellis and they were the nearest one that had it. Normally, when I go into that store looking for supplies for building or repairing I get this Look. And if I’m dressed nice, they try to send me to the decorating department. Um, no thanks, show me the power tools please. But not today. I told this young upstart clerk what I was looking for, he gave me the once over, and told me exactly where it was. The lady at the bank drive-thru didn’t seem to notice. School however, was a different matter. People looked me up and down like I had no business being on a college campus. A few people gave me a look of outright contempt. I was on the receiving end of the disrespect that farmers are treated to in this country. And it wasn’t nice. Why should a person be dressed nicely and look like they have money in order to get any respect? Let me tell you, you can own all the fancy things in the world, but you’re still dependant on a farmer to grow your food. If you don’t have that farmer, guess what? You’ll soon be out in the fields yourself with a pitchfork and shovel trying to survive!

(Okay, maybe it’s a bit pretentious to call what I do farming, but its essentially small-scale subsistence agriculture, so I’m proud of the label!)