"F" is for Fishing

Anyone meeting me today would never know it, but I grew up as a country boy. We rode horses, played in the creek, went muddin', had pigs, rode four-wheelers, and had high school keg parties in fields. I was proud to identify myself as a redneck. However, I don't know that I was always sold on all the stuff that goes with it.

Today, and even as a child, I hate camping. I know a lot of people that just can't wait to pull their camper or tent out to the woods, cook over a fire, and fall asleep under the stars. WHY? Centuries of technological research and advancement have gone into making our lives more comfortable. Why would anyone choose to go backwards. We now have air conditioning, sealed homes to keep the bugs out, cable television, microwave ovens, protection from wild animals, and overhead lights. Sleeping under the stars is something homeless people do…and they don't even want to do it. I worked hard and paid a lot of money for my house and the things that are in it. I am not going to drop even more money to go sleep in the woods as though I didn't have a better place to stay.

Like most other country boys, I am an avid supporter of the 2^nd Amendment. I am against excessive gun control legislation and enjoy my guns. However, unlike the stereotypical country boy, I do not enjoy hunting. I never really have. I remember doing it a few times when younger, but never really got into it. It's not because I am worried about the animals. I support hunting. I just don't want to do it myself. I have friends who love to go and have invited me hundreds of times, but I have and always will turn them down.Take duck hunting, for example. I can't think of any reason a man would want to get up at 4 o' clock in the morning to load up a boat, drag themselves out onto a lake, put on waders to stand in 40 degree water and wait for the sun to come up unless he was doing it to get away from his wife. It's a similar situation with deer hunting. It sounds miserable.

Lastly, is the ultimate redneck/country boy pastime that I want nothing to do with. FISHING! This is an activity that I have participated in many, many times. I just don't understand it. Fishing is boring!!! Every time I bring up this argument, I am told that fishing is relaxing.

How?

After all the preparation involved with going, I am already missing the relaxing part. Even sitting on the side of a pond on even in a boat, I get bored very quickly. Staring at a bobber, waiting for it to sink is not relaxing. I can sit in my air conditioned house and stare at the wall with the advantage of being able to open a book or turn on the tv when it gets tedious. Which, it will.

Plus, if I happen to catch a fish it means even more work. Now, it has to be cleaned and cooked. I have stores and restaurants within blocks of me on all sides that will easily allow me to skip those steps and go right to the eating, which is the only part I actually enjoy.

Once I grew up, I moved into town. I wasn't trying to get away from the country life. It is just the way things worked out, but looking back, maybe I'm not as country as I thought I was.

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