Today, I stopped for some fruit at a produce stand. I stayed and talked with the owner and his friend for a good hour. Our conversation taught me the following things:
–A guy who Gary (the produce stand owner) knows was offered 20 million dollars for his 114 acres of land by condominium developers. The man refused, saying, “Mista, when I wake up in the mornin’ I don’t see nobody and that’s how I like it. Take yer money.” When Gary told me about this, his friend Louis laughed and said, “That fool’s crazy! When they waved a certain amount of dead presidents at me I couldn’t resist. I sold a bit. But I think if you hold off foreva, you crazy. Can’t stop what’s comin.”
–The phrase “A fart in a whirlwind” can be used to describe someone with lots of energy.
–’Yanks’ are taking over Wake Forest and trying to bring their ‘Yank lifestyle’ with them. Gary claims more cars honk on the road in front of his stand now that many Northerners have moved into the area.
–The Wake Forest area used to be the ‘moonshine capital of the world’ back in the day.
–The Wake Forest area used to be filled with ‘Clan’ back in the day. Gary said that even 25 years ago it was uncommon to see a black person walking around alone at night. He said blacks and whites started living amongst one another on the same streets ’bout 15 years ago’.
–When Gary and Louis were kids, ‘time was different’. Louis fondly spoke of how farmers used to gather at Gary’s father’s general store and socialize until mid-morning each day. No one wore watches and used the sun to tell time. Everything moved more slowly and, because of this pace of living, life felt manageable.
–Gary belongs to the Wake Forest Word of God church. Word of God is a denomination of Christianity that still condones speaking in tongues and ‘resists most types of change’, according to Gary.
–In the hills out to the west of Wake Forest, one can encounter ‘Muslims, Satanists, VooDooers, and all sorts of other little cells of stuff’. When I asked Louis about the numbers of these cells and said I had seen nothing but churches on my ride so far, Louis said, “Oh there’s tons of em out there in the hills. And trust you me, they might seem small and innocent, but those cells can link together at the drop of a hat.”
–Both Gary and Louis repeatedly referred to the ‘problem with Mexicans’ that the Wake Forest area is facing. They told me of a town nearby that is ‘nearly overrun with em’, a town that has ‘fiestas and God only knows what else on Saturdays and Sundays.’ So far, I’ve noticed that many people keep referring to immigrants from many different countries simply as ‘Mexicans.’
–Gary said the current mayor of Wake Forest has the last name of ‘Snarvsky or Snavinsky or somethin’ like that.’ When I asked him why he snarled when he said the name he said, “Cause he’s clearly a Yank! Now come on–when’s the last time you met a Snarvsky around these parts? We got Yanks on the town council and in the mayor’s seat makin decisions that are ruinin Wake Forest. Greed is all around us here with these developers circlin’ bout.” I asked what Gary thought about Louis selling some of his farmland to developers. “Naw, that’s a bit different. I’m not against it all, but there’s gotta be some plan, some strategy. You can’t just go sellin off all yer land. You gotta be smart bout it.”
Gary didn’t charge me for my fruit when I left. Thank you Gary!
