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Page 4A - Pike County Journal Reporter - Wednesday, September 15, 2021
Opinions
Ruffin’s Renderings: Equal whites
BY MIKE RUFFIN
ruffinml@gmail.com
W e all know
summer
hasn’t actually
ended—that won’t hap
pen until Sept. 22, better
known among those who
need to know as the day
before the day before my
63 (!) birthday. But many
of us ignore that pesky
calendrical fact and think
of Labor Day as the last
day of summer.
Labor Day is also the
last day of the year that
many of us will wear white
clothing until the unof
ficial beginning of summer
(which will fall on June
21 in 2022) on Memorial
Day 1 imagine the main
reason those of us who
follow the “wear no white
after Labor Day” custom
do so is because—in the
words of the prophet
Carly Simon—that’s the
way we’ve always heard
it should be. Our mothers
and grandmothers hand
ed the rule off to us, and
we’ve taken the “no white
clothes after Labor Day”
baton and run with it.
But have you ever won
dered why the custom
that became a rule exists?
There may be practical
reasons. Back in the days
before air conditioning,
it made sense to wear
lighter (in both color and
weight) clothes in warmer
months and darker, heavi
er garments in colder
ones. It also made sense
to wear dark clothes in
colder seasons because
of the presence of more
dirt and greater
dampness. It was
easier to keep
lighter clothes
looking nice
and clean in the
summertime
than it was in the
fall and winter
months.
There may be
another reason
for the No White
After Labor Day rule. This
reason isn’t practical—un
less you are among those
who think they have the
right to make sure that
poor folks remember their
place, which is of course
the place you’ve decided
they should have.
According to the article
“The History Behind the
‘No White After Labor
Day’ Rule” by Emily Van-
Schmus on the
Better Homes
and Gardens
website (July
19, 2021), the
custom began in
the late 1800s as
a way to differ
entiate between
people of up
per and lower
classes. People
with money
could leave the cities
when summer was over
to vacation in places with
warmer weather where
they would continue to
wear white. People who
weren’t wealthy had to
remain in the city People
who could afford leisure
could wear white on their
vacations, but folks who
had neither time nor
resources to travel should
and would switch to dark
clothes.
According to VanSch-
mus (and others), that’s
the origin of the No White
After Labor Day Rule.
The custom began as an
effort to make clear who
were the haves and who
were the have nots. It was
rooted in class conscious
ness. It was grounded in
an effort to keep people
aware of their appropri
ate—in the eyes of the
rich and powerful—place
in society
Well, 1 say that we
common folk are under no
obligation to stay where
other people say we be
long. I say we should rise
up, throw off the clothing
restraints that the rich
and powerful have long
used to keep us down,
and declare our fashion
independence. 1 say we
stand as one and shout,
“We’re real tired of your
rules and we aren’t going
to follow them anymore.”
1 say we wear whatever
colors we want to wear
whenever we want to
wear them.
1 know, 1 know—there
are much more serious
socio-economic issues we
need to deal with. But a
small start is a start none
theless. So I say, wear
your white clothes and
shoes in the dead of win
ter—or any other time.
To misquote the proph
et John Lennon, “Power to
the people! White on!”
Mike Ruffin is a Barnesville native.
His new book, Praying with Matthew, is
available at helwys.com and Amazon.
I have questions!
Who has the answers?
BY BEVERLY BRISENDINE
beverly.brisendine@gmail.com
1 am just puzzled
by the so many un
answered questions
which continue to
plague my mind. Well,
let’s start with why
weren’t all American
citizens and Afghan
allies airlifted out of
Afghanistan before
any of our troops were
withdrawn?
Why was Bagram Air
Force Base totally given
over to the Taliban and
the small city airport
in Kabul chosen for the
massive withdrawal of
so many? Bagram was
like a small fortified city
with two runways, a 50
bed hospital, barracks
which had held up to
100,000 troops, hangar
size supply tents full of
waters, energy drinks,
military-made meals,
and so much more.
Black Hawk helicop
ters, armored and civil
ian vehicles, guns and
ammunition, night vi
sion goggles, all costing
billions were just left
for the Taliban. Why?
Why would we give
a list of all Americans
and Afghan allies to
the Taliban so they
would allow them to go
through their check
points which they
quickly established on
major roadways?
Are we so foolish as
not to realize this list
will be used to search
out these people to
hold for ransom or to
execute?
Do we not under
stand they will go
door to door in their
search and will take
all girls over the age of
twelve as child brides
for their soldiers?
Why were Ameri
cans who had been in
hiding but finally made
it through the check
points turned away at
the airport gates? This
included 27 Californian
school children and
some parents.
Why were thousands
of Afghans who can
speak no English al
lowed on planes unvet-
ted and so many of our
Interpreter Allies left
behind fearing for their
lives? There were sup
posedly 123,000 evacu
ated but there were
only 6,000 Americans in
that number.
Why was there not
one American civilian
on the last five flights
out of Afghanistan on
August 30?
Why are six privately
chartered planes now
still sitting in Afghani
stan filled with Ameri
cans and Afghan allies
not being allowed to
leave?
Is it the Taliban caus
ing the delay?
Oh, there are so
many questions but
there seems to be no
answers. However, God,
who sees and knows
all things has all the
answers and we ask
You, Lord, to reveal the
truth.
Kudzu & Clay: Nature’s alarm clock
1 am a big advocate of
naps. Sleep, in general, is
one of my favorite things.
There is something more
attractive about napping
than sleeping at night.
Maybe it’s because it’s
during the daytime and
there is an element of
taboo to it. Not everyone
has time for a nap. It’s
a luxury. The older 1 get
though, the harder it is
for me to really sleep
when 1 take a nap. Lately,
1 just lay there with my
eyes closed and listen to
the annoying symphony
of leaf blowers and bark
ing dogs in my neigh
borhood and dream of
sinister ways to silence
them.
Sometimes when 1 am
taking a nap or sleeping
in on a weekend my wife
or son will come in and
wake me up for whatever
selfish reason. Then I’ll
get up and get cranky
and my wife will say, “you
weren’t even asleep,” and
most of the time when
she says that, she is ac
curate. She knows that
when 1 am really asleep
and she wakes me up 1
violently flinch. Then,
when 1 suddenly come
back to consciousness,
she asks me why 1 always
wake up like that, as if
I’m some kind of weirdo.
Well, 1 am a weirdo, but
that has nothing to do
with why I am such a
jumpy bundle of nerves.
High school was about
the time that 1 really got
into napping. As a kid,
1 would fight
naps with all
my being, but
in high school,
1 fell in love
with the profes
sional nap. A
professional
nap is not your
average Sunday
recliner or sofa
nap. A profes
sional nap is a
complete, pants
off, under the
covers with the
fan on full blast nap. The
only difference between
night sleep and a profes
sional nap is that they
are usually shorter and
you don’t have to wake
up in the middle of them
and go to the bathroom.
In the case of teenaged
me, they are also much,
much deeper.
My family had a very
strict rule about eating
dinner together and on
time every single night.
We were pretty liberal
with many other things,
but if your fanny wasn’t
in that seat at 6 p.m. to
eat your carrot sticks and
bunless hotdog, burnt
grilled cheese, or ‘untidy
Joseph’ (sloppy Joes)
then there would be hell
to pay 1 found this out
the hard way.
My routine those
days was to come home
from school, maybe eat
something, and imme
diately get to work on
taking a professional nap.
1 was usually the only
one in the house, it was
nice and quiet,
and I’d immedi
ately be off to
dreamland. The
first few times 1
missed dinner
1 was cut some
slack because 1
was a growing
kid, but after
a while, this
insubordination
really started to
irritate my fa
ther. He insisted
1 set an alarm. 1 did, but
1 started sleeping so
deeply that not even that
would wake me up. Then
the old man took matters
into his own hands.
The first thing he did
to wake me up was pull
ing all the covers off me.
This would wake me up
by freezing since the fan
was always on high. But
1 adapted. The next thing
he used was cold water
which certainly did the
trick of jolting me out of
bed, but depending on
the amount used, the bed
was still soaked when it
was time for actual sleep
and that caused all kinds
of other problems.
The final solution
came as summer waned
one year in the form of
a creature that was from
then on referred to as
nature’s alarm clock.
I was so deep into a slum
ber that 1 probably could
have been pronounced
dead.
All of a sudden 1 was
woken to one of the
shrillest sounds 1 have
ever heard. Right in
front of my face were
two of my dad’s meaty
fingers holding a freshly
molted, screaming cicada
plucked off of a tree.
Sure the creepy-looking
bugs sound enchant
ing when they are in a
chorus high in a tree,
but right in front of one’s
face, they are one of the
loudest natural sounds
on Earth. And to give
the cicada more inspira
tion to scream, the old
man slowly waved a
lit cigarette around its
abdomen, cackling with
evil joy.
I assure you no insects
were harmed when this
event occurred, at least
not physically 1 never
took another nap during
my high school tenure.
Even with my pants off,
wrapped up in covers on
a rainy day, fan going at
hurricane speed, 1 have
a hard time drifting off. 1
continue to be an advo
cate of sleep, 1 just wish
I could get a nap without
jolting awake for fear of a
terrifying bug screaming
from its abdomen into
my face.
Chris Walter is a writer, artist,
and Barnesville native. He has just
published his first book, “Southern
Glitter”. You can find more informa
tion about his art and writings at
kudzuandclay.com.
KUDZU
& CLAY
Chris Walter
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AT PIKE
BY DWAIN W. PENN
100 YEARS AGO
September 16, 1921: Lumber slumped to near
prewar prices which brought gladness to all who
contemplated building. The reduction was expect
ed after the war but went lower than anticipated.
75 YEARS AGO
September 19, 1946: The people of Pike County
responded well to the need for home production
by processing over the summer 35,763 cans of
fruits and vegetables (plus three chickens) at the
Concord cannery. The total represented the work
of 304 families, 235 white and 69 colored.
50 YEARS AGO
September 17, 1971: Rev. Calvin Ward of Zebu
lon First Methodist Church conducted a special
service Sunday with a sermon to dedicate nine
memorial stained glass windows. A noon meal fol
lowed in the fellowship hall.
25 YEARS AGO
September 18, 1996: The Pike County Health
Department opened to the public at its new Griffin
Street location on September 16. Previous clinic
locations included near Ruth’s Restaurant on High
way 19 south to a Gwyn Street building in 1953.