There are a lot of things about being a self-proclaimed and proud redneck that I enjoy such as our love of nature, our devotion to things like fishing and hunting, strong family connections, and desire to be self-sufficient. Other aspects or preconceptions about rednecks are untrue and annoy me such as the assumption that we are all a bunch of inbred, uneducated, racist idiots. This is completely untrue for the most part and all of those things are frowned upon in the redneck community for the most part.
There is one aspect of the redneck community that the masses attribute to our demographic that is less than desirable and it is for the most part completely true. We are heavy users of tobacco products. I am one of the few non smokers of my tribe, so to speak.
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When I was in high school the global attitude towards smoking was a lot different than it was today. We actually had a smoking area at my school where the teachers were extremely aware that underage kids were all smoking at during breaks between class and before and after school. Although it was technically against school policy and against the law because almost everyone was under 18, they let it slide. I can't think of a single person that would be considered a redneck outside of a few of the women that didn't smoke. I smoked as well.
As the years went by I think most of the population kind of wisened up about the dangers of smoking and most people quit. These days it is quite rare to see youth smoking at schools and I think this is a good thing. I only started because of peer pressure and I can still remember how absolutely horrible the first couple of cigarettes were that I had. I was physically ill. How on earth I ever had a 2nd or 3rd is something that kind of boggles my mind. I guess peer pressure is a powerful thing.
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The price of ciggies also has risen a LOT since I was in high school. Back then you could get a pack for under a dollar, now a pack of smokes costs around $5 and in most of the country it is significantly more expensive than this. It is only this "cheap" here because North Carolina is one of the big 3 tobacco states and taxes on the product are kept very low.
Even though I quit years ago, most of the people that I surround myself with in the redneck community still smoke and some of the more hardcore people use "dip" or smokeless tobacco. I've had to reprimand several of the workers on my job sites that use smokeless tobacco because they spit on the ground in our workspace. We are outdoors sure, but that's disgusting bro. I don't want to see or step in a pile our your mixed spit and tobacco juice. I don't ban it, but I tell the guys that they have to get that under control.
At the Elk's Lodge, which is a popular watering hole within the redneck community, there is a smoking area in the place. For the most part, indoor smoking areas are banned almost entirely nation-wide. The Elk's is able to get away with this because it is a private club and rules like this don't apply to it. Thankfully they installed a smoking room that is away from the rest of the place. Everyone complies with this even though more of the customers are smokers than not.
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So a lot of things about the redneck community are misconceptions but as far as us being a bit dumb about the dangers of smoking is absolutely true. I think that as a group us country-folk are intelligent in different ways that city-folk are - one group is not better than the other - they are just different. But there is no denying that rednecks are definitely a bit stupid when it comes to this one thing. For me I can't understand why anyone would smoke these days when we have a ton of information about how it is almost certainly going to cause very serious health issues down the line. Almost everyone I know has at least one relative with quite serious lung-related health issues directly from smoking..... yet we keep doing it as a group.
So I'm gonna say that while I am a proud redneck, this is one aspect of us as a people that I am disappointed in. We have the information but just choose to ignore it.