Redneck Wedding

   I do not know this man. I do not know his daughter. I do know that he refused to wear dress clothes to his only daughters wedding despite her requests. " I'll wear a tux when they plant ( bury) me." His concession was that he agreed to remove his hat as he approached the pastor while walking her up the aisle. He was responsible for having the music but never tested the equipment so that did not work as planned. He refused to travel 3/4 mile back to the house to retrieve her veil which she forgot. The house is the brides grandmothers, who lives there without running water at the edge of a field., and the grandmother is the woman who mostly raised her.
   The bride and groom did most of the work for the wedding and reception, both located at a rural fire hall. They were our of their depth and should have planned smaller, but considering the father's attitude it was remarkable they accomplished anything at all. She had lost her job at Dollar General just days before the ceremony, and the groom works part time at McDonalds, so their stress on what should have been a joyous day was palpable.
   I mention all this because unless one witnesses it, is difficult for "normal"- meaning intellectually and emotionally functional people- to understand how many people in this country still live.   
  The fathers dysfunction- which he would never admit to nor even recognize- has nothing to do with the poverty of this area, for there are echoes of dysfunction everywhere, even in the White House. Such behavior is somehow thought to be normal among peers, and the victims are all of the unfortunate children raised by similar macho or matriarchal narcissists.