# YOU KNOW YOU'RE TRAILER TRASH WHEN . . . **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 1, 2001, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-trailer-trash-when/74519 "2001-08-01T19:25:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ferggie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@Ferggie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferggie)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-trailer-trash-when/74519/21 "2001-08-02T06:52:58Z")
How odd…I’ve done my stint in the trailer trash world, as well as my stint of true poorness and have never left the realm of relative poorness. (Relative poorness = everyone you know is richer than you, though you are aware that there are folks far poorer.) I’m also…from the South. And I laugh at trailer trash/redneck jokes far harder because I know folks to whom those jokes would apply. Including myself, sometimes. Of course, I’m of the opinion that if I can’t laugh at myself, what can I laugh at? Redneck Pagan jokes are funnier, though. I guess because to me they seem like such inside jokes. If your ceremonial garb consists of cut-offs and a tube top, Or if you think a “family tradition” is a dating club… If you’ve reached the 3rd degree but not the 3rd grade, Or if your coven’s secret names for the God and Goddess are “Cooter” and “Sweet Cheeks”… You may be a redneck Pagan. [http://www.geocities.com/sunsetstrip/towers/5528/redneck.htm](http://www.geocities.com/sunsetstrip/towers/5528/redneck.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-trailer-trash-when/74519/22 "2001-08-02T13:52:10Z")
“EVE I got it.” THANK you, sam! [Nora Bayes voice]: “Has anybody here seen Kelli? K, E, double-L, I? Has anybody here seen Kelli, Our trailer-dwelling lark? Oh, her hair is teased and her friends are, too! She’s a Doper through and through— Has anybody here seen Kelli? Kelli from the trailer park!” ---
**Author:** ![Vestal\_Blue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5e9695/32.png) [@Vestal\_Blue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vestal_Blue)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-trailer-trash-when/74519/23 "2001-08-02T14:56:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ferggie \* > \*\*…Or if your coven’s secret names for the God and Goddess are “Cooter” and “Sweet Cheeks”… > You may be a redneck Pagan. > > \*\* Thanks! I just spewed soda! LMAO! You made my mornin’, **Ferggie**! ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-trailer-trash-when/74519/24 "2001-08-02T18:01:49Z")
[http://www.missouritrailertrash.com/](http://www.missouritrailertrash.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Nicklz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8baadc/32.png) [@Nicklz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nicklz)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-trailer-trash-when/74519/25 "2001-08-02T18:21:11Z")
I know I’m going to get flamed for this one. The MAJORITY of people in the low income housing areas, are exactly the reason why everyone classiffies that group of people the way they do. They also get this name because your more likely to see a toilet in the yard of a trailer, than in a 100thousand dollar home. You are more likely to see the place run down, like the owners have given up. Or last nights beer cans scattered throughout the yard. Or a 1978 buick on concrete blocks, with grass and weeds growing up around the car. Why? Why is it that you only see this in these kinds of areas? Now I’m not saying everyone who is, or has lived in a trailer is like the described. ---
**Author:** ![Ferggie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@Ferggie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferggie)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-trailer-trash-when/74519/26 "2001-08-02T18:29:05Z")
Well…I don’t know if they’re necessarily the _majority_. They just seem that way because they’re the _loudest_. And, as much as I’d like to, I can’t take credit for any of the Pagan Redneck jokes. My best original Pagan joke is: “And what kind of Pagan is she?” “Oh, she’s your Gardner-variety Wiccan.” ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-trailer-trash-when/74519/27 "2001-08-02T18:42:24Z")
First of all, my mom lives in a trailer park. She’s not trailer trash. I have to agree with the statement that you don’t have to live in one to be trailer trash. My father once said you don’t have to be black to be a nigger, either. That said, I thought I’d make this little contribution: From _News of the Weird_- "A 45-year old man drinking with fishing buddies choked to death after trying to swallow a live, 5-inch long perch; according to one of the buddies, the man’s last words were, “Hey, watch this!” ---
**Author:** ![BunnyGirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@BunnyGirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BunnyGirl)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-trailer-trash-when/74519/28 "2001-08-02T19:25:31Z")
**Lady Ice** , you wouldn’t happen to be in the Lansing, Michigan area, would you? If you are, welcome! Good group of Dopers around our parts here. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2001, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-trailer-trash-when/74519/29 "2001-08-03T16:25:32Z")
From the link I provided, for those who missed it: > [@](#): > > It is truly amazing how creative trailer trash can be. Just when I think I have seen it all, I’ll see another one that is a piece of art in it’s own unique way. Funny to say the least. What are these people thinking? Why is it they always have junkers in the yard that haven’t run since Carter was president, and the cars they do have don’t have any exhaust. Is louder better? They use anything they can find to create underpinning, if they have any at all. Their yards are full of clutter, toys and dogs. > > Offended? You might be, but keep in mind, I’m not making fun of poor people. I’m making fun of trash. It doesn’t cost a penny to pick up the yard. Besides, I LIVE in a trailer. Just because you live in a trailer doesn’t make you trash, but needless to say, there are a lot of people out there that keep the term, “trailer trash” going. It’s unfortunate to me, and all others that live in a trailer and keep it looking good, but it’s a stereotype we all must live with. So if I must, then I may as well grin and bear it. I don’t know why I get a kick out of trailer trash, maybe it’s that no two are alike. A piece of art, if you will. Art that I wouldn’t want to live by! ---
**Author:** ![starfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/87869e/32.png) [@starfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/starfish)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2001, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-trailer-trash-when/74519/30 "2001-08-03T18:59:00Z")
They put a trailer next to the Governor’s Mansion in Arkansas for him to live in while the mansion was being restored. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2001, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-trailer-trash-when/74519/31 "2001-08-03T19:48:46Z")
The Arkansas Governor’s [triple-wide](http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/DailyNews/arktriplewide000824.html) appears to be a custom job. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2001, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-trailer-trash-when/74519/32 "2001-08-05T01:03:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ferggie \* > \*\*I laugh at trailer trash/redneck jokes far harder because I know folks to whom those jokes would apply. Including myself, sometimes. Of course, I’m of the opinion that if I can’t laugh at myself, what can I laugh at? > \*\* That’s how I feel, Ferggie. It’s like the term “military brat”. So many people have forgotten that “brat” can mean simply “offspring”; not necessarily a kid who’s spoiled. Used correctly “trailer trash” just means trashy people who may or may not live in trailers. “You know you’re someone in a rural areas who has a low income and a large family” just wouldn’t have the same ring to it. My sister and I have laughed ourself sick at Jeff Foxworthy’s stuff. My favorite is: “If the directions to your house include the words Turn off the paved road…” She once lived in those conditions. King of the Hill: Peggy: Bobby, we do not want you smoking. Only trailer trash smokes. Luann: [sobbing] That’s not faih! Ah don’t smoke! [runs off] Peggy; Oh, Luann, you are not trailer trash! Just because you used to live in a trailer…and your mama’s in prison for stabbing your daddy… ---
**Author:** ![Chas.E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e99b99/32.png) [@Chas.E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chas.E)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2001, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-trailer-trash-when/74519/33 "2001-08-05T01:27:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Nicklz \* > **The MAJORITY of people in the low income housing areas, are exactly the reason why everyone classiffies that group of people the way they do. > They also get this name because your more likely to see a toilet in the yard of a trailer, than in a 100thousand dollar home.** You obviously haven’t seen my neighbors. Toilet in the back yard, right next to the 2 fishing boats and the 4 broken down snowmobiles. You can take the trash out of the trailer, but you can’t take the trailer out of the trash. ---
**Author:** ![Chas.E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e99b99/32.png) [@Chas.E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chas.E)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2001, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-trailer-trash-when/74519/34 "2001-08-05T01:29:02Z")
Oh… that would have made more sense if I had explained that my neighbors moved into this upper-middle class residential naighborhood (median home price $160k) straight from a trailer park. ---
**Author:** ![mblackwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5fc32e/32.png) [@mblackwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mblackwell)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2001, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-trailer-trash-when/74519/35 "2001-08-05T01:41:29Z")
I used to live in a trailer park, and it WAS next to an airport (Rickenbacker AFB). There is some truth to the sterotypes. Our neighbors stole our TV and video camera, and nintendo when we were gone. Little kids ran around naked w/o supervision, lots of people on drugs, people abused thier animals. Some of them never bathed. Crime in the trailer parks accounted for about all the crime in the area. There were also quite a few nice people there, too. These jokes don’t offend me at all, if somone used ‘trailer trash’ seriously as an insult, it might offend me. ---
**Author:** ![kinoons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a698b9/32.png) [@kinoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kinoons)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2001, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-trailer-trash-when/74519/36 "2001-08-05T03:33:22Z")
…you drink pabst blue ribbon and think its good ---
**Author:** ![cykrider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f19dbf/32.png) [@cykrider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cykrider)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2001, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-trailer-trash-when/74519/37 "2001-08-05T03:39:52Z")
…You tip 10% or less when eating out. ---
**Author:** ![Shogun\_Haircut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Shogun\_Haircut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shogun_Haircut)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2001, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-trailer-trash-when/74519/38 "2001-08-05T03:53:11Z")
If the directions to your house include leave paved road. ---
**Author:** ![Ferggie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@Ferggie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferggie)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2001, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-trailer-trash-when/74519/39 "2001-08-05T04:02:07Z")
Oh yeah…I’m a military brat, too. Someone should come up with some military brat jokes. Here’s mine… If your lullaby was the sound of jet engines, you might be an Air Force brat. (Or maybe you grew up in that trailer park by the airport…) If you stand up in a civilian theater when the movie trailers start to play because you were expecting the National Anthem, you might be a military brat. If your sunglasses are Desert Storm surplus, you might be a military brat. They all apply to me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-trailer-trash-when/74519.md?page=1)