Warning: I am about
to get on my soapbox, so if you don’t want to hear me ranting like a lunatic,
you should probably stop reading right about now…don’t say I didn’t warn you!!
Recently, I had the opportunity to join the Friends of the
Library group in our community. Being a
lover of books, and of libraries, I was very excited for the chance to help out
and give back to our local library. I
live in a small community, with a small county library, that can use all the
help it can get. Small as it is, it does
a tremendous amount of good in our area, and I am always impressed with the programs
they provide for our community, like summer reading programs for the kids,
author nights, and a monthly book club. Like I said, I was happy to have the chance to be involved with our library, in any way I could.
Yesterday, I went to my first meeting for the Friends of the Library. As we were introducing ourselves, the woman sitting next to me explained that she had recently moved here from a more urban area, and was disappointed that there was no book club in her area, but she had remedied the problem by starting her own. She said to us, "These farmer's wives just don't like to read, but I am expanding their horizons." REALLY????
I probably don't have to tell you that her statement didn't sit well with me. For the record, some of my dear friends are farmer's wives (or daughters), and most of them love to read. ALL of them love to learn and grow and better themselves, whether or not they do it with a book in their hands. I, personally, am a FARMER'S wife whose world would not be complete without beautiful books to fill it. Doesn't matter what genre, novels, biographies, non-fiction, religious-whatever. If it makes me laugh, cry, or think outside of my own little world, I want to read it!! We all know that the best books make you do all of those things, sometimes simultaneously.
When it was my turn to introduce myself, I said, "I am a farmer's wife. I have lived here for fourteen years, since I married my farm boy. I love to read, and I love this community."
What I don't love are people that move to small towns, or "the country", and then mock the people that are already here. Yes, we are farmers. We have cows, chickens, pigs and sheep. We raise crops and work the land. We work hard and get our hands dirty. We drive big trucks and bigger tractors. That doesn't make us ignorant, or bumpkins that you can laugh at. Maybe we don't have a book club because by the time we run our homes, help our husbands, and raise our children, we don't have time. Maybe we have one, and we just didn't invite the elitist snob!! (Okay that last statement isn't true, everyone is welcome at our book club.)
I am done ranting now, and I feel much better. I do want to share just one more thing: Our lives would be much happier if we didn't rush to judge others. Whether we think they are backwards country bumpkins, or elitist snobs, we are probably wrong. What they are,just like us, are children of our Heavenly Father, our brothers and sisters. They are dealing with struggles and trials that we can't see. They have happiness, laughter, and joy, just like us. I am going to remind myself of this the next time I go to my Library meeting, and try to not judge this woman. I am going to try hard to find something to like about her, even if it is just that she has cute hair!!
Next time, I promise, no ranting...just the funny things that happen in our Wilde little home!!
