But I dreaded, dreaded, dreaded going to it. And when I was at it, I didn't have the luxury of time to bask in its artful glory, because I had to dial the combination, grab my book and get out of there as soon as possible. If I dallied, I'd have to face The Mean, Scary, Redneck Girls (MSRGs).
The MSRGs were two junior girls from the particularly mean part of the school district. They were always together, combining their evil presence to further intimidate the younger person upon whom they unleashed their unholy torment of cruelty.
When I didn't get away from my locker fast enough, they inevitably came up next to me and plowed through their script:
MSRG1: She looks like a damn bird.
MSRG2: I saw her at the grocery store and her whole family looks like a bunch of ugly birds.
MSRG1: Who the hell does she think she is? Boy George?
MSRG2: Yeah, because she's a homosexual.
I developed the world's strongest bladder because there was no way in hell I was going into the girls' room, where they hung out smoking cigarettes, with no authority figure around to protect me (the teachers stayed the hell out of there, too). The pay phone was off-limits, as well, because they hung out there making calls to their unemployed, dropout boyfriends. Even when I had to make the most important phone call ever, I waited around the corner for the first bell to ring before rushing to the phone to make my call, knowing I was breaking the rules and would get in trouble for getting to class late.
MSRG1 dropped out after that year and MSRG2 faded into the unremarkable noise of high school, her powers diminished without her girl.
That was 25+ years ago. Culture Club broke up. The Berlin Wall came down. Yugoslavia and Burma changed their names. The Internets got invented...
And today, on my personal Facebook page, MSRG2 popped up as a recommended friend. I clicked on her profile, which was public.
She's living in a small town in a different state. Her profile picture is of her, sporting a home-bleach job, and her 4-yo grandson with a "creatively" spelled name. Her relationship status was "single."
Her overshare profile status read: "Im lonley."
I feel so heartsick for her. She never had a chance, really, coming from the background she did. I had so many opportunities and took them for granted. I should have been kinder to her.
Just kidding! BAHAHAHAHAHA, redneck loser!
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8 comments:
Bwahahahhahah~!
I Love it!.
at lesast she didnt try to friend you like some of the "mean" kids I went to school with
My MSRG quit school before my freshman year. She hung out with her ex-boyfriend's mom while we were at school. He had a crush on me.
That MSRG hated me.
She tried to rip the door off the Jill-mo-bile one night after church in Grissetown. All I did was give him a ride home. We didn't know she was there hanging out with his mom!
I'm scarred.
Whew, that brings back some bad high school memories.
We didn't called them mean redneck girls... We called them whorehogs.
That is the funniest blog post I have read anywhere! We just missed each other in Raleigh apparently. I was at State until 1992 and spent much of my time, certainly every Monday night, at the Fallout Shelter. I wore 1940's suits to class every day (I was ahead of my time in working the "from the classroom to the dancefloor vibe") so i was really popular at State. (popular does mean that people have an active disdain for you, right?)
I have lots of good memories of Raleigh's alternative scene then...The Fallout on Monday's, the Five-O on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays at the Power Company in Durham, illegal warehouse parties with stolen power from orange drop cords, Dancing til five in the morning swinging my "Fuschia Plum" (that was the name of the hair color) bo .....ah, I can smell the cigarettes and Gin and tonic laced vomit now.....Good times...Good times...
I pass through Shallotte on my way to Sunset (who knew that my old vampire self would age into a beachy?). Now I will be on the look out for kids on bikes!
Thanks for making me laugh!
Andrew King
Andrew, it's safe to say we were under the same clove-scented cloud of smoke more than once in the old Raleigh scene. Darn!
Thank you so much for your kind compliment. Watch your back if you venture into Calabash, the MSRGs were from there.
I had no idea what you were going through. My bullying usually took place on the bus, but fortunately, I only had to deal with it one year. I spent a good deal of time just trying to blend in and disappear. It's funny how people from your own community try to hold you down. My family was and is working middle class but people called me stuck-up because I didn't talk much. They picked on me for my assumed sexuality and getting good grades and often I intentionally held back so not to garner too much attention and never allowed myself to be intimate with anyone until college. Some of those same people today approach me in public with smiles on their faces as if nothing had ever happened. But I remember as I return the smiles and hellos being the proper public servant I am with barely hidden disdain. I am a work in progress and it took years for me to move forward and live my life not worrying what other people think.
I am sorry you had to deal with the MSRG's but I think we have both survived it and are much stronger for it.
Love you.
RLB
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