" From Away "

In the town where I grew up we have a saying,"from away." From away means just that,you are not from here, you are" from away." Those of us that we born there could usually tell tell right away if you were "from away." First thing was you talked funny. We have our own dialect. This dialect is not as prevalent as it used to be when I was a kid. Getting watered down with all these people" from away. "Occasionally there was a school teacher that would try to "correct" our speech. Didn't last long. Also there are certain expressions of speech , that are unique to the area. Muxing around for instance. Means to just be wasting time doing nothing constructive. To go upstreet. To go into the business district of town. Down Hook. Going the opposite direction from up street. Yes,Yes. To agree. And to end a sentence the ever present word,Bub. As in,I went to get some clams but the tide was up,Bub ! Or,some snotty out on the bay,Bub. Them gas prices is something,ain't they Bub ?
Being" from away" was usually not a good thing. Unless, of course, you were a pretty young girl. The young boys didn't mind your funny speech at all. Was rather exciting to meet a girl "from away." Heard a lot about them city girls and there moral values. And if you were" from away",you were probably a city girl. Them other folks" from away" just didn't understand certain things. Like the most important thing in life is to get your boat in the water. Fishing and clamming take precedence over most things. Don't get in a hurry. That work ain't going no where.
If you were" from away",you will always be" from away." That is a hard and fast rule. When I was just a little guy,and that was a long time ago, I remember my parents pointing out people and saying,"you know he is from away ?" These people were, in some cases, Grandparents and had been living there fifty years or more. No matter,they are" from away. "Now suppose they had been born there. If their parents weren't the whisper would always be, " you know his/her folks are" from away." You're guilty by association. If your immediate family hasn't been living in that town for at least a hundred years or so you are "from away."
Like most things that you grow up with you don't give it a lot of thought. It is just the way it is. No big deal. A certain pride goes along with NOT being" from away. "I belong here ! The underlining impression was the others,"from away" did not. The sense of community was very strong. Sadly,I don't think it is that way as much anymore.
To those of you that have read my previous blogs you know I have touched upon this theme recently. I no longer live in that town where I grew up. Now I find myself with the shoe on the other foot;as it where. I'm "from away !" I talk funny and say funny things. I don't quite get the excitement here about a rockfish ( striper to me) and they call each other "Bunky" all the time. You're not invited or welcomed in certain circles and eyed suspiciously, after all, you are" from away. "It is a strange and uncomfortable feeling.
Well,I've only been here twenty years or so,so I need to give it time. Can't expect to just blend in right away.
To fit in here I would need to buy camouflaged waders,a Labrador retriever,a four wheeler,start dippin' tobacco and gettin' real excited every time the word "rockfish" is mentioned. Need to take up goose hunting too. Oh,and most importantly, I need to start saying Bunky a lot. As in, that's right Bunky got me a rockfish yesterday. Or, That feller there is my Bunky. He is my Bunky still makes me a bit nervous. Not sure I like the implication. For some reason the movie "Deliverance" comes to mind. But that's what the locals say.
I don't want to change anything but I do things different. I think that is what the general feeling of anxiety with people "from away" is all about. I never understood that growing up but think I got a handle on it now. What's the saying, live and learn ? Live and let live. I don't like being "from away." I haven't been in my hometown for over ten years now but if ,no when, I go at least I won't be "from away !"