Watching a movie the other day, I heard the term "redneck" used again in a derogatory manner. It's unfortunate that so many people who use this term in that way do not know how the word came about.

Originally, it was used to refer to farmers because they worked so many hours in the sun each year that the back of their necks became red from the exposure to that hot sun. How anyone could speak disparagingly about this country's farmers is beyond me.

However, it did make me wonder, once again, why folks from other parts of the country, usually up north, seem to enjoy making fun of those of us who grew up in the Deep South. It occurred to me that there might be some jealousy involved. To explain why I think this, consider the following examples:

* Growing up they probably had to wear shoes year round. Where I grew up in Alabama, we only wore shoes in the fall and winter or when we went to school or church. During the summer we only had to wear shoes on Sunday. To this day, I go barefoot whenever I can.

* When they wanted a pet, they probably had to go to a pet store to buy one. My brothers and I caught our own. My brothers were particularly fond of snakes and frogs, and I once had a pet squirrel. Of course, we also had the occasional stray dog or cat that would adopt us and become our pet. I can't recall my parents ever buying us a pet.

* Even though my father was an engineer and not a farmer, I still got holidays in the fall when many of my fellow students were helping to bring in cotton or hay. I don't know if northern students had similar holidays from school, but I doubt it.

* When I visited my eldest brother in Ohio, where he worked, his co-workers were amazed at how my daughter, who was about five years old at the time, made the word "grits" into a two syllable word. They were even more amazed that she ate them every morning for breakfast. Don't they have grits up there? I can't imagine not having them.

I could go on and on about the advantages I believe I had growing up in the South but must admit that I really know very little about what it would have been like to grow up in a northern state. Perhaps that's one of our problems. For as long as I can remember, there have been student exchange programs between our country and other countries such as Italy and Japan. Why couldn't we do the same thing between states in our own country?

Maybe southern students could trade places with northern students for a school year. Even if it could only take place in the summer, it might go a long way in helping us all to be a little less judgmental in the way we talk about and to each other.

We southerners are sometimes no better in our unkind remarks. Just the other day, I saw a bumper sticker that read "Keep the South Bea.jpgul; Put a Yankee on a Bus."

T&D Correspondent Peggie Walter can be reached by e-mail at pbwred@tds.net.

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