Redneck Paradise

This past weekend, I got to experience an aspect of southern culture that I had never really known anything about before: Talladega and race weekend. Woop woop!

My roommate Claire and I signed up with two ladies from a talent agency to be involved in a lucrative business opportunity: 13 dollars per hour! We also rounded up several other international students to work, and headed to Talladega Superspeedway Friday morning to see what laid before us. The campgrounds are unbelievable when you see them for the first time. It's like a village of campers and tents sprouted up around the racetrack overnight, with banners of favorite drivers flying and more rebel flags than I could count. I was surprised to see so many people from other places than just the South. One camper had come all the way from Ontario, Canada! But they were all rednecks.

Most of the student workers were set up at tents to give out samples to the crowds in the fan area. Claire and I were chosen from the group to ride around the campgrounds in a golf cart and hand out the samples of various foodstuffs that the Unilever company produces, such as Ragu sauce, Hellman's mayo, Wishbone dressing, Lawry's marinade, Lipton tea, and Country Crock spread. We also gave out free tablecloths and flags of the #9 car that Unilever sponsors. It was wicked fun. We mostly stayed infield (inside the track) visiting the people camping there. They're a wild bunch, those NASCAR fans. One section of campers was called Margaritaville and we were told that the party really gets started there at night.

Here's a pop quiz to see if you know your NASCAR culture: What is the one product that seems to go the best with watching cars run around and around a circular track? And the answer is...beer! Probably 75 percent of the people that we talked to were drunk. But everyone was super nice and friendly...sometimes a little too friendly. Claire and I got several unsolicited hugs from fat drunk men (yikes) and countless offers of free beer. We got asked out quite a few times too. Some guy gave us Mardi Gras beads and Claire even got paid money several times, I guess for being French and cute. One very drunk man gave us a live crawfish to be our mascot. We didn't get a lunch break but didn't need one because of all the food we were given by race fans. We got to try "coon ass sausage" from Louisiana, very spicy but good. I am not sure if it was made from the meat of a coon's ass or not. I also got a mouthful of pulled pork, and Claire ate a rib. Craziness. We also ate a good bit of the samples that we were supposed to pass out.

Here's a list of several things I saw that I will remember forever:
-Countless blow-up dolls tied to the tops of campers
-A mannequin wearing a bikini made from purple Crown Royal bags
-A shirtless fat man with bigger boobs than me
-A dominatrix promoting Skoal
-Several former school buses converted into colorful campers
-Elvis

Our driver was named Shorty and so he was. Nice guy, I guess. Made me a little nervous at times though when he accepted several of the free beer offers. I guess it was a good thing the golf cart didn't go over 20 miles per hour.

One day when I have a husband and a job that pays money, I want to buy a camper and go to the races myself. Just for fun. And posterity. And fun.