Posted on 09.07.2020

Labor Day - Soapbox Rewind

*NOTE* This Labor Day, we thought we'd go back and get a classic "Soapbox Rewind," from Charlie. This one is from 2012.  Enjoy! - TeamCDB/BW

I come from a long line of people who made a living by the sweat of their brows and the labor of their hands. Hands that could handle a plow or a crosscut saw, break an ornery mule or hold an infant baby.

Simple men who stood on the streets of small town America on Saturday afternoons while the wife bought supplies for the week and talked about the weather, the price of corn or the latest exploit of their prize coonhound or how this year's high school football team didn't quite come up to last year's

They sat on the pews of the churches, in out of date suits and ties and listened to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and applied the lessons and principles of honesty and integrity to their everyday lives.

They called the midday meal dinner and the evening meal supper and weren't above the occasional sip of white whiskey. They treasured a good hunting dog and could nail a squirrel on the top branch of a tall hickory tree.

They raised their children with discipline and good manners and nothing meant more than family. I remember when my cousin Walton, who was a few years older than me, finished high school and even family who lived out of town came to Elizabethtown to see him receive his diploma, the first male child in the Daniel (without the "s") family to ever do so.

The women cooked three meals a day, rocked the cradle, did their laundry with a scrub board in a galvanized washing tub and helped out with the field work, all the while being comforter, disciplinarian, homework enforcer, seamstress and sometimes milked a cow twice a day.

A Wall Street lawyer could never draw up a contract that was as binding as a handshake and a man's word was honored at all costs. Anything less than the truth was unacceptable and they spared not the rod and spoiled not the child.

I'll always remember Labor Day because it heralded the beginning of a new school year and putting on a pair of shoes after a summer of going barefooted could be a somewhat painful affair.

The stalks and vines and other remnants of this year's crop would be cut down and plowed under and the fields would lie fallow for a few short months before the whole process would begin all over again.

I would not trade my experiences of growing up among real men with calloused hands and sun-ripened faces, men who had neither union nor subsidy to provide a safety net should the crop fail or the price of timber fall.

They depended on faith in God, family and hard work, knowing that if you just kept doing the right thing, everything was going to work out.

A lot has changed since the two generations of my early years, but not the truths I learned and live my life by. I wish America would have retained the spirit of the greatest generation; it would be a totally different nation.

Happy Labor Day!

What do you think?

Pray for our troops, our police, our country and the peace of Jerusalem.

God Bless America

— Charlie Daniels

PLEASE READ BEFORE YOU POST

Feel free to comment on soapboxes, but please refrain from profanity and anonymous posts are not allowed, we need a name and you MUST provide a valid email address. If you provide an email address, but leave the name as "Anonymous" we will pick a name for you based on your email address. No one other than website administrators will see your email address, not other posters. If you post without a valid email address, your comment (whether positive or negative) will be deleted. — TeamCDB/BW

 

Check out "Geechi Geechi Ya Ya Blues" from Beau Weevils - 'Songs in the Key of E'

 

 

Comments

Hard work
My dad had a small hardware store and it was the same thing people would come in do business with a handshake I had to go to work everyday after school it was the best childhood guy could ever have. Say hi to Jesus for me Charlie
Posted by Kory
Spot On
Amen, Amen & Amen Charlie Jr. I remember this one well, and as he did more times than I could possibly remember, Charlie nailed it. There was nothing better than going to town on Saturday and maybe even catching a picture show. Playing checkers or Euchre at the feed mill was a great way to pass the time while the women folk went about their trading. I must admit that in dollars we were a whole lot poorer back then, but in quality of life and peace of mind we were richer than all get out, nuff said God Bless keep your powder dry, Plowboy
Posted by Plowboy