If you were born and raised in Tennessee you went barefoot at one time or another. I did and have the scars to prove it. Mostly it was fun to take your shoes off, run through the grass or go creek walking.
I tried last week to walk around the office barefoot but Judy chased me back into my office.
A good and slightly older Science Hill 1963 graduate who played on the Hilltopper basketball and baseball championship teams sent this story to us.
A man in Topeka, Kansas decided to write a book about churches around the country. He started by flying to San Francisco and started working east from there. Going to a very large church, he began taking photographs and making notes. He spotted a golden telephone on the vestibule wall and was intrigued with a sign, which read “Calls: $10,000 a minute.” Seeking out the pastor he asked about the phone and the sign.
The pastor answered that this golden phone is, in fact, a direct line to heaven and if he pays the price he can talk directly to God.
The man thanked the pastor and continued on his way. As he continued to visit churches in Seattle, Houston, St. Louis, Chicago, Milwaukee, and many cities and towns all around the United States, he found more phones same sign, and the same answer from each pastor.
Finally, he arrived in Johnson City. Upon entering a church in the beautiful state of Tennessee, behold, he saw the usual golden telephone. But THIS time, the sign read “Calls: 35 cents”.
Fascinated, he asked to talk to the pastor, “Reverend, I have been in cities all across the country and in each church I have found this golden telephone and have been told it is a direct line to Heaven and that I could talk to God, but in the other churches the cost was $10,000 a minute. Your sign reads only 35 cents a call. Why?”
The pastor, smiling broadly, replied, “Son, you’re in Tennessee now – you’re in God’s Country. It’s a local call.”
American by Birth, A Tennessean by the “Grace of God”.
And why do Tennesseans go barefoot?
CAUSE, When you’re in Tennessee, you’re on Holy ground !!! And you also might be from Tennessee if……
You’ve ever worn cowboy boots with Bermuda shorts.
You’ve ever used your ironing board as a buffet table.
You’ve ever used a toilet seat as a picture frame
You’ve ever plucked a nose hair with a pair of pliers.
You’ve ever barbecued Spam on the grill.
Your toilet paper has page numbers on it.
Your momma has ever stomped into the house and announced, “The feud is back on!”
Your hairdo has ever been ruined by a ceiling fan.
Your good deed for the month was hiding your brother for a few days.
Your dog goes “oink!”
You use the term “over yonder” more than once a month.
You think “six to ten pounds” on the side of the Pampers box means how much the diaper will hold.
You think a subdivision is part of a math problem.
You prefer car keys to Q-tips.
The most common phrase heard in your house is, “Somebody go jiggle the handle.”
None of your shirts cover your stomach.
