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Some really unique stuff there. I wouldn't have thought that there wouldn't be a place like this, but this is certainly a surprise :)

If you watched the video, you see those guys going into the coal mines. People really have no clue what it's really like. THey think it's just a hole you go in. They don't realize you go sometimes a mile or two underground. And it takes hours to get there and back outside. And when there is a rock fall or a cave in, many times they just seal it up and leave the bodies underground because there is no way to get them out. We've got mines that are sealed up with 20 or more bodies in it. I'm sure some times men are left underground who are alive. But there's just no way to get them out.

And in that video, you may wonder why people would live in those houses with no water and no heat. Well, when you worked for the mines, you didn't get paid cash. They gave you a house to live in and store credit at the company store. If you needed milk and bread, you bought it from the company store on your credit you got for working in the mines. You didn't get to go to any store you wanted, you had to go to just that one.

I'm only 41 years old, and I remember working from 5 a.m. until 7 or 8 p.m. in the mines for $150 a week. And that was a lot of money here in 1988. We're talking about $3 per hour plus your food and house was free.

No running water, but by golly theyll get you your internet....only in america

We finally got running water here in 2001............. we only got internet 4 or 5 months ago, and that was only through satelite. We still have no cable TV or any of that in our area. And I live only 12 miles from the biggest county in Kentucky.

We have the strangest septic system I've ever seen. We do not have septic tanks. We do not have city sewer. Instead, it's called a Lagoon, and you basically dig a pond a few hundred feet from your home and when you flush your toilet, it runs out into this pond-like body of water. There's something in the ground that catches the solids and just lets the fluids run out the other end. Still, very nasty if you ask me.

Dayum.

Watched the trailer...will definately hunt the video down and watch it.

For some reason it reminds me of a song I used to hear a lot as a kid but have no idea who sang it...but he's American. "Big John" I believe the song was called...a beuatifully short song about a miner, who 'was a giant of a man' who eventually sacrificed himself to save the other trapped miners. Wish I knew who sang it...in fact, I'll google it and see if I can. Anyway, I digress. I'm almost your vinatge, CLegend33, at 37 years old and my upbrinbging in Perth, Western Australia, is tame compared to where you're from. Hell, I know salt-of-the-earth Aussies who worked as hard as you refer to...but 30 years ago not 10!

Anyway, thanks for sharing with us a part of your background; this is one of the greatest things about the internet, and in particular, BB. So many stories... :-)


EDIT: Well, it took all of 8 seconds to find the song and artist: "Big Bad John" originally performed and composed by Jimmy Dean in 1961 then later by none other than the man, Johnny Cash! And now I'm going to listen to it. Awesome.

Last edited by Mr J at 2/15/2012 6:24:03 AM

The song you speak of is in fact Big John by Jimmy Dean. Yes, the same Jimmy Dean that made the sausage.

The song Big John was supposably at least part true about a man that everyone thought was a terrible, mean person, who gave his life to save the miners that were trapped.

If you're going to listen to that song, you've got to listen to part two to the same song. I think part two is called Cajun Queen. It's the story about Big John's woman from New Orleans hearing about him being buried in the mines, so she comes to town and goes down to rescue him from the mines. And when she gets there, she finds him alive. To find the exact name of part two to the song, you'll have to google that, too, most likely. But I think it's called Cajun Queen.

Since we bring this up about Big John being trapped in the mines and instead of them going in to rescue him, they just fill in the entry to the mines and bury him in there. You would not believe how common that is, for them to believe there are people maybe alive underground but there is no way to get to them, so they fill in the entry to the mines and leave them under there to die. It may sound like 1920's stuff, it's not, it still happens today. The most famous one I remember was maybe 25 years ago, there were 37 miners trapped (nobody knows if they were dead or alive), but while trying to get them more and more rock falls were killing the rescuers, so they decided it was too dangerous to keep going, and that the men were probably dead, so they just filled in the mines and left them there. It was later proven to be a fact that the 37 were probably alive when they filled in the entry to the mines.

While it is a dangerous job, really, more people are killed in car accidents on the way to work in the mines each year than they are killed in the mines. I worked underground for a few years, and I never saw an injury that brought blood. I think we had a broken finger or hand one time, but the man never missed one minute of work. But on my final day of work underground, about a mile away another mines had an explosion, and when they brought the bodies out, they brought them out an arm here, a leg there, and there were some bodies that they only found small pieces of. That's the day my momma stopped allowing me to go to work even though I was 22 years old :)

...But on my final day of work underground, about a mile away another mines had an explosion, and when they brought the bodies out, they brought them out an arm here, a leg there, and there were some bodies that they only found small pieces of. That's the day my momma stopped allowing me to go to work even though I was 22 years old :)

I can understand that, mate. As a father of four I fully understand that. And one never argues with their mother! lol

So, what do you think of Justified?

So, what do you think of Justified?

Some things about Justified are pretty good, but honestly, none of it is realistic at all to what we know around here.

Hillbilly rednecks with no teeth or bad teeth are common, and they do a decent job of the way we talk and such........ but the rest of the show, at least to me, is fake looking. I promise you this, no cop, no matter how bad he is, could do what they show in Justified and remain alive. Not that people around here are bad asses, but there's enough redneck hillbillies who don't believe in the law to end it for someone like that quick.

Justified is a big hit around here. Everyone watches it and loves it. But for me personally, I lost interest a long time ago in it because I didn't think it looked real.