Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Almost as Bad as London

The town--or rather, census-designated place--of Buies Creek, North Carolina is a haven for the small-minded, a perfect example of the backwardness that so frequently characterizes small towns... in short, a place in serious need of the right kind of barber. All it takes is an examination of their history to demonstrate quite clearly that Buies Creek is, and has always been, full of filth and a disgrace to humanity.

Buies Creek is located in Harnett County. The county was formed in 1855 from parts of Cumberland County and received its name from Cornelius Harnett, a local Revolutionary War patriot--and such a pointless war it was, breaking away from one corrupt empire to form another; another of humanity’s futile struggles against itself--but I digress.

Cornelius Harnett is not the only bit of county history related to the Revolutionary War. Near Lillington, the county seat and only a few minutes’ drive from Buies Creek, Patriots executed many Scottish settlers for refusing to fight on their side, either not knowing or not caring of the oaths these Scotsmen had been compelled to swear never to take arms against the British. In other words, even nearly a century before its formation, Harnett County was a prime example of the evil of which mankind is capable. I assure you, it has not changed. There are fewer mass executions at gunpoint than there used to be, I admit, but... well, if you don’t believe me, then let us discuss the town itself.

Buies Creek is home to Campbell University, a Baptist college with a bit of history of its own. It was founded on January 5, 1987 by James Archibald Campbell, who was--what else in this filthy town?--a preacher. It began as a one-room school with twenty-one students and grew rapidly, going through several expansions and name changes before finally becoming Campbell University in 1979; today it hosts between nine and ten thousand students... the thought of such a great number of wretched, twisted souls is sickening.

As a college town Buies Creek is certainly not much; the most excitement a student can get is by going to a nearby town’s bowling alley. The university itself also leaves much to be desired in academic rigor. It does, however, have an excellent school of pharmacy, and also of law--the lowest of professions. In 2009 the law school changed locations to Raleigh, the state capital, and possibly a still more wretched place--but this is neither the time nor the place to discuss Raleigh. Buies Creek will provide more than enough filth for the writing of this essay.

It is not just the local university that is Baptist. These Baptist folk seem to be everywhere in this town, spreading like a plague. If I do decide to set up shop in their little town, they will be the first demographic group targeted. I could go on and on forever on their backward beliefs and attitudes. Their views on gender roles alone are horrifying. Why, in their official statement of faith, they explicitly say that they believe God permits men to be preachers, but forbids women from holding that role. Absurd! It should be clear to everyone that both sexes are equally depraved and should be banned from positions of spiritual authority. How dare they assert that anyone has rights?

Do you now see what a horrible place this town is? How backward, how full of hatred toward anyone different? It needs to be cleansed. It needs me. And who am I to deny its call? I have decided. Buies Creek will have a new barber.


TWO MONTHS LATER

I regret to inform you, loyal readers, that I have failed. I set up shop in Buies Creek; I advertised in all of their pitiful, right-wing-biased newspapers; I even put up fliers all over town, making sure to specify that they were printed on non-recycled paper and would be thrown away afterward, in case they are prejudiced against those who engage in environmentally friendly practices. I thought that business would be booming in no time! But the odds were against me.

There was no demographic group with which I could succeed. Unfortunately, it seems that a shockingly large percentage of the town’s population enjoys walking around with days’ worth of stubble on their faces, perhaps to complement their camouflage jackets. Another significant part of the population, the students of Campbell University, seemed rather annoyed when I approached them on the streets and insisted that they could not afford to be professionally shaved, even for my entirely reasonable price.

Moreover, I faced ignorance and discrimination everywhere I turned. Quite often I would be approached by respectable-looking people who appeared to be prospective clients, but just as I allowed myself to hope, they would ask me if I had “accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior” or invite me to their churches. People shot me dirty looks whenever I ventured outdoors. And besides all that, I kept finding graffiti on my shop, things like “Devil Worshiper” and “Goths Go Home.”

I bore it as long as I could, but when two months passed without a single client, I finally gave up and returned to London. It seems a different approach is needed to deal with the people of Buies Creek. Perhaps I can persuade Mrs. Lovett to give up the meat pie business and learn to make barbeque. With the right poisons, that could work very nicely... Stay tuned for new developments!



SOURCES
http://www.northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/479/entry
http://www.northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/474/entry
http://www.northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/559/entry
http://www.harnett.org/history-of-harnett-county.asp
http://www.sbc.net/bfm/bfm2000.asp

No comments:

Post a Comment