Maybe Fundie Sighting

[debrand]

Last Friday, my husband went on his second interview for a job in the mountains of NC. We decided that I would check out the town while he was being interviewed. Needing to waste time, I went into Walmart to use the bathroom. At the checkout was what I assumed was an older woman. She had on an A line jean skirt, oversized brown jacket and her hair was up in a bun. I wondered briefly if she was fundie but people can dress in a frumpy way without there being a religious reason for their clothes.

When I came out of the stall, the woman at the checkout was entering the bathroom. At the sight of me, she froze with an unpleasant expression on her face. My first thought was that she was much younger than my first impression, perhaps in her mid twenties. Without thinking I smiled broadly and wanted to alleviate her discomfort. I said, "Hello! How are you? I am sorry. I'm in your way." I wasn't in her way but my first reaction was that she was frowning because I somehow prevented her from entering that particular stall.

She started to smile. I saw her lips go up and then, almost as if she caught herself, she frowned and muttered something in response to my apology. Maybe she was just really shy and my friendliness overwhelmed her. It was a strange reaction. At first I thought it might be my short hair that offended her but honestly, I looked like most of the other women in the town

It is such a small town that when I told a townsperson that I had only explored two streets they told me that I had seen the entire downtown area. Maybe the young woman was put off by a stranger but no one else seemed shocked by my presence.

Does anyone know anything about fundies in the nc mountains?

By the way, the town was ADORABLE! And if my husband gets the job the pay will be substantially higher than what he gets now.

[Jana814]

She might have been put off by the stranger part!

[debrand]

She might have been put off by the stranger part!

Especially an overly friendly stranger. LOL

Everyone else was very nice.

[fauxmenno]

I too had a possible fundie sighting this weekend. I was taking my husband to the airport and while we were driving I saw a van full of children with one of those "my family" decals in the window showing 6 kids. I didn't get a chance to really see the attire of the people in the van though so I don't know if they were possibly fundie or just a large family.

[laura oz]

I'll be having a definite sighting on the 21st when I go to my dentist. Hope this time he doesn't witness to me for 2 hours. Why can't there be another dentist here?

eta They are everywhere here. The lady that waxes my legs opened up over a bikini wax and blew my mind with her upbringing and I teared up. It wasn't because the hair was being ripped out of my body either. What she went through was just so sad. I hope she's lurking here now. (((((hugs))))for that sweet lady.

[FeministShrew]

I'm not far from NC - about 10 miles from Tryon, which is another cute little town. Fundies of all kinds abound in Rutherford & Polk counties, which share the border with my SC county.

I get the fundie stinkeye all the time in the grocery store I shop at, which gets a lot of NC customers, probably because of my really really short platinum blond hair & Dr. Who or Metallica t-shirts.

Now I'm wondering which cute little town you were in!

ETA: I almost forgot! There was a guy in a Russian military-type uniform - overcoat, fur hat & all- in front of Bob Jones University today. He was there when I went by at 8:30 this morning & still there (in the pouring rain) when I went home at 6.

He was holding a cardboard sign that said something about Lenin loving BJU because they're subsidizing something or other. If it's the same guy, he shows up every once in awhile protesting about BJU being too liberal. :roll:

[LeatherCouch]

We have a sect of Penecostal Holiness close to me and all of the women look like that. They all look old from behind, even the young girls. We call them the Lemon Ladies because they always look like they just licked a lemon. Their religion must teach that smiling is evil, or maybe not frowning upon the pants-wearing-women is a sin. I don't know, but you can sure pick them out of a crowd.

[debrand]

I'm not far from NC - about 10 miles from Tryon, which is another cute little town. Fundies of all kinds abound in Rutherford & Polk counties, which share the border with my SC county.

I get the fundie stinkeye all the time in the grocery store I shop at, which gets a lot of NC customers, probably because of my really really short platinum blond hair & Dr. Who or Metallica t-shirts.

Now I'm wondering which cute little town you were in!

ETA: I almost forgot! There was a guy in a Russian military-type uniform - overcoat, fur hat & all- in front of Bob Jones University today. He was there when I went by at 8:30 this morning & still there (in the pouring rain) when I went home at 6.

He was holding a cardboard sign that said something about Lenin loving BJU because they're subsidizing something or other. If it's the same guy, he shows up every once in awhile protesting about BJU being too liberal. :roll:

I'm torn about giving the name of the town because I might move there and crazy people could be reading this post :shifty: :D Its in the northwest part of NC.

What struck me about the woman was that her blue jean skirt went to the floor and it was cut very full.

[Jana814]

I'm not far from NC - about 10 miles from Tryon, which is another cute little town. Fundies of all kinds abound in Rutherford & Polk counties, which share the border with my SC county.

I get the fundie stinkeye all the time in the grocery store I shop at, which gets a lot of NC customers, probably because of my really really short platinum blond hair & Dr. Who or Metallica t-shirts.

Now I'm wondering which cute little town you were in!

ETA: I almost forgot! There was a guy in a Russian military-type uniform - overcoat, fur hat & all- in front of Bob Jones University today. He was there when I went by at 8:30 this morning & still there (in the pouring rain) when I went home at 6.

He was holding a cardboard sign that said something about Lenin loving BJU because they're subsidizing something or other. If it's the same guy, he shows up every once in awhile protesting about BJU being too liberal. :roll:

Bob Jones being to Liberal!! Now I've heard everything!

[DefraudedByPlaid]

Bob Jones being to Liberal!! Now I've heard everything!

I know, right? Though, somehow I thought that Pensacola may be a teensy bit worse. I'd have to go back and look at their websites/ alum-horror-stories sites to compare.

[Lady Elaine]

I always think it's funny to hear that some people don't see these people often. Must be a regional thing. I live in Missouri and see them all the time. And I always stare at their skirts and give them a long "I know who you are and what you're up to" look.

[Coconut Flan]

I thought I had a fundie sighting in southern California on Sunday. My daughter took one look and said ultra-orthodox Jews, mom.

So sort of fundie. They had stair step little girls each one with a hand on the mini-van and the saddest, saddest eyes in their little skinny faces. It made me want to pack them all up and take them home to have a good meal and be set free to romp and play.

[debrand]

I thought I had a fundie sighting in southern California on Sunday. My daughter took one look and said ultra-orthodox Jews, mom.

So sort of fundie. They had stair step little girls each one with a hand on the mini-van and the saddest, saddest eyes in their little skinny faces. It made me want to pack them all up and take them home to have a good meal and be set free to romp and play.

Awww.... :(

[Jana814]

I always think it's funny to hear that some people don't see these people often. Must be a regional thing. I live in Missouri and see them all the time. And I always stare at their skirts and give them a long "I know who you are and what you're up to" look.

That's an interesting perspective, I live about 30 minutes outside of NYC we have several communities of Orthodox Jews where the women wear long skirts. If I see a group of women dressed like the way the fundies do, I immedely think Jewish unless, it's Saturday or a Jewish holiday.

[rbella627]

I always think it's funny to hear that some people don't see these people often. Must be a regional thing. I live in Missouri and see them all the time. And I always stare at their skirts and give them a long "I know who you are and what you're up to" look.

I live in Northeast Ohio and I really don't see too many fundies in the Greater Cleveland area. There was a family in the town I grew up a little further south in that were maybe fundy-lite. They were Baptist and had umpteen kids with "C" names, but they went to public school. They always had their Bible with them, though! We also had Amish, do they count as fundy?

The regional differences are interesting, I would assume fundies are more common in rural areas.

[ShadowyOne]

I always think it's funny to hear that some people don't see these people often. Must be a regional thing. I live in Missouri and see them all the time. And I always stare at their skirts and give them a long "I know who you are and what you're up to" look.

Hmm, in my neck of the woods, I might occasionally see a woman that I can identify as a Christian fundie by her clothes (I used to see one family in particular a lot, the mom wore a Mennonite-type hair covering over her bun). However, as far as cultural clothing markers, it is much more common to see women in hijab in my area (large Bosnian population here).

[Coconut Flan]

I see what I'm guessing are Mennonites almost every time I go to the train station. I didn't know we had a large Mennonite community here, but we must or do they take long distance vacations?

[VaSportsMom]

A Fundy family moved in 2 houses down from me a couple weeks ago. I met them when they noticed me outside and wanted to know if I had seen a calico cat that morning. The idea of climbing in and out of an U-Haul and up and down the front steps while wearing long denim skirts was so boggling that I kept making up excuses to go outside just to watch them.

[Divemaster01]

I know I don't post much, but I certainly read :) I had TWO possible sightings lately, both last week. I was surprised to see that many here in Madison, WI.

The first on was at a Savers thrift store (I love shopping at thrift stores for clothes). I was in the men's t-shirt aisle, right across was the polo shirts. A family of fundies appeared, choosing polo shirts (the mens' fundie shirt). I saw the mother (her head covered with black piece of cloth), two tween girls, a toddler brother and baby brother in the cart. I figured they homeschool since it was a weekday morning. I knew the baby was a boy since he had a blue onesie one. The the girls all wore long denim skirts and all had long hair. I tried to conceal my excitement that I finally saw fundies and continued to look at the shirts. I thought I saw the dad when they went to checkout, he looked like an ordinary guy.

The next sighting was this past Saturday at my local library. I think they may have been fundie-lite or fairly new fundies. My library was having a book sale and they came to get books. The mom wore a denim long skirt, no headcovering. Also were two girls around 8 or 10, long flowered skirts and a toddler brother. Maybe they read more than just the bible.

So anyway, those were my two sightings :)

[salsa]

I see what I'm guessing are Mennonites almost every time I go to the train station. I didn't know we had a large Mennonite community here, but we must or do they take long distance vacations?

They take long distance vacations. Amish do, too. There is an interesting blog I drop in on from time to time about Pinecraft, FL, which is near Sarasota. Pinecraft is a popular destination for Amish/Mennonite vacations. They typically travel by bus to Pinecraft, but it's likely that train trips are common, too, to other areas.

The blog is by a formerly Amish woman who likes to take pictures and ride a bike around town and talks to neighbors, including the homeless men who sleep in the picnic shelter. I haven't visited for awhile, but I always rather enjoy it.

[Bazile]

I'm torn about giving the name of the town because I might move there and crazy people could be reading this post :shifty: :D Its in the northwest part of NC.

What struck me about the woman was that her blue jean skirt went to the floor and it was cut very full.

Were you in Boone by any chance? I went to college at Appalachian, and Boone is an awesome place to live! If it is,you're probably more likely to run into hippies (especially downtown) than fundies on a regular basis. Though at least as of six/seven years ago there was a preacher who would show up on campus to yell at people that that if you'd ever seen a gay person and hadn't condemned them you were going to hell. As far as fundie types go in that part of the state, Pentecostal is my best guess.

[FeministShrew]

I love Boone! That area is so beautiful! I'd love o move up there someday.

Yesterday evening there was yet another protester in front of BJU. I don't think it was the same guy, this one was taller, skinnier & looked older. He had on what looked like a shredded graduation robe over a dress shirt & tie, & had a fake monk's tonsure on his head. :? It looked like a bad Halloween costume.

He was holding a homemade cardboard sign, the only words I could make out on one side were "pope" & "vatican", but the other side read "BUILDING THE KINGDOM OF THE ANTICHRIST."

I'd love to know what the deal is with these guys, but I haven't been able to find out anything.

[AllisonWndrland]

I always think it's funny to hear that some people don't see these people often. Must be a regional thing. I live in Missouri and see them all the time. And I always stare at their skirts and give them a long "I know who you are and what you're up to" look.

This. We have the polo shirts on men, long-skirt, long hair on women variety of fundies in my area of the state. We also have the very rural farming fundy families who tend to have overalls or Wranglers on the men and boots and very long dresses on the women. You go to south central part of the state and you have Mennonites, too. There is also a group of women at the Farmer's Market who sell baked goods. I know part of their group is Mennonite, but the other part is clearly something else. They headcover with scarves and wear shapeless, plain cotton dresses (literally, as they're only drawn in at the waist with a drawstring of some sort). I have yet to figure out what they practice. If anyone has ideas, I would love to hear them.

[Spider Burps]

Were you in Boone by any chance? I went to college at Appalachian, and Boone is an awesome place to live! If it is,you're probably more likely to run into hippies (especially downtown) than fundies on a regular basis. Though at least as of six/seven years ago there was a preacher who would show up on campus to yell at people that that if you'd ever seen a gay person and hadn't condemned them you were going to hell. As far as fundie types go in that part of the state, Pentecostal is my best guess.

I went to ASU, too, and are you talking about Preacher Gary?!?! I routinely argued with him--and if it was six/seven years ago, you may've seen me (super pale chick with blonde deadlocks, usually accompanied by a guy who looks like Jesus.) :)

Boone was the worst place I've ever lived, though. It was so small, so boring, so white. I was so miserable, lonely, and bored there that I took to drinking too much. Bleh.

P.S. I took this picture of some random Christians. Thought you may approve. :lol:

[Mary C Doates]

That's an interesting perspective, I live about 30 minutes outside of NYC we have several communities of Orthodox Jews where the women wear long skirts. If I see a group of women dressed like the way the fundies do, I immedely think Jewish unless, it's Saturday or a Jewish holiday.

I think we may live in the same general area.

The local Christian fundie family (8 kids, maybe) draws a lot more attention than do people from the Orthodox and Hassidic communities, though.