That's quite a stereotype in itself. I live in a city, and I can fix my own car. I only take it to someone else for warranty work, or work that involves specialized tools that I don't have.<br /> <br /> I've known many farmers, and I'd never stereotype them that way. Many from the country can be very smart people, just not at the same things someone from the city would be. And vice versa.

   

I have a stereo-type of a farmer for you. Imagine a man who hasn't had a haircut since the last millenium or a beard trim since last October. He's chopped off his bib-alls someplace between the knee and the crotch. All he's wearing is those, an Allis Chalmers cap, and a pair of workboots, as he perches on a John Deere seat with a bottle of Western Pilsner balanced in his crotch and a hand-rolled smoke in the corner of his mouth.<br /> <br /> That was me, and I don't claim to be a stereotypical farmer...or even a farmer. I can hay like a bugger though, as long as the relatives don't piss me off and somebody fills me in on how the new equipment works. Things are a lot easier now. <img align=absmiddle src='images/smilies/biggrin.gif' alt='Big Grin'> <br /> <br /> That's the thing though...if somebody would put a picture of me in the Toronto Star, or the Winnipeg Sun, or even the Regina Leader Post, a lot of people would think that's what farmers look like. <br /> <br /> I know a fair number of farmers, and not a lot of them look like that. Most have never even owned a pair of bib-alls and the majority of them shave and cut their hair. Most can tie a tie (I depend on others for that, when I can't avoid the choke chain) and have more than one suit (I had one, but I got too big).<br /> <br /> Most farmers my age (40's), and a good number my parents age (really old but they claim to be middle-aged, like 130 is the natural lifespan), have university degrees in agriculture. Just about every farm kid can do a fair bit of mechanical work, welding, carpentry, plumbing, electrical, and kind of thumb-nail engineering. A lot of it isn't exactly right, but it's mostly not wrong either. Most have read enough to carry on an intelligent conversation about most things. If they've been through 4-H, they can likely write a report. Almost everybody is smart enough to realise that offering a bottle of beer or glass of rye is common courtesy and there's generally more than one fork in a place setting.<br /> <br /> I've been around farmers all my life and I've met many so stupid I wanted to strangle them. I've never met a "dumb farmer" though, and even the stupidest of them were at least as bright as the average human being because that's what so many of them are. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />

   

I remember when a commercial fisherman on Cortes Island wanted to borrow my welder to do work on his fishboat. I lent him the welder , then commented on fishermen's attitudes toward farmers.I looked at the haywire way his boat was rigged and said "If a farmer tried to run his buisiness the way you fishermentn do, they would be out of buisiness fast.Go to any farm on the prairies and you'll find a well equipped machine shop , complete with welders , torches, lathe, machine tools and every thing he needs to build and maintain whatever equipment he has, along with a thorough knowledge of how to use it. When you fishermen want to insult someone, you call him a farmer. I'd be inclined to take that as a compliment. If I really wanted to insult someone I would call him a fisherman. It's a good thing they still sell those cough drops called "Fishermen's friends, Most fisherment don't have many friends."<br /> Brent