Stereotypes aren't always clear cut.
You don't have to be dumb to be a redneck. When most people think of redneck, they have certain things they think of, and when they see a dented pickup w/ a gun rack you will immediately be stereotyped as a giant redneck.
It doesn't even matter where you live if you have a vehicle that has those qualities.
And you have a skoal ring in your pocket? Sorry, but most people see these things and think redneck. That's just the way the world works.
Just yesterday a guy saw me in sweatpants and a heavy 5 o'clock shadow and called me homeless. Am I homeless, no. But I see why he called me that.
People stereotype, it's what they do.
The problem with many people who have SA is that we are afraid of being different. It's something we need to work on, is wearing the different label.
I walked into a busy bar by myself on Friday night. I may have been the only loner in that bar, but I wore it, and I fit in. I was so proud that I had the guts to walk in there sober and know that I would look weird walking in there alone.
The secret is to stop caring what other people think of you. It's the caring what others think of us that gives us the SA problems.
I still have work to do, but I've improved with that dramatically.