Appalachian Man interview-Billie

oh mike yeah so i can hear what you're saying i got that country boy accent yeah i like it right your accent is what's sold huh you thought it was your beard that i liked i like your accent i told you it was a hillbilly oh well this hillbilly's got an accent you live out in the country you got an accent you call yourself a hillbilly i am what makes you a hillbilly well go to school learn work on a farm stuff like that what was your childhood like oh my childhood is grown up go to school come home work kids got made today they get presents back then we didn't all we know is get up in the morning work go to school and come back work some more where you were born 54. tell me about your mom and dad my dad he was a coal miner for 30 years till he went to advanced security and my mother she didn't do much but housekeeping how would you describe your childhood oh it's not a childhood any child would let food anymore what do you mean by that you have to work every day except sundays you guys went to church yes we did we went uh morning worship and church and on saturday evenings we went to bible studies presbyterian church tell me about your parents well my dad he uh besides he like uh moonshine he made moonshine and then he went uh to uh shoot hunting jinxing fishing he taught me all that but my grandfather he taught me how to make herbs make medicine cough medicine other with the herbs you find in the woods yeah a lot of things have changed now with the new generation of kids right yeah i don't know and adam for apple only they think is that what's on a telephone or or a laptop what do you make of the new generation of kids and especially here in appalachia there's a lot of a lot of drugs going around uh okay you want my really serious opinion about they lazy worthless untrustworth worthy and they don't care who about anyone else but there's help they get that fix every day or that bought a big can of beer in their hand was alcohol everything for you or drugs no i like i told i said i don't drink and i don't do drugs have you been married once she was killed by a drunk when did that happen long time ago in my uh mid-20s she was killed by a pill popping uh george dickle drinker hair head on and killed her on impact i'm sorry you have children do you have kids five two boys three girls how are they doing now they doing well they uh my oldest one is a boy he uh he's a state trooper and he also in the marine corps he does a marine corps part-time does two tours and come back so does my son he's in the army the other son and my daughter oldest one she excuse me she is a federal uh lawyer and my own is a nurse my youngest one is a school teacher you raise your kids i raised my kids on my own on your own without your wife without their mother for most of it without their mother i might be a little hard on them but it it paid off that sounds like it do you love living here in appalachian no tell truth i did but now the way things are i don't is that because of the people that and some of the laws they got and they don't uphold all the laws they write that pass and today you're living where under a bridge why are you living under a bridge because that's the only place i could sleep without getting disturbed or robbed or beaten but without without a drug or alcohol addiction why would you lose your home uh that's a long story it's a long story i went when my girlfriend died back in 2013 i drifted stayed to state and he got to where point i just don't i didn't like it anymore i just other states like virginia down there the sheriffs down there they keep on trucking they won't let let you stop rest or get something to eat nothing how did your girlfriend die she died her stems and our heart failed sorry so just your your depression or your mental state that led you into this situation i don't know why i went crazy or not that i could not answer until i took a psych test they find i said until i take a sip oh until you take one i see you think there might be something mentally going on with you that uh i don't know i was gonna get all that checked out i was trying to get my id back my everything i got back then then i'm gonna start with my health because i owe a lot of money out you do who do you have money too verizon almost ten thousand to them oh 184 to the housing i owe the city 1340 for pines i will water cut me almost at 800 dollars i'll sanitation company life is expensive isn't it it is now are your kids aware of your situation yes they are they help me much as they can you have any regrets in your life yes i have a few if i can go back and change them i'll change i made one serious mistake in my life and i'd like to change i wouldn't change that one if i could can i ask what that was about strong armed robbery oh is that right did you get some prison time twelve and a half years were you trying to pay off some debts yes i'm trying to pay everything i owe out but is that why you tried the robbery yeah yeah do you have any friends i don't call them friends i'll call them associates what was the best what were the best years of your life my best year none what's been the worst time of your life my worst time when i got shot in a leg who shot you in the leg a married man you were involved with his wife his girlfriend not his wife but his girlfriend his girlfriend he had a wife but i was messing with his girlfriend it's complicated yeah i told you there are strange things in my life yes and living homeless under the bridge that must be dangerous right it is what kind of stuff happens to you there nothing nothing yet that i can't handle i mean how do you handle i mean what kind of stuff happens and how do you handle it like i told you i have that taser tell me about your taser it's a hand teacher put on your hand like a brass knuckles and when opponent guy you get close enough to opponent where you can sense through metal or anything it goes uh go through six thousand hd that'll slow somebody down and put i put them to ground for about 15 20 minutes what are you afraid of at this point in your life i don't fear nothing what emotions do you go through you get depressed or angry or i get angry every once in a while but i'm frustrated but i never been depressed are you lonely i've been alone since 2013. you have siblings your brothers and sisters uh once in 11 i got two sisters and a brother left out 12. how are they doing i haven't seen them in the last 30 years oh really would you call yourself a loner i'd like to be alone how was living on the streets affected you how's it changed it taught me a lot of things how many years almost nine years it's changed you how made me look smarter and wiser in a lot of ways do you feel like life is unfair well sometimes most time i don't you still have hope of finding a better life i'll find a better life because i don't have that much more time on this planet i can go anytime between now and then you're 68 right we'll be 68. what personality trait do you possess that helps you survive it's just like uh what's that saying my dad said you don't do it you never get it done i go and do it do it yourself man i know we get done because like i think earlier when we met uh i was waiting on a guy to go work thin but he didn't show up when he said he was if you had your life to live all over again what what kind of things would you have done differently one thing committing that crime is one thing two a few things i've done and said otherwise how often do you talk to your with your kids now i get to see my kids two or three times a month especially my boys did you have role models when you were a young man no what about your dad i put this way i love my dad as a dad no better no look worse they toss and uh bible class the sixth commandment honor your father and mother and billy what would you say is the most important lesson you've learned in your life there are several one when you go against a person don't go head on on two don't take somebody lightly all right billy thank you so much for sharing your story okay i wish you the best of luck out there you

Channel: Soft White Underbelly

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Id: Cbn3lKYrXoI

Length: 19min 2sec (1142 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 20 2022