"We Dug Coal Together"

I can readily admit that I am no television aficionado. My schedule essentially eliminates any down time and what little I do have, I spend antagonizing my kids or reading football stats. Folks will ask me if I have seen the latest Netflix series or whether I caught a premiere on ABC and my response is always the same:

"I was probably watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse."

This holds true even before I had children. I binge-watched "Friends" and "Seinfeld" long after they ended. I was too cheap to pay for HBO in college so "The Sopranos" was another week-long watch-fest three years after it was over. Same for "The Wire." "Breaking Bad" and "Homeland" still have not made the cut. Being a late-30's Caucasian male that has not seen either of these shows lands me in the smallest minority in the known universe.

Trust me, if there was a Jeopardy category called "TV Shows After 2002," I would score as well with "Transgender French Authors from the 1500's." In fact, there are only five categories in which I would do worse:

1) "Greatest Moments in Auburn Football History"
2) "Florida Georgia Line Lyrics"
3) "The Benefits of Decaf Coffee"
4) "Nextel Two-Way Phones Were the Best"
5) "Muscadine Wine Vintages"

However, there are a handful of shows that I did/do follow religiously. I do not miss any episode of "Blackish" or "The Walking Dead." I watched "Saturday Night Live" every week from 1992-1998. "Family Ties" and "Cheers" were staples in our house growing up. You want to know about Clegane Bowl or "Ballers?" "Band of Brothers" or "The Pacific?" I am your guy.

There is one show that hit home more than all others.

It was set in the modern-day South in an area that closely resembles north Georgia. It was not embellished and the accents were not Varsity Blues-ish "I don't waaaant youuur liiiife" trash. The cast and the storyline were just superb and every episode was exciting, funny, serious and thought-provoking at the same time. The last episode was a perfect wrap-up to the series and I contend that the final scene is the greatest in television history, due to how it tied up every single loose end and boiled the series down to one single moment that told the tale of the two main characters.

I am talking about "Justified."

If you watched the show, you know what I mean. If you did not, here goes.

 Raylan Givens, played by Timothy Olyphant, was a deputy U.S. marshal who worked in Miami, but was forced to return to his home state of Kentucky due to some disciplinary problems. Raylan was a throw-back type of officer, wearing a cowboy hat and having a quick draw with his pistol. He always had a sharp wit, remained cool under pressure and tested the limits of his boss's patience. Raylan always got the job done, though.

Upon his return, he found himself working almost exclusively in his hometown of Harlan, which was plagued by joblessness, crime, drug use and corruption. The coal mines were the main source of employment for the legitimate citizens. One of his boyhood friends was Boyd Crowder, played by Walton Goggins, had returned to Harlan after serving in the Persian Gulf War and a stint in prison. The Crowder family were a well-known crime family that operated in the mountains surrounding Harlan. They dabbled in all forms of vice, were completely ruthless and used fear, intimidation and violence to impose their will. Boyd was no exception and could make the viewer laugh and/or cringe with his antics. Quite frankly, he reminded me of some people I knew at the store back in Cassville.

The show revolved around the love-hate relationship between Raylan and Boyd, as the former chased the latter all over Harlan and the mountains of Kentucky, wreaking havoc all along the way. Drug dealing, gun-running, murder, beatings, extortion, fixing elections, money laundering....you name it and Boyd Crowder did it. Despite their obvious animus, they always seem to have a begrudging respect and kinship to go along with it. After six seasons, Raylan finally ended Boyd's life of crime after a massive chase/shootout that resulted in Boyd being convicted and sentenced to many years in prison. Raylan requested and was granted a transfer back to Florida after the case.

The final scene shows Raylan visiting Boyd in prison, apparently several years after the fact. He was there to break bad news to Boyd about his missing wife. Boyd pointed out that Raylan could have sent word through his lawyer or the warden, but opted to drive all the way from Miami to Kentucky. Raylan hemmed and hawed as to his reason, but after Boyd pressed the issue, they had the following exchange as the show ended:

Raylan: "Well, if allow myself to be sentimental, despite all that has occurred, there is one thing I wander back to....."

Boyd: (a short pause and eyes get misty) "We dug coal together."

Raylan: "That's right." (the two stare at one another as the scene ends.)

Why does that scene resonate with me? It was the way the two acknowledged their differences, but still had that connection that bonded them. They toiled in the Harlan coal mines as young men and worked the same shift. Breathed in the same black dust. Worked the same terrible hours and endured the same rotten conditions. Realized that mining life was not for them and went their separate ways. Those two ways could not have been more divergent, but their fates were interwined nonetheless. The two former miners came together in the end.....through all the death, destruction, mayhem and drama.

It harkened back to my days behind the register and pumping gas in Cassville. We had some really interesting characters darken our doors, as many of you know. Some of these folks were mischievous and just wild, some were downright mean and malicious. We had people that stayed high or drunk 18 hours a day. Meth dealers and gang members. Scammers and thieves. Barroom brawlers. Convicted felons. Prostitutes and deadbeat dads. Some of these people have died untimely deaths, gone to prison or completely disappeared. They have provided the basis for many of the stories that I tell now. Combine them with the white collar and blue collar citizens and you have the modern-day small town South depicted in "Justified."

I am not defending their illegal/immoral actions by any means, but these people were part of Cassville just as much as we were. They were loyal customers to us and grew up on the same quiet little roads that I did. Take a turn down Cedar Creek Road and you will see men working under hoods of cars in front of their double-wide and a pit bull running in circles around them. Meander up Cass-White or Firetower Road and you may pass a grown man riding a bike with a twelve-pack of Natural Light hanging from the handle. You could somebody getting locked up. A satellite dish in a pigpen (that is no lie). Somebody clearly conducting nefarious activity on the payphone at 3:00 a.m.

Like all the crazy characters in "Justified," Boyd Crowder especially, they were synonymous with Cassville. If anyone from the outside criticized them, I would be the first to defend them. They are my people, good or bad. My family owes them all a debt of gratitude for their loyalty and their ability to make us laugh, cry and learn from them.

When Boyd said "we dug coal together," he was speaking to all of us. I heard it loud and clear.