
26/07/2025
MY SON CALLED FARMERS “LOW CLASS”—SO I DROVE HIM STRAIGHT TO THE RANCH
I knew something was off when Jalen came back from his dad’s last weekend visit. He kept flipping his hair, talking like some influencer, and scoffing at my boots like they were contagious.
Then he dropped it. Over breakfast, no less.
“Why should I help with chores? That’s like... low class. Only farmers do that.”
I nearly choked on my coffee. I set the mug down and looked him dead in the eye. “Well, lucky you. Your mama is a farmer.”
He blinked. “Yeah, but like, a cool one.”
I didn’t even argue. I just told him to pack his stuff—we were heading to the ranch.
It’s not some Instagrammable pumpkin patch. It’s real work. Five a.m. feedings, fixing busted fencing, hauling bales twice his weight. I didn’t sugarcoat a thing. I handed him gloves and said, “You want to eat? Then work.”
At first he dragged his feet, kept checking his phone. But that changed quick when Thunder—our oldest horse—stepped on his sneaker and he screamed like it was a crime scene.
I didn’t laugh (out loud). I just said, “That’s what you get when you forget horses don’t like being filmed.”
Each day he got dirtier. Grumpier. But he started listening more. Like really listening—especially to Ms. Salome, our neighbor who’s been ranching since before I was born. She sat him down and told him about growing up during drought seasons, and how her hands got like leather from carrying water buckets barefoot as a girl.
He got quiet after that.
And then today… something happened.
We were out by the coop when I saw Jalen crouched next to one of the lambs, talking to it real low. He didn’t know I was watching. But I swear, I saw him wipe his eye.
Then he walked up to me, handed over his phone, and said—⬇️