Kathy Bradley (KB) and Johnny Bradley (JB)
JB: When I was about 5, I took about a 8 or 10 pound bag and went to the cotton field and picked what we call black seed cotton. Dad was a very good farmer but we were working for what they would let us have and that was not a lot. But that was part of the way it was back then I guess. And uh, it was real hard at that time. We uh, eat rice and peas one day, the next day we’d eat peas and rice. But I recall the day we got electricity to our house. I believe it was in 1943 or 44. I remember we were privileged to get us a Philco radio where we could hear the Grand Ole Opry. And we thought we had died and went to heaven. On a Saturday night, all the neighbors gathered round and sit there till midnight, listening to the radio. Thought that was the greatest thing since Pepsi Cola come out.
KB: You left the farm when you were about 18 and, about the time that I was ready to go to college you went back. Why did you make that decision?
JB: I had left the country but the country never got out of me. And I always liked that kind of life, working in the land, watching the crops grow. It had become a part of me and I worked hard but I don’t have to share it with the boss man.
KB: What do you think that you learned from that experience that might be valuable to somebody today who is facing the economy the way it is now?
JB: Well, my dad had taught me, If a man knocks you down and you can’t get up, you bite him on the leg. You just don’t quit. And that’s the best advice that I could give to anyone. When I quit, I want them to put dirt on me.
