Grandma: 'Cain't never could do nothin'' Published March 13, 2015 By Chief Master Sgt Robert M. Hughes 60th Logistics Readiness Squadron TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Southern language foreword: The word "cain't" is a cross between the standard English contraction "can't" (can not) and the nonstandard English contraction "ain't" (am not). I tell people all the time, I'm an American by birth and a southerner by the grace of God. Let me be the first to inform you that growing up in the South is quite different from growing up anywhere else in the world. For instance, back in the great state of Tennessee, etiquette capital of the entire civilized world, in a place called Booger Holler, my Grandma - a full blooded Cherokee Indian on my Dad's side of the family - had a saying for everything. These weren't just common statements as to how hot it may or may not be outside. No, these were well-thought-out words designed to educate and teach life lessons without the long drawn-out Merriam-Webster/ Encyclopedia Britannica-type explanations one would normally associate with the southern style of speaking and/or communicating. In fact, I can remember a couple of times that my grandma's wisdom served as a blanket of comfort against the harsh realities of the world far outside and removed from Booger Holler. On one occasion, I had just returned from the highly coveted and much anticipated Upper East Tennessee Farmer's 4-H Day in the big city of Bristol, the only city in America divided by state lines: Bristol, Tennessee, and Bristol, Virginia. I was a little upset, because in my mind, I really didn't fit in with high-falutin, well-spoken, overly educated Bristol City 4-H folks. My Grandmother looked at me and said, "Just because the cat has kittens in the oven that don't make'em biscuits." It was a simple way of stating that things aren't always what they seem to be or even what they give the impression to be. I came to realize that whether I fit in wasn't really up to other people, it was and always had been up to me. On another occasion, I confided in my grandma that on that particular day, I was going to let the entire school population, including the janitor and our mascot goat "Bitey," know of my controversial views with regard to my good friend Brian and his on-again/off-again girlfriend, Anna Belle Louise. My grandma looked at me and said, "Robert, you best be careful bending over in the garden because you know those potatoes have eyes." Basically, don't put your business out there for everyone to see if you don't want them seeing it. I realized the wisdom in her words all too late, after Brian and three-quarters of the young ladies in Miss Martins' third grade class didn't speak to me again until the annual Booger Holler Tobacco Harvest and John Deere Tractor Show & Pull Fair which, in calendar time, equated to about two months, six days of silence. Then, one day, my grandma said something that has guided me throughout my life. It's funny, because, to this day, I can't recall the circumstance that led to her saying what she did. I don't recall it being a life-changing moment or a grand-problem solution that would one day evolve into an idea for the betterment of the human race. No, I'm sure, it was something simple and mundane that she asked or encouraged me to do and without a thought, consideration or even trying, I said, "I cain't." My grandma was madder than a wet hen and her response was immediate and stern. "Cain't never could do nothin'," she bellowed in a shrill so high and pitched that it woke up the black bears hibernating underneath the front porch of her modest abode. There it was, as plain as the red hour glass on a black widow's belly, in those few words she let me know that a defeatist and/or negative attitude would not be tolerated in her house. It is this defeatist and/or negative attitude that we, as Airmen, have to guard against today. You can't imagine the times I've been in a meeting and someone suggests something or says we should change something or recommends a different way of doing something and the first response is "can't," such as, "The decision has already been made. We can't change it." "Regulation doesn't allow for that. We can't do it," and, my favorite, "We've never done it that way in the past. We can't do it now." Yep, in the words of my grandma, "Cain't never could do nothin'." In a world of evolving threats, in a world of changing priorities and in a world where money is dwindling, we can't afford to keep saying "can't." We just can't. We, each and every one of us, have to open ourselves to accepting challenges and change. We have to do so with a more positive can-do attitude. The days of "can't" must be put behind us. We are members of the greatest Air Force in the world, defending freedom for the greatest country in the world. This is America, the country that placed a man on the moon, that developed the SR-71, that put the B2 Stealth Bomber in the sky. We didn't do those things by saying can't, we did them by saying can. So no more, "A decision has been made and it can't be changed," and a little more of, "Other options exist let's see if a new approach can solve the problem." No more, "The regulation doesn't allow for that and it can't be changed," and a little more of, "Let's call headquarters Maybe we can do something different" And no more, "We can't do that we don't have the manpower," and a little more of, "What does the mission need? Let's see what we can do." Let's stop being negative. Let's stop acting like every task is a burden. Let's stop making can't the norm and start making it the exception. Let's take a more positive approach to mission accomplishment. Let's get back to the basics of getting things done and stop looking for ways to get out of doing things that must be done. Heck, even back in the great state of Tennessee, etiquette capital of the entire civilized world, the only thing they say a person can't do, is hide from the revenue collector. But I'll wager you a pig in a poke, if you give an old Tennessee Volunteer with up to three years of formal schooling a chance, he or she will find a can-do way of settling that. Airmen today have and always will possess this same can-do attitude, we just need to remind ourselves of it every once and awhile.