COLUMN: "A Li'l Confession for Y'all"

From Jonathan Steinmetz's "Taking the Long Way Home," Fall '92 I know I'll face harassment and embarrassment, possible bring shame to my family and friends. But that's all right. I know there are others like me, some out in the open, others in the closet, hiding it from their roommates and family. Hopefully, they'll see me through this time of ridicule and jest. I just need to work up the nerve to actually set these words down upon the paper. I like country music. There, done. That wasn't so hard. For those of you who have been living in a cave the last few months, country music is experiencing a huge revival. Country radio stations now outnumber pop stations three to one. Garth Brooks, country's megastar, has four albums in the top 20, including his new number one "The Chase." The hit song "Friends in Low Places" has become a barroom anthem -- probably the biggest song in the South since the days of Jeff Davis, or at least the days of Bo and Luke Duke. Garth has been on the cover of Time magazine and has been the subject of an NBC special. Tonight, he will play the Spectrum. The sold-out-in-under-two-hours Spectrum, I might add. Country isn't just for rednecks anymore. Sales of country music are booming, and people outside of Alabama are actually listening to it. But, alas, Penn seems to be the last bastion of anti-country sentiment. People here think you're strange if you enjoy country music. It seems illogical, since I think most people from New Jersey would be quite downtrodden, but country just hasn't caught on at Penn. Never, except in my dorm room, have I heard a radio on this campus playing country music. So I'm asking all you secret listeners out there, and I know there are some I talked to the guy behind the counter at Sam Goody to come out of the closet and band together. Let's start Penn's Country Club. We'll begin by wearing jeans next Friday to show our support for country music. Now I don't know where the country in my blood comes from. Nobody in my family is a professional wrestler, or even watches wrestling on cable. I've never dated my cousins. I don't think "paprika" is a third-world country. I don't own a pickup truck, and South Florida is not really the South. I just find the lyrics and music more appealing than most of the pop and rap trash that comes on the radio these days. Rock is great, but sometimes I'm not in the mood. As Alan Jackson that's right, a country singer put it: Don't rock the jukebox I want to hear George Jones 'Cause my heart isn't ready, For the Rolling Stones. So, I am personally declaring this Country Music Awareness Week. I will begin the festivities by placing a ten-gallon hat on Ben Franklin's head. There will be a march demanding that SPEC books a country singer for Fling, and that the high rises get The Nashville Network. Finally, no country event would be complete without beer, so we'll have a big hog roast/beer blast/square dance on Hill Field. Maybe we'll attract fifty people. Seriously, take time out to listen to country music. The best country station in Philly is WXTU 92.5 FM, for those who choose to participate. Just give country a chance. Y'all might like it. For those of you from Penn going tonight, all six or seven of you, have a great time. Maybe I'll see you there! Who knows, some day I might work up the nerve to tell my parents. Jonathan Steinmetz is a Wharton sophomore from West Palm Beach, Florida. "Taking the Long Way Home" appears alternate Fridays.