Transcript for the Piece Audio version of StoryCorps: Gregg Goins and Steve Nelms

G: My name is Gregg Goins, I'm 61 years old. S: I'm Steve Nelms, I'm 57
years old. Gregg and I we were tobacco auctioneers for a long time. G:
We had been were not anything now, that's all over. (auction chant) G:
In 1970 that was my first sale. A couple tobacco buyers helped me get a
job in Georgia selling tobacco. Steve, where'd you start at? S: I went
to college in 1966. I didn't do very well. And um, the statement for the
second semester's tuition came in right after Christmas. And uh, Daddy
said Whaddaya want to do with it? I said You can throw it away if you
want to cuz I ain't goin back. I reckon that's the first thing I ever
told my daddy I was not gonna do and didn't get a stick across my butt.
He said Well what are you gonna do then boy? I said, Well I heard
auction school lasted a week, I thought I'd try that. (chant Now you do
the start, Steve. 82! 82.) When I went to auction school we started out,
we'd just hum numbers. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Then we'd hum em
backwards. G: It's just a matter of practice. Anybody can do it. Ol
Colonel Dale Brown at Fort Wheel Arkansas gave us a little rhyme: Engine
engine number 9 runnin on Chicago line, if the engine jump the tracks
you will get your money back. Engineenginenumber9runninon Chicagoline,
ifthattrainjumpthetracksyouwillgetyourmoneyback. That's how we practiced
it. (Little better here, 88! 88) G: Every tobacco auctioneer, and I
think I can truthfully say this, thinks that they're gonna be the best
in the world and you know just because you sound pretty don't mean you
the best auctioneer in the business. S: That's right. (Very good. So
mine goes like this) You know if a tobacco auctioneer would follow the
whole circuit he didn't spend but bout 2 months at home. Wed travel from
Georgia to North Carolina, and then we'd either go from Tennessee or
Kentucky, later on to Virginia. And you look forward to it every year,
you know, when July came we'd get ready to travel. (87, 87, 89, 90) G:
We all wore coats and ties and everybody dressed up, it was a job to
have a lot of pride in. But in the last 10, 12 years that has really
changed. S: And I knew we were gonna see some change but I had no idea
it would be this drastic and this quick. (92 92 92) G: We've lost a
lifestyle. S: Yeah, we've lost a complete lifestyle. We really did. And
plus we lost a job and a livelihood. G: No income. S: Part of it, that's
right. G: I never did smoke. Never did start. I just had no idea that it
was as harmful as it is. And I'm, you see people, I saw my dad go down
with lung problems and I've got some friends that's had, you know,
emphysema and things like that. S: I do smoke and I'm convinced its not
good for ya but there's so much other stuff out there that's even,
that's just as bad or worse. G: My grandfather lived to be 88 and he
chewed all his life. So uh you know, if I can live to be 88 I'll be
happy. S: Tobacco business its been good for us, been good to us. And I
have enjoyed it. G: Definitely, I mean, hey, this has been my life 35
years, it was. (chanting fades out)