I don’t expect businessman Hartley Peavey to meet the plane when Gov. Bryant and his traveling party return home Friday from their weeklong trade mission to Brazil.

Peavey doesn’t think much of those kinds of things. At all.

When I called his electronics company in Meridian recently for a story assignment, I expected to hear back from the PR department. Instead, Mr. Peavey himself returned the call.

He had plenty to say about doing business overseas. Almost 40 minutes worth of colorful commentary on his experiences and filled with phrases like hoodwinked and hayseed.

Here’s some of it:

“The reason I don’t go on any of these things is because – and i don’t want to sound like a smart ass – but what the hell are these people going to teach me? I could teach them a hell of a lot.”

“People assume I’m some hayseed. I know what the hell I’m doing.”
(It’s hard to argue with that: Peavey Electronics is one of the largest makers and suppliers of musical instruments, amplifiers and professional audio systems in the world—distributing more than 2,000 products to more than 130 countries, according to the company website.)

“I have been a road warrior (since 1972) with virtually no help from the federal government and virtually no help from Mississippi.”

Peavey said when Bryant returned from a trip to China, the governor told him he needed to do business there. “I said, ‘Holy s**t, Phil, I have two companies in China.”