A city in central Tennessee (30,000+/-
pop.), home to Tennessee Tech University (OVC) and their mediocre sports teams, Cookeville Regional Medical Center (where anyone injured worse than a simple sprain or
cut has to be airlifted to Vanderbilt), Oreck Vacuums (they
suck, but it's a GOOD suck) and a handful of other companies few
people have ever heard of. The city government is run by the Good Ol' Boy Network and you'll never get a job with the city unless you're related to someone. County seat of Putnam County, ALSO run by the Good Ol' Boy Network. Cookeville has a Baptist Church-to-Resident ratio approaching 1:1 and anyone you meet on the street who isn't a Tech student from out of town is likely to ask you if you know
Jesus.
People in Cookeville who like to think they are hip, quaint or
funny refer to the city as "Cookietown," "CookeVegas" or "The 'Ville." The outskirts of Cookeville are packed full of double-wides.
1: "I was driving on I-40 last week getting real
hungry so I finally gave in and stopped in Cookeville for some
Chick-Fil-A."
2: "Oh, bro, I feel sorry for ya."
1: "Yeah, the girl at the counter was cute but as soon as I started chatting her up she got all
Jesus & God bullshit on me."
2: "Yeah, that'll happen."