The South

I'm from the south - spent my entire life there until I graduated from college, but haven't really lived there since (I don't count Northern VA as part of the south - at least not the DC Metro area).  There are different versions of the south; Louisiana is much different than Georgia.  Arkansas is different than Mississippi.  Texas is a whole different animal, etc...So there are some things that are common to the entire south, and other things that are unique to the state itself.

It's a good place to be from but I'm glad I have been able to move around and experience different states and regions.  And it's like a family member to me: I can criticize it and pick on it but if someone else does, particularly someone not from there, my hackles go up and I get super defensive.  You're not allowed to criticize it unless you fully understand it.  Then, though, we can talk.  :)

Some Southern Observations:

**When your waitress asks how y'all are doin' today, she means it.  It's not a formality, it's a real question, meaning she wants to know how you're feeling, what you're up to, how the weather is, and incidentally what you would like to eat and drink.  Responding "fine, thanks" will just cause her to stand there (sincerely) and wait for you to elaborate.

**If it's carbonated, it's a coke.  You can specify a Sprite or a Root Beer or a Dr. Pepper, but still, it's all coke.  Not soda.  Not pop.

**Sweat pants are perfectly acceptable fashion attire for a day out and about in town.

**So is camo.

**Dead animals are sometimes used for decorations.  My papa killed a mountain lion years ago and had it stuffed, mounted on a log, teeth bared, and kept it in his shop.  I've seen ducks mounted (as if in flight) on people's walls, deer heads of course, as well as elk and even bears.  It's a thing.

**In some respects - but certainly not all - they are behind the times.  My mom loves going to the movies, so whenever my bro and I are in town, we go.  The theater doesn't have stadium seating.  First world problem, I know, but who doesn't have that these days?!

Look closely - the floor actually dips down in the middle and then back up.  Seriously??

The view from my seat.  If someone had sat down in front of me, I wouldn't have been able to see the screen.

**Sometimes being behind the times is a good thing.  People are (usually) genuinely nice, genuinely polite.  They believe in manners, and in God, and in doing the right thing even if it's not the most socially-accepted thing.  They ask questions when they don't understand something.  They respect their elders and their heritage and their culture.  They want to keep their kids close and protected instead of sending them out in the dark world.

The longer I'm away from it, the more observations I'm able to make about where I'm from.  And the more times I go back, the less I fit in.  But I like it that way.

Y'all come back now, ya hear?  :)  :)