Southern Comments

[Black Sunday]

Hehe... they can be pretty good, actually. I was just trying to add some leverage. I think grits are basically what you make of them, because on their own, they're kinda tasteless (sorry if I offended you again. I mean that in the best way possible ). If you add a ton of butter and salt and pepper, they taste like... butter and salt and pepper. But that's how I like them.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

not to make this thread too off topic, but I like grits sort of as a breakfast cereal like oatmeal or cream of wheat whereas in the south it seems like you put salt and other things on them, I think they eat them completely different than I do.

As for the south, well I think it gets a bad rap, Georgia is really nice and there is a certain something about southern charm and southern culture. Not everyone in the south is a redneck.

However I still think this thread is just a joke so I don't think it was intended to offend anyone.

[LuluVox]

My mother has the same attitude about grits. They're basically cream of wheat to her; she puts sugar in them.

I've known some damned charming southern belles in my day. A few gentlemen, too, but usually those were people's dads. :D

I know it wasn't meant to offend. Can I help it that it bothered me? Nuh uh.

[Fierce Critter]

Entering my 4th year living in NC with cows as my nearest neighbors, here's my observations.

The closer to the "big cities" you get (Raleigh, etc), the more cultured people seem to become. Especially if it's a city with a major college base (UNC, nearby Duke, etc). There, I'm more likely to run into people who have open minds, know something of the world outside of the local T-Mart, etc.

Where I'm living, which was described by one Raleigh-ite who came down to pick up an eBay item I'd sold him as "WAAAAY out there", things tend toward the more stereotypical.

People are nice - to your face. You run into so many "nice" people in this area - but you get this feeling, a sort of crawling tingle, that the smiles don't go past the mouth. And the more people I run into from other states, the more this is confirmed for me.

I don't think, at least not from my experience, there's much to the "southern hospitality" myth. I get the same "I don't really feel like dealing with you, please go away" feeling down here that I get from inner city Detroiters. The main difference I think I can offer is in Detroit, they don't cover it with smiles & empty politeness. It's in-your-face and you know where you stand. Whereas down here, they say "let me know if you need anything" but you get the distinct feeling they're REALLY hoping you never take them up on that offer.

Again, other out-of-staters I've run into, and there are surprisingly, refreshingly many, have expressed the exact same feeling.

I observe that it's VERY different between natives of the area. The families are EXTREMELY tight, and neighbors are nearly family to each other. But the courtesy doesn't extend beyond that - again, in my experience.

As for the stereotypical types of comments joked about, I haven't heard many of those actual sayings - fact is, I don't have enough interaction with people down here to be exposed to that kind of language. Even my husband, whose company actually moved down here from New York years ago, works with mainly Mexicans, Philipinos, and transplanted northerners. Most of our interaction with the locals is from one or two co-workers he became friendly with, and people we run into on the street for one reason or another.

That's where I get what I stated above. The few genuine "southerners" we've become acquainted with were HEAVY DUTY good ole' boy rednecks who use the term THEMSELVES and take great pride in the label. They're the ones you about need closed-captioning or an interpreter to understand.

Not to say they're not smart. On the contrary - they're sharp as tacks & actually display a creativity that belies their seemingly narrow existence. If they use sayings like those listed above, to me, it's a sign of that quick-witted creativity, and I find it kinda refreshing.

But on the whole, we're not invited to interact with them enough for me to be able to say how much they really say stuff like that.

The one big gathering o' rednecks I've been to was the after-wedding party of one of them. We're talking after the 1-hour long reception, everyone gathers at the groom's parents home for the REAL party - beer, pig pickings, etc. That's where I played fly-on-the-wall to conversations about homos going to hell, the fine and glorious G.W. Bush, the latest gun purchase, etc.

But to be fair, that's also where I heard the groom's father spew out a wealth of knowledge of southern history that it was just amazing. I couldn't offer half that history about where I came from, and was suitably impressed.

So southerners may have quaint colloquialisms. But that doesn't make them dumb.

[Fierce Critter]

Oh, and I love grits.

But I ate them more up north than I ever do down here. They're standard on the breakfast buffets at Big Boy, which I used to treat myself to while yard saleing on Fridays.

I see more hush puppies than grits down here. They're freaking EVERYWHERE.

[Onyx]

I like my grits with salt and butter too. That's the only way I ever saw anyone eat them at home.

Literally my first day in Michigan I went to Bob Evans for breakfast and ordered grits. They brought out grits and syrup. syrup? I sat there really confused, wondering if my waitress was going to bring out pancakes too.

[Daevion]

what is a hush puppy?

Heh, I never had grits so I really have no clue about those things either.

[Onyx]

The main difference I think I can offer is in Detroit, they don't cover it with smiles & empty politeness. It's in-your-face and you know where you stand.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That's one of the things I adore about Detroit.

I had the same sort of experience, was in total culture shock when I moved here but found that I definitely prefer living here

[Onyx]

what is a hush puppy?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Long John Silvers has them. They are fried cornbread balls. heh. Sounds funny.

[LuluVox]

I don't think, at least not from my experience, there's much to the "southern hospitality" myth. I get the same "I don't really feel like dealing with you, please go away" feeling down here that I get from inner city Detroiters. The main difference I think I can offer is in Detroit, they don't cover it with smiles & empty politeness. It's in-your-face and you know where you stand. Whereas down here, they say "let me know if you need anything" but you get the distinct feeling they're REALLY hoping you never take them up on that offer.

That's actually the main reason I haven't gone back, and have no plans to, despite missing my friends like mad. Southern hospitality is a total myth. At least it was in the tiny town where I spent most of my time.

Hushpuppies are where it's at!

[Fierce Critter]

Most of the hush puppies you see down here are like tiny banana-shapes.

They generally bring them out to the table gratis, with butter for spreading. Kinda like nachos at Mexican restaurants.

I used to love 'em. Now I can't stand 'em.

[Nightflyerswmn]

I'm from Arkansas. I've lived here just about my whole life. I moved to Memphis when I was 5 and I hated every part of being in a big city. I moved back to ar when i was 11 and lived here ever since.

That thing about southern hospitality is just total bullshit in most cases. I have met quite a few southerners who are just a bunch of self-righteous hypocrites.

[LuluVox]

People just ain't no good.

[JaneDead]

the only place i was in down south that was scary to me was some place in kentucky. we were camping in the hills and in the small town there the people REALLY fit the "sterotype" of hillfolk. it was a whole 'nother world to me.

we went to a store to buy some stuff and asked where a pot was. we wanted to buy one to cook in. the guy looked at us and said "the pissers over there" and points. and we were like no, a POT to cook in.

they also had bubble up. that was the first time i saw that.

any other place i have been to down south i loved. especially georgia. LOVE georgia. so pretty. and people there - wherever i would go- were SO nice. so so nice.

[TomCat]

When I was in TX last month, someone sent me a drink...and on the napkin it came with was written,"Die Yankee Die!" Yeeeehawwww

I did the shot anyway, it was a "prarie fire"

[Sybil]

"Well, that makes about as much sense as perfume on a pig."