My first reply was from JLeslie. Completely forgot about that. Looking back, dang, I was brave to start off with a tongue in cheek tone and a text wall!!
Aha… this is interesting, listening to non-Southerners explain their perspective of the South, with all due respect. I come from the South (yes, capital S… and I’m definitely not pro-Confederacy) and I see things quite a bit different. To be honest, living in the north (yeah, that broad swath up there) has been a learning experience for me. I find northerners to be cold, critical, uncouth, obsessed about time and schedules, quick to judge, take forever to trust outsiders but a heartbeat to reject them, use silent treatments and shunning liberally. I’m guessing it must be the leftover Puritan or Hessian influences… but then again, I’m generalizing much like the others who seem to think all the Southerners who dare to have a tad of regionalism must be stuck back in 1865. I was raised to think of others’ comfort, be concerned about their wellbeing, hold my mouth about others’ faults (“if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say it”), treat others with kindness and respect, and say “bless yo’ heart” when someone’s being an idiot. Yes, there are some values that Southerners hold on to that might seem backward to those who didn’t grow up in the South, but there’s so much to be said for civility- I sure do miss it up here in the north. I fear my transformation into a Yankee… but it will happen as we do eventually assimiliate into the cultures we live within.
Now, how about those Mainahs, New Hampshahs and those from NuYuk and N’Joisey? The Mainahs drive their cahs and eat their bugs and complain about those from away, ayuh? or the MinneSOHtahs, you betcha? Methinks we all talkin’ funny here, not just dem Jawja and N’Awlins people, eh?
Yes—there is a huge different between the Northeast and South and most of it is the delicious subtle everyday variations that people don’t realize exist and, frankly, my dear Scarlett, can’t be simplified into generalizations.