It has been so long since I have blogged, I think I might have forgotten how to. Luckily, Mother has been consistently pestering me to post, so whether I want to get back on that bike (which in the non-metaphorical world known as reality-not the real world TV type- I actually have no idea how to ride a bike) or not, I am going to blog. So here goes...
Just to step up on the old familiar soap box...
I have been living in this wonderful place called Northern Virginia (NOVA) for sometime now and while I love the new environment, there are a few things I have learned to value about the South since moving away. While many of you are probably assuming right now that I am going to mention things like sweet tea (which I actually don't care for at all) and fried food or country music and backroading (which I do love and miss very much-backroading, that is), none of these reasons, or any of things similiar to them, make me miss the South more than the reasons listed below.
1. In the South, people know who they are and what they believe and they aren't afraid to show it
Now before I have a bunch of NOVAs mad at me, let me delve a little deeper on the topic. I only mean to say that Southerners aren't as weary in expressing their beliefs- they aren't looking over their shoulders as they say them, they aren't constantly afraid of being judged, and they say what they mean not what they think the other person wants to hear. Now NOVAs, those Southern characteristics aren't all considered good in my book, so if you are mad at me dissing you, I am actually dissing Southerners and Northerners to some extent- because a person's strengths can sometimes also be their weaknesses- which actually means I am insulting myself- geez, what kind of blog am I running here?
To clarify, Southerners say what they mean and they mean what they say and if they disagree with you or want to insult you, they don't play mind games- they just do or they don't. For example, a NOVA would say, "Joe was just joking to everyone about how obnoxiously bright your shoes are, ha ha, but he was just kidding of course," when they really mean, "WE were just talking about how much we hated your shoes and I just wanted to tell you so you would either A. stop wearing them in the future or B. so that I can deflect others from making fun of me." Whereas a Southerner would say, "Amber, those are some ugly shoes, where did you get those?" and they mean, "Amber, those are some ugly shoes, tell me why you are wearing them?" - Giving me the opportunity to say, "Well Lisa (she always hated my shoe choices), they were only 99 cents a pair and super colorful and I like them, so get over it." - We all laugh and continue on our merry way...
2. Southerners find few subjects "inappropriate"
Okay, Okay- we do find some subjects taboo at the dinner table- but not many. In the south, meal time conversations aren't solely dictated by what is going on in the news or what happened on the farm that day (see #3 for further explanation on why I said farm). Southerners are notorious for #1, saying what they mean and meaning what they say and the same boldness carries over to everyday conversation with... everyone! In the South, you don't have to know someone for more than a day before you can sit down and have a 30 minute discussion with them. In the South, you can tell someone your entire life story- dirty laundry and all- and while a Southerner may leave the conversation thinking "I didn't need to know all that" after talking with someone, a Southerner doesn't leave thinking "what a wierdo" and if they do, they still value it as an interesting story to tell at the dinner table later- airing the dirty laundry all over again- over fried food and sweet tea, right? ha ha.
I think it goes back to our Southern hospitality or the fact that when talking to a "wierdo" we probably know his brother or his niece or someone in his family and when you see people as...well, people, you don't think they are so wierd after all. But I have always said, and still do say, that I think the most boring people are the people that aren't wierd at all and that the world would be a very boring and dull place to live in if we weren't all a little wierd.
3. Southerners have a realistic view of the rest of America, WHAT?!?!! Let me explain (this is a shout out to Katie Lewis, she had an awesome article series titled 'Let Me Explain' when she wrote for Saint Louis University- look them up, they are really good!).
Have you ever met someone who thought that the way something was portrayed on television, was actually the way it is in real life? Like, for instance, someone who thinks that MTV's The Real World is actually how college students act 24/7?
Okay- I am lying. I actually know a lot of Southerners who have a somewhat warped view of the rest of America and the world- but it isn't just some Southerners guys, so "phew!"- you can wipe that sweat off your forehead, because they have them up here too...
For example, on just about every occasion when someone has asked me where I am from originally (after finding out I just moved to the area), and I have answered "Tennessee," the person inevitably replies back, "Oh, so this must be like a HUGE change for you..." like the South is all hillbillies and hoedowns (not that there is anything wrong with either of those). That or I get, "You don't have a strong Southern accent... (like it is a question, like I can't really be from the South if I don't have one- ha ha)"
C'mon NOVA- the South is a lot more than Country Music and cowboy hats (once again, nothing wrong with either)! My reply (no kidding) to each person who makes such a laughable comment is usually along the lines of "Well, we aren't all tobacco farms and Southern Belles in the South" - (ummm... yes, I know, I am a Southern Belle- a Kappa Alpha little sister-wait, those don't technically exist, so I guess I am safe in my statement). Needless to say, my answer always gets a chuckle or an interesting look. To be honest, I haven't really notice much of a difference between the two places- in fact, if they threw in some Krogers and Walmarts up here, you could swear you were in Tennessee again.
So alot of these are just me complaining, and most don't hold up as completely true because the nation is so blended today- but there is something to be said for the Southern lifestyle or "hospitality"- on a side note, I also get a lot of "I am sure things move a lot faster up here than they do down here, don't they?"- to which I respond, "Well, all our "open land" does make for faster highways and fewer traffic jams (yay 70 mile speed limits!), so really, it's quite the opposite up here."
While I could do without the tobacco spitting and the obnoxiously loud trucks (which I also secretly love), I wouldn't change the Southern attitude for anything- and while I love NOVA, I think they could take a lesson or two from all us skoal dipping, line-dancers and maybe after I live here for long enough, I can blog about a few leasons we can learn from NOVA - maybe ;)
We make headboards! (Well, I did at least)
