for yankees - to help overcome prejudices...

[MartyNeilan]

There is a noticeable rise in friendliness towards one's fellow citizen the farther I've traveled below the Mason-Dixon line.

Southern friendliness is superficial. They will be nice to your face and stab you in the back. Sometimes I just prefer the Northern rudeness, at least I know it's honest.

When I was younger I falsely believed Southern women were nicer than Northern women. They only talk nicer.

[tbn.al]

They only talk nicer.

They do other things nicer........

[Uncle Buck]

My neighborhood in Utah has plenty of rednecks. None of them ever lived in the South. They are the ones who:

- despite city leash ordinances, let their dogs and cats run free to crap all over my lawn;
- use tons of illegal fireworks within city limits on July 4 (in the middle of a desert, with tons of tall, dry weeds everywhere - I always soak my lawn with tons of water before that holiday);
- drop empty cans and bottles on my sidewalk and on my yard;
- etc.

[tbn.al]

within city limits on July 4

Rednecks are not usually found "within the limits of any city" They got their red necks the "ol' fashion way", workin' the crops. The idiots you describe are commonly called "po (skin color of preference) trash where I come from. They don't have enough functioning brain cells to come in out of the rain. They are true social illiterates and they really piss me off! They cost me a lot of money each year because they are the main reason I pay a lot more to shop somewhere other than Walmart.

[tbn.al]

How much clothes, bikes, cameras, TV's, sporting goods, camping equipment, blah-blah-blah (not including groceries) do you really buy each year?

I don't buy any of that stuff at Walmart. Although I did buy a work camera there on a half price sale 3 or 4 years ago. I usually go early in the morning (before 7), thereby avoiding the riff-raff and purchase my toiletries, pharmacuticals, bird seed and occaisionaly some gardening supplies. When you get my age you will need a lot more of all that stuff. I stood in line behind a bra-less 300 pounder in desperate need of a bath the last time I went mid-afternoon. After I had the good sense to back up 5 or 6 feet it was quite humerous. Trash is trash. It doesn't matter what region, state or national origin. Trash is just trash.

[David Richoux]

If one studies the history of the "Scotch-Irish" (sic.) in America, the first thing learned is that the bulk of those immigrants, along with some lower classes of Englishmen who landed in the southern colonies/states could not stand the middle and upper-class town & city folk who settled along the Atlantic coast, so they headed for the hills ASAP. There they set up small dirt farms, raising just enough corn and barley to live on (and to make beer and whisky.) Most of 'em never left - except for the few who headed to Oregon (the southernmost state on the Pacific Coast

Because of the cultural isolation and such, the language and music of what became known as "Hillbillies" has not changed much from the 17th century - much like the "Cajuns" of Louisiana speak in almost 16th/17th century French (and their music also reflects Canadian and French music of that time.)

BTW, I am reading a rather interesting book about popular music history in Great Britain, Africa and America - how the mixture of "Folk," "Blues," and other musical forms merged to make what is now "Mainstream" music. Interesting, but slow going!
Origins of the Popular Style - The Antecedents of Twentieth-Century Popular Music
Peter van der Merwe
http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/s ... 0198163053

(and my favorite T-shirt from New Orleans a few years back - "It's not the Heat - It's the Stupidity" )

[tbn.al]

I stood in line behind a bra-less 300 pounder in desperate need of a bath the last time I went mid-afternoon. After I had the good sense to back up 5 or 6 feet it was quite humerous. Trash is trash. It doesn't matter what region, state or national origin. Trash is just trash.

Hey @$$Ħ0£€...That was ME !

What can I say.......from the back you all look alike.

[ken k]

For better or worse, when I hear a woman with a southern accent or "That unforgettable Southern drawl" as bloke said, it sounds very attractive, unfortunately when I hear a man with the same accent it is not as flattering.

ken "I know if you heard me with my "PA Dutch" accent you would probably think the same thing!" k

[The Big Ben]

Many people in 'the south' understand that the words "courtesy", "respect", "consideration", and "loyalty" all have different meanings...

...If you don't believe it, look 'em up!

quiz: Which is the only one of the above that is automatically owed another?

Courtesy.

[Arkietuba]

[quote="ken k"]For better or worse, when I hear a woman with a southern accent or "That unforgettable Southern drawl" as bloke said, it sounds very attractive, unfortunately when I hear a man with the same accent it is not as flattering.
[/quote]

I could show you some women with HORRENDOUS southern accents...they sound incredibly ignorant!!! Now, I agree a woman with a southern drawl is nice but there is a fine line...lol

Also, I think sweet tea is the nectar of the gods! I never realized how much I loved it until I went to Denver and I had to explain what it was and what I got was not sweet tea...it was sweetened tea, not the same thing...you don't come between a southerner and his sweet tea! 'Dats worthy of a butt whoopin.

[MaryAnn]

I agree, the answer is courtesy. So a Northerner who doesn't have this southern rule in hand, will not understand when a person who is courteous to him treats him badly in other ways. Because with Northerners, that courtesy rule is not #1, and the expectation is that someone who is courteous to you is more or less nice. One of the things I didn't learn until I was pretty well along into adulthood was that someone with a pleasant personality is not automatically a pleasant person. There were a few politicians who benefited from my uneducated vote before I figured all that out.

When I moved to the southwest to go back to school, it was from Rhode Island. I had been in the general New England area for almost 15 years, and had absorbed much of the cultural attitudes.

I pretty much crashed and burned in southern New Mexico; I had to learn that saying something negative (Such as what I said in a laundromat, "I don't like the small dryers, I'll wait for a big one") was breaking a social rule that was pretty prominent. You just weren't that direct, or you just gave way and did something you would not normally do, to avoid breaking that rule. The other biggie was a difference in focus on what was important: Back East, where I came from, courtesy was second in line to competence. In southern NM, competence was second in line to courtesy. You wouldn't even get to the competence part unless you met the courtesy part, because your audience would have disappeared, either physically or mentally. It was quite an adjustment from a culture that would laugh at that point of view.

Where I live now, there is a much larger percentage of people from the frozen North than there was in southern NM, but....there is still a lot of that cultural influence here. I found out the extent to which I had acclimated once when I went back and visited the New England area and was shocked at how direct people were. Funny, that.

MA

[steve_decker]

There is a noticeable rise in friendliness towards one's fellow citizen the farther I've traveled below the Mason-Dixon line.

Southern friendliness is superficial. They will be nice to your face and stab you in the back. Sometimes I just prefer the Northern rudeness, at least I know it's honest.

I agree southern friendliness is superficial in a certain sense, but I wouldn't say they will "stab you in the back." Rather, I would say many southerners will act friendly toward you, but are not necessarily interested in really being your best friend.

As a transplanted Michigander, both of these points stand out to me. I quickly learned a few things after moving here (a bit North of Atlanta) a few years ago.

1. Conversation is truly an art form in the South. It is essential to be able to spend a considerable amount of time in conversation that entails not really saying anything of substance about any given topic. If a Yankee can pick up on that fairly quickly, they'll do just fine. If not, you'll quickly reach the end of receiving 'Southern hospitality".

2. Friendships/relationships here in the South are nowhere near as deep or meaningful as friendships in the North. It truly seems like folks are happy to be acquainted but really aren't all that interested in forming a true friendship. Like someone else in the thread mentioned (Bloke, I believe) southerners are much more apt to offer a kind word/comment but they really aren't interested in what you have to say in response.

Kind of a comical anecdote to point 2, my family and I just returned from vacation a week ago. The evening after our return, my wife and I ran into Publix to pick up a couple of things and ran into a neighbor that I have learned is typical of a Southern friend. He spotted us and quickly said "How was your vacation?". Just as I opened my mouth to respond, he said "Well, I don't have time to talk. I need to get back for dinner. See y'all at the pool". Since I had just spent 10 days 'up North', I was taken aback. A Northern friend would've likely said (while still pushing his cart), "Hey, no time to talk but I want to hear about your vacation. Let's grab lunch tomorrow".

3. Generally speaking, Southerners just flat out don't "get" sarcasm. I'm not saying that it's good or bad, perhaps it contributes to the stereotype of Southerners being dumb. After 3+ years of living here, it still surprises me though. I truly cannot count the number of times that I've made a relatively sarcastic comment only to receive nothing but a blank stare in response followed by "oh, you're doing that sarcasm thing again, right?".

So, while Southerners generally appear much more friendly I much prefer the bluntness and brutal honesty that typically comes from a Northerner.

[Arkietuba]

As a transplanted Michigander, both of these points stand out to me. I quickly learned a few things after moving here (a bit North of Atlanta) a few years ago.

1. Conversation is truly an art form in the South. It is essential to be able to spend a considerable amount of time in conversation that entails not really saying anything of substance about any given topic. If a Yankee can pick up on that fairly quickly, they'll do just fine. If not, you'll quickly reach the end of receiving 'Southern hospitality".

2. Friendships/relationships here in the South are nowhere near as deep or meaningful as friendships in the North. It truly seems like folks are happy to be acquainted but really aren't all that interested in forming a true friendship. Like someone else in the thread mentioned (Bloke, I believe) southerners are much more apt to offer a kind word/comment but they really aren't interested in what you have to say in response.

Kind of a comical anecdote to point 2, my family and I just returned from vacation a week ago. The evening after our return, my wife and I ran into Publix to pick up a couple of things and ran into a neighbor that I have learned is typical of a Southern friend. He spotted us and quickly said "How was your vacation?". Just as I opened my mouth to respond, he said "Well, I don't have time to talk. I need to get back for dinner. See y'all at the pool". Since I had just spent 10 days 'up North', I was taken aback. A Northern friend would've likely said (while still pushing his cart), "Hey, no time to talk but I want to hear about your vacation. Let's grab lunch tomorrow".

3. Generally speaking, Southerners just flat out don't "get" sarcasm. I'm not saying that it's good or bad, perhaps it contributes to the stereotype of Southerners being dumb. After 3+ years of living here, it still surprises me though. I truly cannot count the number of times that I've made a relatively sarcastic comment only to receive nothing but a blank stare in response followed by "oh, you're doing that sarcasm thing again, right?".

So, while Southerners generally appear much more friendly I much prefer the bluntness and brutal honesty that typically comes from a Northerner.

That may be a generational thing or a regional thing. I know I, as do a majority of my friends and family, get and use sarcasm ALL the time. I know I don't get it sometimes here on the message board but that's due to me not hearing you speak your words.

As for the not wanting to have deep friendships...not sure about that. It may be a generational thing but I know I have some very close friends who I genuinely care what they have to talk about. If I don't have time to hear a response I don't pose a question or I do what you used in your example...maybe I'm not a typical Southerner. My family is pretty similar, but they talk about things I generally don't care about since most of my close family is over 65 years old and grew up on farms so there isn't much in common. Though I do love hearing my grandpa's outlandish stories of when he was a Seargent in the Army...lot's of fun in those.

[tbn.al]

Watch out who you take credit for Matt. I'll give you Chris Allen, cause he still lives there, but Pippen was born and raised in my neck of the woods and still has a place there. Not that I really want to take any credit for him after the way he treated my 9 yr old nephew who was just trying to get his autograph while Scottie was pumping his own gas in Hamburg. Jerk!

an old "wonderboy" trying to keep you "teachers" straight

[steve_decker]

Not getting your sarcasm just means that you are not very clever or funny.

That's an excellent illustration of my point that Southerners do not understand sarcasm. Sarcasm, functionally in the North and by definition, is not intended to be funny. If someone happens to hear sarcasm and find it humourous, so be it. If not, so be it; but it does not change whether or not it is a sarcastic comment nor does it change whether or not the recepient 'got it'. In contrast, though, the response that I usually receive down here is a pretty strong indication that the recepient did NOT 'get it'.

We use sarcasm all the time down here, and we understand it quite well - probably at a level above your stuff, sir.

I'll agree that it may be processed at a different level than 'my stuff'. I'm not sure that the level is 'above' though.

Your opinions expressed in your post were very stereotype-filled and offensive. Good job with the closed-minded thing. I am sorry that you cannot figure it out.

The term "stereotype" is probably one of the most improperly used terms of our time. Stereotypes are neither negative or positive. They exist out of necessity. I simply could not take the time to document every single interaction to support my observations in my previous post. As such, my observations are general in nature.

It is my experience that if someone finds an observation offensive, it is because there is an element of truth that makes the offended feel uncomfortable. Given your reaction to my stated observations, maybe I'm more accurate than you're willing to admit.

Out of curiousity, how was I close-minded by sharing my observations? Close-minded, it would seem, would result in my either quickly moving back to the North (deeming the South undesireable to live in) or becoming a recluse. Rather than doing either of those, I smile at not having to own a snowshovel or snowblower and continue to become more active in the community in which I live. Do I find some of the proclivities annoying? Yup! Am I glad I live yere? Yup!

I have lived all over the country and have no trouble getting "locals" to understand my humor, north or south, east or west.

... which probably means that you have adopted characteristics from those various areas that you have lived in and consequently are able to draw from those experiences and meld very well to wherever you happen to be at the moment.

And when I say something that I feel was funny yet no one laughs I usually assume that my delivery was off and not that my audience was stupid or slow.

As we all should

The bottom line, for me, is that each region of the country has its oddities. Ignoring them or refuting them does not alter their existence. I find the "Yooper" accent of Northern Michigan and Wisconsin just as amusing as a Southern drawl. As someone else mentioned earlier, a redneck is a redneck no matter what part of the country they hail from. None of these characteristics affect my true opinion of a person, it does very much impact how I interact with that person though.

[Donn]

Wow. That's the biggest pile of Ġ0đ-đ@мŋęđ bigoted stereotypes that I believe I've ever read anywhere.

Man who may be offended by stereotypes might consider before starting thread on stereotypes.

[cjk]

Stereotypes are such time savers.

I live around Atlanta (quite the melting pot), so I 'm not so sure I live in the South.

I do, however, find this thread hysterically funny.

[Matt G]

Having lived in a few places, been to quite a few more, I can tell you that nice folks and assholes exist in about the same proportions everywhere, regardless of the stereotypes.

[Uncle Buck]

Having lived in a few places, been to quite a few more, I can tell you that nice folks and assholes exist in about the same proportions everywhere, regardless of the stereotypes.

That's the truest thing that's been said in this thread so far.

[Arkietuba]

Watch out who you take credit for Matt. I'll give you Chris Allen, cause he still lives there, but Pippen was born and raised in my neck of the woods and still has a place there. Not that I really want to take any credit for him after the way he treated my 9 yr old nephew who was just trying to get his autograph while Scottie was pumping his own gas in Hamburg. Jerk!

an old "wonderboy" trying to keep you "teachers" straight

Haha...maybe he was having a bad day?

He's been nice the few times I've met him when he visited UCA. He even got inducted into our hall of fame during pre-game so I was on the field pretty close to him! That was pretty cool. I'm not saying he's a saint but he came across as nice when I met him.

Now that I think about it, why did it take the university until 2005-2006 to induct him into the hall of fame? It's not like he just retired the other day. Our town had a parade for Kris Allen before he even got in the final 2 on American Idol...but he deserved it. Most of the kids today probably don't even know Scottie Pippen...

Ok, I just now saw the "wonderboy" part.......makes sense that you wouldn't like someone famous from UCA