Posted on 01/24/2013 6:23:56 PM PST by FoxPro
I have lived in Las Vegas and Los Angeles for the past 5 years.
I drove down to Huntsville, Alabama to work on some software, with a friend of mine.
I have never been to the "deep South".
I have been here for 24 hours.
It is really a bit of a culture shock after spending a day sorting things out, here.
Everybody is "Yes Sir" and "No Sir" with people differing to you with "Am I in your way?" and "Can I help you find something?"
Well, this is exactly what happened to me today.
I sat down to get to work, on my computer and the battery in my mouse dies.
I move my mouse and the arrow is just there, not moving.
It always happens at the worst of times.
So I drive down to Kroger's grocery store, walk in, stand there, trying to figure out if I should turn left or right, in my hunt for the "Battery Center".
Well this very large man walks up to me, he is wearing a Kroger badge and below his name it says "Manager".
He intones "Can I help you?"
I said, a bit jaded "Yes, I need ONE AA battery, but I know I will have to buy a 12 pack, but that's just the way things go."
He motions me over to a check stand, grabs a 4 pack of AA batteries, tears it open, pulls out one battery, hands it to me and says "Merry Christmas."
I am stunned...
DO YOU REALLY THINK THIS WOULD EVER HAPPEN ANYWHERE IN LOS ANGELES? Really?
The guy made my day and it is a seemingly small gesture, I will never forget.
But this guy knows I will probably spend $100 or more, at this Kroger's, in the next few months, than I would have otherwise.
He knows that this small act of kindness will be recouped many times over in the near future.
This gentleman knows all about not being "Penny wise and pound foolish."
I think I will like being an Alabamian.
Hindu huh? Saves from being born a cockroach in the next life. I try. But I have my days.
That was my experience.
We lived in Tallahassee, when hubby was in grad school at FSU, in the late 70’s. When we’d travel to visit our families in MS, we were always reminded to set our car clock and watches for Central time as we headed West, and Eastern time when we rolled back East over the Woodruff Dam.
When I first met my wife’s parents, they could not believe DeFuniak Springs was in the same central time zone as Oklahoma where they lived.
They also were under the impression that Santa Fe, New Mexico was the oldest city in the U.S. I had to show them in their encyclopedia that St. Augustine was older. Actually Pensacola has a fair claim to being older than St. Augustine. It was definitely settled earlier but no one knows what happened to those original settlers.
It’s the tone of voice. It too often comes across as condescending and therefore disrespectful, and I was taught not to say it.
I was born and bred in Dixie.
I was in the breakroom at the office and was heading to the Coke machine, but stopped and told one of the ladies, an HR rep, go first.
She stopped and said, “We’re all equal in the workplace. You were first.”
I responded “My mamma would whip my backside if I went first.”
She said I was being silly.
She got her Coke. I got mine, then held the door for her. She whispered, “I love it when a man treats me like a lady.”
We used to go into Pensacola several times during the week's span of time we were there. And we always made a trip to the Naval Air Station down the road to watch the Blue Angels practice their routines.
Well, according to your own source, it depends.
The historical and accept use of Deep South includes east Texas. Then the article states: Today, the Deep South is usually delineated as being those states and areas where things most often thought of as “Southern” exist in their most concentrated form.
In mind mind, that most certainly includes Texas. But, maybe they’ve become more Yankeefied than I had believed. I suspect my Texan friends would take issue with you on that point.
All my life I have heard different versions of this same story “My job transferred me to Texas and I thought my life was over”.
They quickly loved living here and often quit their job when the company tried to transfer them away.
“I never trusted anyone to begin with”
Well bless your heart! :)
“Butts rubbed daily”>>>>
LOL! Tell me where it is and I’ll drive over just for the shirt alone. :D
Why thank you for the kind words...
I never had sympathy for those who allow themselves to be floormats, easy targets and roll over for those who are more than willing to take advantage of them. It just rubs me the wrong way. But don’t worry too much, as I have even less respect and more contempt for those wiping their feet on them.
Not if they are from California.
It is simple. They are taught manners by their mother.
Yeah; you’re right. We were in culture shock after moving to eastern Tennessee from southern California — especially my husband who is from SoCal. They’re sincerely kind and respectful. I chalk it up to the fact that we’re in the “buckle of the Bible Belt”, and when Christians behave the way they should, they’re kind and loving.
While researching possible locations for retirement, on www.City-Data.com I found a thread about eastern TN. A couple was considering buying a home in a subdivision. In order to show the area to friends later the couple set up a tripod with a camera near an intersection. They expected police to show up in a short amount of time, as would happen in California when neighbors noticed the filming. Instead, people came out of their houses to say hello. They were offered cookies, got three invitations to dinner, and three invitations for church the next day.
Ate there today. 521 BBQ on Hwy 521 Indian Land, SC.
Try their ribs, too.
Someone walks into some greedy mart and asks for one battery and some large guy wearing a managers button grabs a pack of batteries off the rack, rips it open and hands over one battery and says here, it's free, take it?
Come on.
Was the customer Ms. Alabama wearing a bikini and manager just released from 5 years in prison?
Most people wouldn't turn their backs on someone who did this.
Funny stuff...
Look, stop at the next super food bag ya happen by, walk in and tell the large manager in a "jaded" tone, ya just want one beer and not the whole 12 pack. See if he grabs 12 pack off the self, rips out one beer, and tell ya, "Here take it, Merry Christmas!"
Yuk yuk...
I give this thread a 7 on the honking hoot scale.
Our granddaughter goes to the College of Charleston so I might actually get there for BBQ when she graduates next year. How far away is Indian Land from Charleston?
Houston people have come to his rescue with repairs, he will have a new house when they are finished. Fast food places like DunkinDonut and WhataBurger have come to his house to feed the volunteers who were making repairs.
The old guy didn't ask for anything and he has been flooded with kindness, some parts of the country are like that. Obviously you don't know anything about those kind of people.
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