Do Charlotte Natives generally dislike Northerners? (Concord: schools, college, versus)

[DawnW]

I am not from Charlotte, but I am not from the North either. I hear you on the smug attitudes and condescending tones.

I see a lot of "attitude" in how people wait in lines too. Southerners will strike up a conversation with the person behind them if they have to wait in line whereas a northerner will get extremely irritated if the line is moving too slow for their taste!

Dawn

Originally Posted by marvinnative

Seeing this post leads me to turn the question around and ask,
"Do Northerners generally dislike the Southern natives?"

I'm sure most don't, but there is a condescending tone and smugness about the way some newcomers relate to the natives. Sometimes I feel like I'M the newcomer!

Watching the morning shows today, NBC did a story about "chair hogs" at resort locations. (You know, those folks who send a runner down at 6 AM to put a book or towel in a chair, then sleep until noon, thus "hogging" the chair from allowing others to use it.) I had to laugh. I actually experienced this once at Myrtle Beach, SC. My family walked up from the ocean and we were looking for a chair at the pool area. EVERY chair was covered with a towel. NO ONE was sitting in one. So, I moved a towel and sat down. Later, the person who had saved the chair came up from the ocean and accused me of being rude to her! Her comeback was - "You must be from the South!" Since I was standing in South Carolina, I just wasn't quite sure what was wrong with that? Still, from my perspective (and that of today's program), "hogging" up the chairs that were clearly for ALL hotel guests seems rude to me. Does it not seem rude to you? Just wondering... How did my being Southern have anything to do with it? Seriously interested to know.

[lisaf]

Originally Posted by niknaxx

I imagine there are some here in Charlotte, I just haven’t found them. But just because you love Charlotte and don’t have problems with others in Charlotte, does not mean that you won’t run across that a Southerner that will give you a hard time and call you a Yankee to your face, meaning it as a derogatory remark. Not all are as accepting of Northerners, trust me.

Honestly, that's not my concern. I don't look at it as a northerner-southerner thing. It's a PEOPLE thing. No matter where you go, there will be someone that dislikes you and makes a comment. It could be your skin color, your religion, the fact that you wear eye glasses, that you have a percieved accent that's different, WHATEVER. I don't view these issues as geographical...they are things you'll bump into no matter where you travel or live in the world.

So, I acknowledge that there are people in all places that are simply not as accepting of others as I am. And that's a shame for them. If someone came up to me and called me a yankee to my face [and it hasn't happened so far while i've been in Charlotte or anywhere else I've traveled in the south], I would pretty much have to laugh it off. The reality is that I was born/bred a northerner. However, I think we can all agree, that no matter where we come from--that our mama's hopefully taught us to respect other human beings.

And despite being a northerner, I have enjoyed trying to integrate myself into the southern lifestyle. I'm not always successful, and I have my NYC moments. But I feel like I'm making a great attempt at fitting into my surroundings. And that's all anybody coming from somewhere else should try to do--fit in as best you can, and bring some of that flavor from where you came to mix in for some spice. That's the beauty of a typical city....lots of people from all over just trying to make a go of it and live together.

It seems to me, that for northerners in particular, the hardest thing for them to shed is the constant rush, lack of patience because everything isn't happening NOW, grumbling while waiting in line because things aren't going fast enough, etc. But most northerners on these boards are saying they are coming here because they want to chill out a bit and stop the madness they experience in the north. So, it's pretty ironic. The thing you want to escape, you come here and try to do. Go figure! It took me a few months to get out the mode of running at 150mph on everything. I've slowed down a lot! I don't feel compelled to honk people because they've sat at a green light for longer than 2 seconds, I engage the locals in conversation at the check-out counter, etc. I feel like I've become a better person down here.

Amusingly, my hubby and I sometimes travel back north for work/family. My hubby (a die-hard northerner) went to Starbucks in Jersey and came back in a huff. He said: "I went to get my cup of coffee, no one said good morning or smiled when i walked in and asked how i was doing. They barely looked at me when they took my order, and they basically threw my change on me. It was like THEY were doing me a favor buying their coffee." LOL!

Like I said, if you embrace the friendly nature of the south--you will quickly get hooked on it and distinctly miss it the minute you don't see it happening.

[postij]

I definitely mispoke in my 1st post a few pages ago regarding "native's of Charlotte" where southern natives was obviously more appropriate. I wanted to comment about friendliness and talking on line, etc. I grew up in Long Island and I always talked to people in stores. When I moved to upstate NY people were shocked with how open and friendly I was. I think it really depends on the person and specifically the culture you grew up. Obviously different parts of NY are very different as are different areas of the South.

[Songbird42]

I lived in the mountains of NJ for most of my adult life......yes, there are mountains in NJ......North West...........beautiful country where there are lakes, forest and deer and the antelope play.....and black bears also.
There are state parks, valley's and some of the nicest people live there.
UNTIL.........New Yorkers found out about this beautiful place and the people from Bergen Cty found out..........then it started to go to hell.

People in Bergen Cty sold their homes for mucho bucks, moved to my beautiful valley and built million dollar homes, taxes when up, services went down, kids went into NY to get drugs and brought them to the valley.
Now its just like any other town in NJ. Sad sad but true.

[Mrs. P]

Originally Posted by postij

I know it's a broad statement but....Someone commented to me to stay in NY. I just wondered how do Charlotte natives generally really feel about so many northerners moving there. Personally I think it's flattering and ofcourse makes Charlotte a very desirable location, also seems like Charlotte and the outskirts are handling the influx as well as could be expected.

I think some of them do, just because they feel we're taking over their community (especially the small towns) can't say I blame them sometimes...but my husband (rip) who was born and raised in Charlotte, liked Northerners,,,he married one, me :-)

It's how you present yourself most of the time, most will like you, some of the times, it won't matter, they just won't like you. But I've not found that to be true in Charlotte itself, matter of fact it's rare to meet someone born and raised here, most are from some place else. It seems to me, many people here from NY and NJ, more than from any other states. I know there's a club in Charlotte for people from Ohio that follow Ohio State, so I would guess there's things for N Yorkers too.

I'm not so sure about handling the influx,,,,,wait till you're on 77 or 85 in rush hour

[NCbound01]

I was a little nervous about moving to Charlotte because I had heard people there were very racist. My background is hispanic, I was born and raised in the US, but my husband immigrated here 8 years ago. I was put off by the comment this person made about people in Charlotte. We have been happy to see that everyone in Charlotte has been super nice. We haven't met anyone who has been rude or looked at us the wrong way. I have found the people of Charlotte to be very warm and welcoming.

I'm confident now that Charlotte will be a wonderful home for us.

[docudramaqueen]

My only moments of concern in relocating (I move down in July) is the accent. Several times someone has talked to me in what I consider a heavy Southern accent and I haven't been able to understand them. I feel embarrassed to have to ask them to repeat their question. A couple of times, even after repeating, I haven't understood.

Any suggestions, natives, to help someone like me smooth over a potentially embarrassing moment?

[Pikantari]

Originally Posted by DawnW

I am not from Charlotte, but I am not from the North either. I hear you on the smug attitudes and condescending tones.

I see a lot of "attitude" in how people wait in lines too. Southerners will strike up a conversation with the person behind them if they have to wait in line whereas a northerner will get extremely irritated if the line is moving too slow for their taste!

Dawn

Sometimes I try to talk to people in line and you would think I had 12 heads, other times they chime right in with me... Where is Virginia,... North or South... I hear accents here...hmm

[marvinnative]

Originally Posted by docudramaqueen

My only moments of concern in relocating (I move down in July) is the accent. Several times someone has talked to me in what I consider a heavy Southern accent and I haven't been able to understand them. I feel embarrassed to have to ask them to repeat their question. A couple of times, even after repeating, I haven't understood.

Any suggestions, natives, to help someone like me smooth over a potentially embarrassing moment?

Maybe try a good-natured comment like..."just arrived and haven't tuned my ears to Southern channel, yet. Bear with me..." As long as you seem like you are sincerely wanting help (and not smirking about how ignorant the locals speak ), I think you will make a quick friend.

I recall working for a company (which had moved it's HQ to Charlotte from Buffalo, NY), bought out by a company based in Paris, France. Our French-Canadian secretary was trying to communicate with Paris and they thought she spoke "slang" French. And when they tried to speak English with us Southern-Americans, they told us they spoke English, but didn't understand our "dialect." After a visit from some of our European counterparts, our Tri-lingual (French-German-English) secretary took a ride on the elevator with the group who were blatanly mocking the Americans (in German) for being "ignorant." She pipped up that all American's were not as ignorant as they thought, they should watch their conversations.

It's all about the attitude...

[Khayla007]

Originally Posted by docudramaqueen

My only moments of concern in relocating (I move down in July) is the accent. Several times someone has talked to me in what I consider a heavy Southern accent and I haven't been able to understand them. I feel embarrassed to have to ask them to repeat their question. A couple of times, even after repeating, I haven't understood.

Any suggestions, natives, to help someone like me smooth over a potentially embarrassing moment?

Eventually you will be able to understand. Also there are so many people here from other places so you will hear different accents. I still have problems understanding some of South Carolina I must admit.