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View Poll Results: Southern hospitality, myth or reality?
myth 45 48.39%
reality 48 51.61%
Voters: 93. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 10-17-2010, 11:16 AM
 
Location: West Texas
423 posts, read 820,618 times
Reputation: 269

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Quote:
Originally Posted by eek View Post
and i say that its a myth. just because a person says yes ma'am/sir and no ma'am/sir doesn't mean that they are more hospitable than a person from someplace else that doesn't say ma'am or sir.

there are a lot of fake ppl in the south (and of course fake ppl elsewhere). a lot of nosy ppl that like to gossip and if you don't "fit" with them, i.e. if you don't like participating in that foolishness then you are cast as an outsider and they "turn against you."
Spot-on! The second paragraph is a near perfect description of a few rural towns in Texas I either lived or spent significant amount of time at. Basically if you're not from Texas or South people always tend to be a lot more reserved and distant than they are with "fellow Texans/Southerners", less likely to help out or even strike up a conversation while running into you walking your dog. Nosiness and spreading gossips however I think is just a specific of a small town.

A lot of folks here in Texas view the influx of Northerners as a threat to their precious conservative values, as they fear that all these Yankees won't be attending church on Sundays, vote Democrat and introduce their kids to drugs.

Friendliness and hospitality for most part is fake and not sincere, a lot of people act this way because the Bible says they should, in a Southern Baptist interpretation "Love thy neighbor, as long as he's not a godless liberal from California."
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Old 10-17-2010, 11:33 AM
 
4,803 posts, read 10,133,500 times
Reputation: 2785
Quote:
Originally Posted by Heimdall View Post
Spot-on! The second paragraph is a near perfect description of a few rural towns in Texas I either lived or spent significant amount of time at. Basically if you're not from Texas or South people always tend to be a lot more reserved and distant than they are with "fellow Texans/Southerners", less likely to help out or even strike up a conversation while running into you walking your dog. Nosiness and spreading gossips however I think is just a specific of a small town.

A lot of folks here in Texas view the influx of Northerners as a threat to their precious conservative values, as they fear that all these Yankees won't be attending church on Sundays, vote Democrat and introduce their kids to drugs.

Friendliness and hospitality for most part is fake and not sincere, a lot of people act this way because the Bible says they should, in a Southern Baptist interpretation "Love thy neighbor, as long as he's not a godless liberal from California."

This is what I have been trying to say! Thank you! I recently visited Texas for the first time. They had very much the same demeanor as you described. They said anyone not from Texas is a Yankee and when they found out I was visiting from Calfiornia, they immediately acted distant and had sort of a hostile attitude towards me. The only people I found to be nice in the south were other Californians that were visiting, and people who didn't know I wasn't from around there.

Last edited by BacktoBlue; 10-17-2010 at 11:41 AM..
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Old 10-17-2010, 01:00 PM
 
Location: Atlanta
7,731 posts, read 14,293,404 times
Reputation: 2774
Quote:
Originally Posted by Footballfreak View Post
This is what I have been trying to say! Thank you! I recently visited Texas for the first time. They had very much the same demeanor as you described. They said anyone not from Texas is a Yankee and when they found out I was visiting from Calfiornia, they immediately acted distant and had sort of a hostile attitude towards me. The only people I found to be nice in the south were other Californians that were visiting, and people who didn't know I wasn't from around there.
Okay, which is it? First you try to portray SoCal as the victim, targeting the Midwest & the South as being hostile towards the entire region.

Now you claim some sort of "California radar" that allows you to zero in on other Californians that just happen to be visiting the same place you "claim" to have been.
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Old 10-17-2010, 01:57 PM
 
Location: Underneath the Pecan Tree
15,982 posts, read 35,049,021 times
Reputation: 7427
Myth. The nicest people I've ever met were from the West.

I don't get the whole Backstabbing, fake, and gossiping behavior being only associated with the south.

When a southerner is being nice to you; it's not called being fake; It's being respectful. Excuse us for having a higher maturity level and more manners than other regions.
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Old 10-17-2010, 02:32 PM
 
Location: Twilight zone
3,639 posts, read 8,273,526 times
Reputation: 1762
Backstabbing and gossiping is definitely not just a southern trait, that happens everywhere!!
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Old 10-17-2010, 02:36 PM
 
Location: NYC/Orlando
2,124 posts, read 4,481,447 times
Reputation: 1266
I'd like to know where the gossiping stereotype comes from as well. How many northerners/midwesterners, etc. go down south and sit with a bunch of people and actually hear them gossip? Besides, gossiping is a part of American culture all over. Just look at the tabloid magazines.

Being courteous is generally a part of southern culture. But that doesn't mean everyone is being "fake" or something. I guess they just realize that being rude doesn't serve any purpose. There are nice, courteous people all over the US and and mean, rude people all over also. People brought up the fact that people in NYC are eager to help a stranger. Yes, that's true- but do you actually know where that person is originally from? They could be from anywhere.
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Old 10-17-2010, 03:18 PM
 
235 posts, read 341,787 times
Reputation: 97
HERE'S A TEST: If you were driving down a road and broke down or had a flat tire, where is it more likely that somebody would pull over to see if you need help? It's not universal, of course, but I would have to say the South. Strangers helping strangers is just much more common there.
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Old 10-17-2010, 03:35 PM
 
Location: New Orleans, United States
4,230 posts, read 10,439,508 times
Reputation: 1443
Quote:
Originally Posted by ATLnSAV View Post
HERE'S A TEST: If you were driving down a road and broke down or had a flat tire, where is it more likely that somebody would pull over to see if you need help? It's not universal, of course, but I would have to say the South. Strangers helping strangers is just much more common there.
You're just as likely to get help anywhere, but I'm going to guess that you're probably more likely to have someone slow down, rubber neck, and speed off in the south. In other areas they'd probably just keep going. That's what motorist assistance patrol is for, unless you're on a back road somewhere.
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Old 10-17-2010, 03:57 PM
 
235 posts, read 341,787 times
Reputation: 97
Remind me to never break down in Lousiana .... "Looky Ma! Dat pur guy's got uh flat tar ... Ha ha ha!" VAAAROOOOM!
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Old 10-17-2010, 04:06 PM
 
Location: New Orleans, United States
4,230 posts, read 10,439,508 times
Reputation: 1443
Quote:
Originally Posted by ATLnSAV View Post
Remind me to never break down in Lousiana .... "Looky Ma! Dat pur guy's got uh flat tar ... Ha ha ha!" VAAAROOOOM!
Don't worry, the MAP van will pull up and give you a boost, a free gallon of gas, and/or change your tire in bout 15 minutes. I just wouldn't get out until they get there to make sure some Louisianian doesn't run you over. Then again you could get lucky and be eaten by an alligator instead.
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