[winkie2]

I've lived in Miss., Al, & Fl. I'm now living in the Tampa Bay area. It must have to do with the individual areas, because Yukon feels he's in the South, but I feel like I'm in "the southernmost state of the north". Of course there are exceptions, but for the most part people around here are NOT friendly. If I'm out walking & pass someone they usually will respond to my "hello" but uncomfortably, like they're frightened. When I was living in Mobile it was not at all unusual to strike up a conversation with someone in the checkout line at Delchamps, but here in Florida people are either too busy or suspicious or just plain unfriendly, I'm just not sure what the deal is.

[mshellnfl]

I am a native of Louisiana who has lived the majority of my 8 years in Florida in South Florida. I can tell you beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is NOTHING southern about South Florida except it's proximity to the equator! What makes a region Southern is it's people and culture. Places south of the Mason-Dixon line are typically considered Southern in culture. There is no Southern culture in South Florida. To have Southern culture, you must have Southern people. Without the people, it just doesn't exist. Sorry.

Orlando and the North Florida, while still full of transplants, yankee or foreign, are more like the rest of the South.

[mg83]

I used to think the Deep South ended somewhere around just north of I-4 and the counties bordering it... but not so much anymore. Maybe 15-20 years ago while I was growing up there... but now I'd say most of the panhandle is still very "Southern"... all the counties around Big Bend, extending toward Alachua, Putnam, Clay, etc.

And I wouldn't forget Florida's "heartland". All those counties beginning with an "H" around Lake Okeechobee.

[AJ1972]

If you live in SE Florida, it does not seem like the South at all. Everyone is from NY (including me). LOL

[PoleScotSwedSouthUp]

Originally Posted by winkie2

I've lived in Miss., Al, & Fl. I'm now living in the Tampa Bay area. It must have to do with the individual areas, because Yukon feels he's in the South, but I feel like I'm in "the southernmost state of the north". Of course there are exceptions, but for the most part people around here are NOT friendly. If I'm out walking & pass someone they usually will respond to my "hello" but uncomfortably, like they're frightened. When I was living in Mobile it was not at all unusual to strike up a conversation with someone in the checkout line at Delchamps, but here in Florida people are either too busy or suspicious or just plain unfriendly, I'm just not sure what the deal is.

I agree with you, havin just moved from Tampa a month ago(lived there nine months) back to LA(Lower Alabama-The panhandles nickname for itself). I'd say out of the total population of the area only about ten percent have southern roots. What many people dont know is that most of the people who own and farm orange groves have midwestern roots(and most german before that) which means alot of south-central florida was never originally southern.

[flaglerwrangler]

Palm Coast seems to be a sixth borough of New York City.

[funy]

Originally Posted by tallrick

Where does the "southern hospitality" cut off to become the "new urbanism"?

Southern Hospitality is dead. I've helped kill any vestiges that were left of it, and didn't realize it until today.

I was born in Gainesville and used to be the sweetest li'l southern girl you could ever know. I'd smile and say, "Hug my neck and give me some sugar!" every time I saw you. But something has changed, gradually growing a malcontented feeling in my soul, turning me into a real b*tch that can't even say "thank you" when you hold the door open for me.

I'm weary of being an oddity in my own home. I'm so sick of the "So where are you from? - There aren't many natives left" conversation that my answer is now a perfunctory, "I don't discuss that topic any more". My home has lost its cultural identity, any sense of community, all traditional social customs that bind us into a real society. I don't know my neighbors, and I don't care to. They buy low, constantly complain, sell high, then trot off to grub for more green in SC. I don't know anyone who truly LIVES here any more.

Today I lost it. My mother asked a couple in our tiny town, "I don't recognize you good folks! You just move here?" He rudely answered while tossing a cup on the sidewalk, "We're visiting from NJ just like everyone else around here." Matching his rudeness, I informed him of how many people actually ARE from here, show some respect and pick up your damned trash, which is so not my style...

I've lost my personal identity. I'm detached from my Southern heritage, the only heritage I know. Southern Hospitality is gone, because Southerners are gone.

[runswithscissors]

Originally Posted by funy

Southern Hospitality is dead. I've helped kill any vestiges that were left of it, and didn't realize it until today.

I was born in Gainesville and used to be the sweetest li'l southern girl you could ever know. I'd smile and say, "Hug my neck and give me some sugar!" every time I saw you. But something has changed, gradually growing a malcontented feeling in my soul, turning me into a real b*tch that can't even say "thank you" when you hold the door open for me.

I'm weary of being an oddity in my own home. I'm so sick of the "So where are you from? - There aren't many natives left" conversation that my answer is now a perfunctory, "I don't discuss that topic any more". My home has lost its cultural identity, any sense of community, all traditional social customs that bind us into a real society. I don't know my neighbors, and I don't care to. They buy low, constantly complain, sell high, then trot off to grub for cheaper pastures in SC. I don't know anyone who truly LIVES here any more.

Today I lost it. My mother asked a couple in our tiny town, "I don't recognize you good folks! You just move here?" He rudely answered while tossing a cup on the sidewalk, "We're visiting from NJ just like everyone else around here." Matching his rudeness, I informed him of how many people actually ARE from here, show some respect and pick up your damned trash, which is so not my style...

I've lost my personal identity. I'm detached from my Southern heritage, the only heritage I know. Southern Hospitality is gone, because Southerners are gone.

Wow what a coincidence and this thread got bumped at the same time.

Well I hope you find what you're looking for with your move to Europe. No crowds, hospitality towards Americans, no littering, nobody daring to visit other places that they have no right to invade from the other end of the continent, and definitely no bunch of European ingrates daring to buy low and sell high lol.........(from your other thread)

[gypsychic]

Europe is going to be a rude awakening for this person. That's all I'm gonna say about that.

[runswithscissors]

Originally Posted by gypsychic

Europe is going to be a rude awakening for this person. That's all I'm gonna say about that.

I know, right? Bless her heart.