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Has it occured to you that maybe the question is asked to point out to you what life is like to us when people keep asking the Southern question. We in the South are not obsessed with this, but we are constantly having to defend our being who we are. I have heard statements like, "They can't get over the Civil War." Yes, we can, but some Northerners posting on here are having difficulty getting over it. They still throw it up to us as a way to put us down. The Civil War happened over 100 yeas ago and it is really nothing I think about on a daily basis. It happened, get over it.
We also have things thrown in our direction that we were not the author of in the laws. Southerners had very little power to do anything right after the Civil War, but we are still blamed for things the United States did to the blacks that had nothing to do with us. And who is responsible for bringing the slaves to America in the first place--Northern Ships!
A teacher I had once explained the difference between the North and the South like this. A black person after the Civil War was freed and was hungry. He went to the Northern carpetbeggars home and asked for food at the front door. He was told to go away. He then went down the street and asked a native of the South for food. He was told to go around to the kitchen door and was invited in to the kitchen to eat.
The impression most people from the North give me is that they are very selfish, money and having a large house is important to them, many see mentioning being a Christian is a weakness, they seem to like to outdo each other and love to rub it in when they do. You see that on here with the towns almost worshiping their city's ball team. I have even heard people on here make statements that a city is nothing because it does not have a ball team. I don't care a fig about any professional ball team because we have better things to do with our time in the South. I have told many on here to fit in as a Southerner they should do almost everything the opposite as they do up North and they will fit in just fine. And the first thing is to stop minding your neighbors business. There is no rule in the South that everybody has to be like everybody else to be accepted. The Civil War started because the people in the North seemed to think it was their job to tell the Southerners how to live. From the looks of your answer, that is still going on. MYOB
I worked at a public job where a lot of people from other places were moving in. I found that our citizens would ask the rules and obey them. Not these new people! They wouldn't ask the rules, but when I had to tell them the rules they would start finding fault with them. Many of them would think that we should change our rules to fit the place they had moved from. Talk about stupid. I discussed this with my husband and said, "I wonder if they do each other like this." Well, the answer came. One of our Ohio residents had company arrive and they were showing them the town. I forget what the question was but they asked me some question about the area. The visitor then turned to the new resident and said, "See I know more about your new town than you do." I had to control myself not to burst out laughing.
So I have another question for Northerners, "How do you all live together up there in peace when everybody knows more than everybody else." And I have another question, "When everybody up there is busy taking care of their neighbor's business, who is taking care of your business." It just seems to me like it would be a better idea if we all took care of our own business and showed respect for our neighbor and left them alone unless they need our help and ask for it.
Just calling things like I see them and I have seen a lot since I just retired from a public job in a county that was the fastest growing county in America for two years in a row. We built a good life for ourselves and now everybody wants to be here.
I can counter that with my wife who just took a job Monday in southern Delaware and brought in a bunch of food today to break the ice because since she got there, all she has been called is a Yank and northerner. So today she left her lights on and her car battery was dead and since she has jumper cables she asked 5 of the women that she works with for help and they told her "tough **** yank" and "too bad".
So don't freakin tell me how nice all southerners are, cause they're NOT.
The best part is these nitwits don't even know that southerners, real southerners consider them to Yanks as well.
I can counter that with my wife who just took a job Monday in southern Delaware and brought in a bunch of food today to break the ice because since she got there, all she has been called is a Yank and northerner. So today she left her lights on and her car battery was dead and since she has jumper cables she asked 5 of the women that she works with for help and they told her "tough **** yank" and "too bad".
So don't freakin tell me how nice all southerners are, cause they're NOT.
The best part is these nitwits don't even know that southerners, real southerners consider them to Yanks as well.
Wow what a terrible experience. I never faced that kind of overt hostility but I definitely got sick of being called a Yankee!
Wow what a terrible experience. I never faced that kind of overt hostility but I definitely got sick of being called a Yankee!
The strange thing is my friends, family, and co workers from PA don't even think about the whole southern thing, nobody even mentions it, I've always considered us all to be Americans, the only time I hear about this stuff is from the southerners, not all but some and they hate with a passion, I just laugh about, realizing the some are uneducated idiots.
we are generally on edge because of the threat of an attack by Canada
Yeah I know I got my guard station right around the border. It is aboot time we put an end to those nazi socialist anarchist syrup-loving son-of-a-polar bear eskimos!
Has it occured to you that maybe the question is asked to point out to you what life is like to us when people keep asking the Southern question. We in the South are not obsessed with this, but we are constantly having to defend our being who we are. I have heard statements like, "They can't get over the Civil War." Yes, we can, but some Northerners posting on here are having difficulty getting over it. They still throw it up to us as a way to put us down. The Civil War happened over 100 yeas ago and it is really nothing I think about on a daily basis. It happened, get over it.
We also have things thrown in our direction that we were not the author of in the laws. Southerners had very little power to do anything right after the Civil War, but we are still blamed for things the United States did to the blacks that had nothing to do with us. And who is responsible for bringing the slaves to America in the first place--Northern Ships!
A teacher I had once explained the difference between the North and the South like this. A black person after the Civil War was freed and was hungry. He went to the Northern carpetbeggars home and asked for food at the front door. He was told to go away. He then went down the street and asked a native of the South for food. He was told to go around to the kitchen door and was invited in to the kitchen to eat.
The impression most people from the North give me is that they are very selfish, money and having a large house is important to them, many see mentioning being a Christian is a weakness, they seem to like to outdo each other and love to rub it in when they do. You see that on here with the towns almost worshiping their city's ball team. I have even heard people on here make statements that a city is nothing because it does not have a ball team. I don't care a fig about any professional ball team because we have better things to do with our time in the South. I have told many on here to fit in as a Southerner they should do almost everything the opposite as they do up North and they will fit in just fine. And the first thing is to stop minding your neighbors business. There is no rule in the South that everybody has to be like everybody else to be accepted. The Civil War started because the people in the North seemed to think it was their job to tell the Southerners how to live. From the looks of your answer, that is still going on. MYOB
I worked at a public job where a lot of people from other places were moving in. I found that our citizens would ask the rules and obey them. Not these new people! They wouldn't ask the rules, but when I had to tell them the rules they would start finding fault with them. Many of them would think that we should change our rules to fit the place they had moved from. Talk about stupid. I discussed this with my husband and said, "I wonder if they do each other like this." Well, the answer came. One of our Ohio residents had company arrive and they were showing them the town. I forget what the question was but they asked me some question about the area. The visitor then turned to the new resident and said, "See I know more about your new town than you do." I had to control myself not to burst out laughing.
So I have another question for Northerners, "How do you all live together up there in peace when everybody knows more than everybody else." And I have another question, "When everybody up there is busy taking care of their neighbor's business, who is taking care of your business." It just seems to me like it would be a better idea if we all took care of our own business and showed respect for our neighbor and left them alone unless they need our help and ask for it.
Just calling things like I see them and I have seen a lot since I just retired from a public job in a county that was the fastest growing county in America for two years in a row. We built a good life for ourselves and now everybody wants to be here.
Im guessing you live in NC, or SC where growth is out of control. Im sorry you are dealing with that and I dont blame you for resenting it. I wouldnt like it either. I would like to point out however that the north you describe is nothing like where Im from. That north sounds more like the northeast than here in Michigan. The whole thing about money is definately not true out here, as you have read in the papers, we have no money as we are broke. Most of us are not obsessed with the civil war, although I admit that I am. (im a history nerd) It may suprise you however to find out that I believe it was the south that was constitutionally correct, not the north.I believe every good conservative should see the southern point of view regarding "the war". I even fly a first national on my porch. Your also right regarding the reconstruction era, and the race blame game. If you want someone to blame for the souths bad rap on race relations then blame Hollywierd. They have been pushing out movies, tv and news shows depicting the south as a backward haven of KKK rallies for the last 100 years. You have a right to be upset about it, but those of us in the midwest are not responsible for it, please do not blame us. As far as us being pushy nosey know it alls, I will again refer you to our friends to the east. Those are the qualities the yankee northeast is known for, we in the midwest do not live that way. I think you should plan a vacation up here sometime in August when its miserable hot down there. Come see our cool lakes, farm towns, northwoods campgrounds and our midwestern hospitality. Michigan, Wisconsin or Minnesota all would be good choices, and you will see OUR version of northern living. Everywhere has a few idiots, but I bet you dont find the pushy rude know it alls that you think you will find. The northern states from Ohio west are a whole different world from those in the northeast. I know southerners are taught that anyone north of mason-dixon is a yankee and that they are all the same, but that is just not true. I would say we are more different from the northeast than we are from the south if you ask me. If you ask me we shouldnt have helped them in the war they started in 1861 either. The war and its results only enriched the northeast further, and gave them more control over the nation. The era of liberal big goverment began at Appomatix in April 1865, at the expense of state soverignty (10th amendment)
I understand that opinions differ about the Civil War, but please don't purport that the true "conservative" position is the secessionist one. I'm not trying to start a fight, but I am strongly taking issue with that statement.
The "south" isn't monolithic or cohesive, either. If you doubt that, ask someone from the "south" which states qualify as "the south". Ask if Florida counts. Or Texas. Or Kentucky. Or West Virginia. Etc.
In fact, the only reason we think the south is cohesive at all is because so much regional culture has become a watered-down caricature of itself. It used to be that South Carolina was worlds apart from Louisiana, which was a totally different place than western Virginia. A lot of that individual culture washed away and has been replaced by a flood of vague southernisms that stretch from Hee-Haw to Larry the Cable Guy.
The "south" isn't monolithic or cohesive, either. If you doubt that, ask someone from the "south" which states qualify as "the south". Ask if Florida counts. Or Texas. Or Kentucky. Or West Virginia. Etc.
In fact, the only reason we think the south is cohesive at all is because so much regional culture has become a watered-down caricature of itself. It used to be that South Carolina was worlds apart from Louisiana, which was a totally different place than western Virginia. A lot of that individual culture washed away and has been replaced by a flood of vague southernisms that stretch from Hee-Haw to Larry the Cable Guy.
Yes. The mountain south is very different from the coastal south. In like manner, SE Pennsylvania is a world away from the mountainy parts of PA. Neither region is a monolith.
I can touch on what it means to be a Northeasterner, having been born and raised in the Bos-Wash corridor. I lived in the South and the West coast for a time, so I think I can give an accurate comparison.
In general, the Bos-Wash is fairly pretentious, aggressive, every man for themselves. Lots of luxury cars, lots of pressure cooker school districts, lots of keeping up with the Joneses. There are some blue collar, middle class areas, but even in these areas, people seem gruff, bitter, cold and unwilling. For example, you're at a red light in Stamford, CT. You're going straight, as is the car next to you, but it merges up ahead. The driver next to you will gun it to get in front of you, merge, and then go maybe 5 over the speed limit. I don't advocate speeding, but it proves the point that, simply, they just wanted to be first. Happens every time. That didn't happen nearly as often when I was living northeast of LA, or in Charlotte. So to conclude, the Northeast has a lot of aggressive, money hungry people. Lots of arrogant materialism.
This brings me to cost of living. I can't speak for other states, but Connecticut has among the highest COL in the country. High home prices, sky high property taxes, a property tax on vehicles, and taxes on things as little as a haircut. We have the highest gas tax in the nation. For a small population of under 4 million, we're nickel and dimed to death.
I know a lot of people will disagree with me, as has been the case in the CT forum and in person. But it seems the people who disagree with me haven't really lived elsewhere. And many of them live in 4,000 SF homes and drive luxury SUVs, so have become a little out of touch and used to the lifestyle here.
I still live in Connecticut, and I do love it here. I like how each little suburb has their own identity; their own walkable downtown. The fierce independence is not a bad thing. Each town has their own Memorial Day celebration, their own farmers markets, their own fairs, etc. It's a nice thing to see.
Last edited by kidyankee764; 03-15-2012 at 07:58 AM..
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