Northern People / Southern People (Greenville, Buffalo: live, vs., shop)

[flgargoyle]

Well put, LetsGoBuffs. I'm from the NE, and I agree with your assessment. I have several NY friends living in the rural south, and they're always whining about something. I find their pushiness annoying, even though I'm used to it. I'll take southern hospitality anytime! I don't think most northerners are actually like that, but you tend to remember the few that act that way. People in New England (not NY) are usually pretty quiet, and not pushy at all. It takes a looonng time to make friends in rural New England. After 20 years in a small town, you're still the 'new' family, living in the Jones' place.

Greenville is not what I imagined a southern city to be at all- it's very cosmopolitan for a small city. The first time we ever visited, we had been hiking in the mountains, so I was wearing overalls (I LOVE overalls!). Instead of fitting in, folks in downtown Greenville were staring at me like I just fell off the turnip truck LOL!

BTW- It's Carnegie Deli. I don't think you'll find a deli like that outside of NYC.

[southernmeltdown]

my spelling sucks but you are right ..i used to haul freight into brooklyn and there was a little jewish deli down the block....man so good... and if you want a sandwich at 3 am no problem try that down south lol... i have found that new yorkers are not nessesarily rude but busy as heck always something going on so they just don't have time to stop and shoot the breeze like we do down here.. but that kind of mentality does no translate well down here we are not really that busy and we do like to stop and talk...

[trinkit]

Originally Posted by Colddiamond102

Here's my simple, generalized, and very blunt statement on the matter.

Northerners are pushy, Southerner's tend to not like to be pushed. Northerners words and mannerisms are often considered rude down here.Southerners are taught to be polite,always.

I highly doubt that our two cultures will ever completely get along. The North wants to push their way in, and the South just wants to be left alone.

Being from the north, I tend to agree with your statement about words and mannerisms. That is why I started a thread in the general South Carolina forum "For the ladies" -- I WANTED to learn how to temper those words and mannerisms. My "northern" way came out unexpectedly at the DMV yesterday and when I go back in a week, I'll need to apologize to the very nice lady just doing her job. (I am legally blind in one eye and she said I needed a statement from an eye doctor. Now mind you, I had been PLANNING to go to an eye doctor some time in the future, but the silver lining in that cloud is that it has become an IMMEDIATE concern -- made an appointment -- so all is well that ends well.)

[PhotogGal]

[quote=southernmeltdown;5345153]i am serious about the deli....i cannot find a good pastrami sandwich here in my town...carnegy deli is my crack....[/quote

Well maybe one of the Jews who moved from NYC to Florida will find their way halfway back and end up in Greenville and open a deli.

There seem to be a few delis in Greenville, but I haven' been to them all yet so can't comment on your search for good pastrami. I understand your addicition to Carnegie Deli, though. It's one of my favorite memories from visiting NYC.

[makossa]

Originally Posted by LetsGoBuffs

I will add my thoughts to this thread.

Now, let me tell you where i sit before I tell you where I stand. So to speak.

I was born and raised in Colorado. Just north of Boulder. I have lived in the Treasure Coast area of Florida (3 1/2 years) and Northern Virginia (Arlington) for 3 years and change.

I dont know what I would be considered as Colorado was not even a state during the times of the Yanks and the 'Ol South. I have worked with pleanty of people who refer to the Civil War as the "War of northern aggression."

Whatever. I have no stake in that arguement.

Now, I ask you all to keep in mind that my job has a lot of travel involved. I deal with both southerners and northerners daily at my job. I also work with people from all over the map.

People from the northeast are miserable (hang in there and let me explain) people. I have two very good friends from the NE. One now lives in Orlando the other in Indy. Despite the fact they are doing very well, all they do is talk about NY. The food, the culture, the life style. ect.

Now, my NE friends. Please dont get me wrong here. I love those guys. They have great standards. They know what they like and I do admire that about them. They are very loyal people. They will, and have bent over backwards to help me.

When i say "miserable people" I mean it like this. One could fly a piece of pizza form Abo's Pizza in Boulder, Co to NY and feed it to a NYorker and it would be the best thing in the world. You fly a slice of pizza from thier fav joint in NY to Colorado and feed it to them there and they will think its the worst POS they ever ate.

I guess it has to do with being in the city and the atmosphere. Thats all good by me. I enjoy my burritos at Colorado mexican joints more than here. Its just one of those things. One is not more right or wrong than the other. It is what it is. I would suppose that familiraty and what you grew up with has a lot to do with it.

People from the NE are also very demanding. In my line of work, for the people i work with, they dread the people from White Planes, La Guardia, Newark. Lots of reasons for this.

Now, people just need to learn to understand people from the NE. What i posted above are mostly what you get on first impressions. If you take the time to get to know them, they will be your most loyal friends. They can be loud but they will be the first to buy you dinner. The may be abrasive but they will do whatever they can to help you out in a time of need.

That has been my experience with them. All very good people. Just different from what i grew up around in the west and what i have experienced in the south. IMO, not one thing wrong with any of them. Its just different.

The south. Or Greenville. Florida does not count. Florida is just a bunch of New Yorkers with warm weather.

The south. I will say that i find a lot in common with the southerners, from what I love about the west. Its a slower lifestyle. Not much into status (Southern Cali is excluded here) or titles. Do your thing and leave me alone. You are welcome here but dont try and change me and what we do here. We do what we do for a reason.

The south has a chip on the shoulder. For good or bad, its there and for the reasons I posted above. I, as a westerner share that trait so dont bash me too bad.

People in the south will help you out too. When my wife and I lost our jobs, someone down the street brought us a very nice gift basket full of goodies and a nice card to help support and encourage us.

Now, southerns seem to have a lot tighter social groups and not very willing to let others in. Im not talking like elite NE golf clubs, im talking just social/groups of friends things. NE people will hollar at a guy from accross the bar and ask them to join thier group for a beer or two and in two weeks, he is in the club.

Dont get me wrong here. I like that aspect of the southerners. I have, for the most part been that way myself. I have a close nit group of friends and I am cautious of other people.

Now, since I probably made enemies on both sides I want you to all understand that I have no problem with either side. I like both. I love my NE buddies. I love living in Greenville.

We are all different. In most ways however, we are the same. As far as our differences, there is nothing to be ashamed of. Its all good. We westerners have our fair share of faults too. We all need to take pride in what we offer and accept the others for thier differences. There is not one thing wrong with any of our differences. That is why many of us travel these great United States. To experience differences from what we are used to. That is good stuff!!!!

I hope I didnt offend anyone. That was definitly not my intent.

Now this is EXACTLY what I was saying. Thanks LetsGoBuffs, very well put. I just happened to have posted it in my rude arrogant NE ways.

Northeasterners are the most misunderstood group in the U.S. Sure, they come across initially as rude, unfriendly, and arrogant, but living up here this is your (street smart) survival mechanisms. OK, it's sad, but true. Once you get a NE to open up you have a loyal friend for live, and they'll talk your head off....LOL

"Why Can't WE All Just Get Along"

Peace - Happiness - Love

[Studyin'2Show]

Well, I was born in Philadelphia, lived in Greenville for 5 years growing up and came of age and still live in Florida. I have family in all three place, so I'm not biased. Let me just say, I will be soooooo happy to move back to the GSP area in June '09!

[chicagocubs]

Well, as a Chicagoan that has lived in the south for more years than I care to even think about, there are true differences between the north/south personality and temperament. Most have been addressed in previous postings. However, here are a few additional:

in the south:

appearances are everything. substance/charecter means nothing.
your voice is judged by it's "tone"...e-mails, too (never heard of such a thing!)
it is polite to speak in hushed, quiet voices...anything louder than a whisper is considered "rude"
never take charge or act like you know what you are doing. that is considered "aggressive" and (for the ladies) "unladylike"
friendships are shallow and only matter for the time that you are in direct contact with that individual. if, for some reason, your paths should split off, you will never hear from that person again.
people will talk very nicely to your face, then, turn around and stab you with a ferociousness that you have to experience to understand.
conflict is never addressed. a nice "front" is expected always. no matter what the situation, you are ALWAYS required to be happy and upbeat.

Just some things that I have learned over the years.

Probably everyone here already knows the "northern" traits that are pretty much opposite of the above....

[TiredOfSFL]

Originally Posted by makossa

I'd rep you twice of they'd let me. If your tired of S.FL. look me up in NYC it has a lot to offer except for the winters of course...LOL

Why, thanks , NYC is too big for me, besides you said it... winters!!! Instead, how about if we both "mosy on down" to Greenville together? (I need convincing because I'm still thinking of NC...).

[TiredOfSFL]

I'm finding this thread quite interesting and accurate to boot.

I once lived in Arkansas, which is considered part of the south, and people were very polite there, I loved it when a stranger riding in his/her car would greet me when passing me by. I was in a very small town (8,000) and back then I was way younger and with bigger city aspirations so I had misgivings about living there but I was married and a churchgoer so I guess I fit in pretty well after all, even though I was practically the only Latin there. My two years there turned out better than I'd expected. If people in the Carolinas as just as nice I'd love them to pieces, that's for sure.

Four years later I ended up as a single Mom in Wilmington, DE which is in the NE. Had never even heard of it but found a little job there while back in my country (of birth) and took it because I like the States better. Well, I loved Wilmington from day 1. People seemed just as polite as in the south and I was never made to feel different, but maybe it has to do with my not looking "too" Hispanic, some people said they thought at first I was Italian. Even when I spoke they couldn't tell where I was from because my accent is slight and not at all typically "Spanish". Seven years later I moved to Dover, the state capital, and didn't like it there. While people were still polite they were not really friendly, in the 3 years I was there my only friends were from work and that because none of them lived in Dover. I guess the moral here is that even cities/people in one small state can be pretty different sometimes... However, now I hear that Wilmington has changed negatively, who knows what happened there!

Then in '97 I came to S. FL and realized DE didn't fit in any way with the rest of the better known NE (NY, NJ, etc.). Being a "transplant" myself the funny thing is that I found myself increasingly annoyed by NYers, I felt (and still do but don't kill me for being honest...) that they changed FL in not the best way. Those that I knew seemed, besides pushy, either arrogant, not very polite and/or IMPATIENT. I've felt that they're the ones that make S. FL traffic BAD. My "prejudice" got so acute that I had a profile on a dating site and whenever someone from NY wrote me I was usually turned off (sorry makossa!!!). Recently, a lady wrote me from a Crochet forum I'm a member of seeking someone with whom to share that hobby with "here" (we still live some distance apart...) and when I read she was from NY my initial feeling was of disappointment BUT as we began to communicate I realized she's a nice caring person who doesn't fit in my old "mental mold" (see? I do give people a chance.).

And yeah, I know, I know what some people think of us Latins. Fortunately, most of the "bad" is usually due to misinformation, because we all get lumped into one "generic" category but can also be quite different amongst ourselves. I think some of us also can seem pushy because in our culture we can be into each other's business like the most natural thing in the world and offering unsolicited advice, which most Americans seem to resent, back home is our way of saying "I care".

But, personally, I really don't go anywhere to try to change anything but do follow the sayings "When in Rome do as Romans do" and "you have to take the good with the bad". I realize that moving from one place to another involves a "trade off", one complete package for another and each will have good points and "bad" points for us all, so once we take the step there's no point in whining about whatever one left behind (hint, hint about that Jewish deli, ha, ha!). [I'm now praying I don't have to eat my words someday..., if I find out I can't find "casabe" there I may let out a tiny whine...]

[flgargoyle]

For those that haven't been to Carnegie Deli, this is what we're talkin' about"