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I lived in South Carolina for 2 years and did a 4 month stint helping out a church in Georgia. While it was not quite as cosmopolitan as I am used to, overall the people were nice. What I found to be true was a warning I was given when going there - everyone will be nice, few will be sincere. So true!
I lived in South Carolina for 2 years and did a 4 month stint helping out a church in Georgia. While it was not quite as cosmopolitan as I am used to, overall the people were nice. What I found to be true was a warning I was given when going there - everyone will be nice, few will be sincere. So true!
Is there anyplace in Canada where everyone will be sincere but few will be nice?
Been to quite a few places in the south, with Gatlinburg being the most visited. I love the south, but find it a bit too racist and homophobic to ever move too. It really isn't that far from Windsor either, only a 4 hour drive and you're in Kentucky, but it seems like another world sometimes, especially outside of the major cities.
Is there anyplace in Canada where everyone will be sincere but few will be nice?
Good question, Mouldy. I always assume that when casual acquaintances or complete strangers here (or anywhere) say, "How are you," they sincerely do not want to know. I'm happy enough with basic politeness.
I've only been to Atlanta. Seriously was not prepared for the friendliness and 'no pressure' kind of vibe I got from everyone. It's so different socially from what I'm used to hanging around in Canadian cities.
The layout and aesthetics of the city wan't really my thing, though. Too sterile and concrete-y, and it seems kind of spread out. I really didn't spend enough time there to get the whole picture though.
I've only been to Atlanta. Seriously was not prepared for the friendliness and 'no pressure' kind of vibe I got from everyone. It's so different socially from what I'm used to
the South is friendlier socially and less uptight than I'm used to; Canada is more civil and proper (though far more reserved) than I'm used to, having lived in LA/ SF.
Also it was great going from Montreal smoked meat and exceptional ethnic food (Montreal, Vancouver) to chicken fried-steak and Texas toast within a few weeks
Also it was great going from Montreal smoked meat and exceptional ethnic food (Montreal, Vancouver) to chicken fried-steak and Texas toast within a few weeks
It's been a lot of years since I was down there but I've been down South 9 times.... used to go with my family every summer for many years. We would usually head to Memphis, TN, staying overnight in Kentucky on the way there and back. We also would often drive into rural Mississippi and one year we went and stayed a couple days down in Louisiana too and visited New Orleans.
My impressions were....
The people are very friendly and hospitable (save the racially tense situations we found ourselves in several times) and the countryside is beautiful. I absolutely loved the countryside although the heat was oppressive.
We were quite shaken up by some situations that were full of racial tension (stopping in a certain part of town where we apparently weren't welcome, trying to visit W.C. Handy Park in Memphis one evening when it became extremely apparent that we were unwelcome, being told that we were "fair game" if we walked down a main drag in Memphis after a certain hour of night (and not very late at that.) Remarkably, I will report that in a couple very threatening situations re racial tension, as soon as it was known that we were from Canada, BANG.... everything was cool and we were welcome again.
I have to say I didn't feel safe on many occasions down South. Between the racial tensions, the areas we were supposed to know not to go into, seeing iron bars on so many houses, seeing bullet holes in the office doors in an office building we visited (and having our host treat them as a very common occurrence,) having a security guard from the hotel follow myself and my sister around talking about Memphis being the "rape capital", etc. etc. Armed security guards at every motel it seemed (which at that time wasn't something we'd see here even though we lived in a huge tourism mecca at home,) and just a general feeling of being threatened different times when approached (ex. Friday night in the French Quarter in New Orleans, someone begged us in a way that felt threatening and made us decide to leave and go back to the hotel.) We were also told repeatedly on a Sunday afternoon in the French Quarter that we should not be out walking around (my Mom and myself) which was totally shocking to hear. When I said I wanted to go visit the Walled City of the Dead nearby, we were told not to go in there as locals hung around there to rob tourists. And these were shopkeepers warning us not to be out on the street or visiting that site on a Sunday afternoon!
Other than the above, hearing some Southern white friends refer to blacks as "high yellows" and "******s" and saying they wouldn't let their children go to school with them was jaw-dropping. It was something we never experienced before and never for a moment thought we'd hear from a family that we had come to know as so gracious and wonderful up to that point. (They were from South Carolina.) I can't say we really got into any in-depth conversations with any other whites down there, just small talk stuff but the other family we had known and corresponded with for some time and therefore I guess they felt safe to act normally but it was quite a shocker that I will never forget. Our relationship faded fast after that as we couldn't get over the attitude. We did argue with them about this and they continued in their mindset and we found we were too far apart in how we thought to continue on long as friends.
Sorry for the novel, but I have a lot of memories of my 9 trips to the South and the differences I noted...
Last edited by Nefertitii; 04-11-2015 at 11:40 AM..
Reason: typo
It's been a lot of years since I was down there but I've been down South 9 times.... used to go with my family every summer for many years. We would usually head to Memphis, TN, staying overnight in Kentucky on the way there and back. We also would often drive into rural Mississippi and one year we went and stayed a couple days down in Louisiana too and visited New Orleans.
My impressions were....
The people are very friendly and hospitable (save the racially tense situations we found ourselves in several times) and the countryside is beautiful. I absolutely loved the countryside although the heat was oppressive.
We were quite shaken up by some situations that were full of racial tension (stopping in a certain part of town where we apparently weren't welcome, trying to visit W.C. Handy Park in Memphis one evening when it became extremely apparent that we were unwelcome, being told that we were "fair game" if we walked down a main drag in Memphis after a certain hour of night (and not very late at that.) Remarkably, I will report that in a couple very threatening situations re racial tension, as soon as it was known that we were from Canada, BANG.... everything was cool and we were welcome again.
I have to say I didn't feel safe on many occasions down South. Between the racial tensions, the areas we were supposed to know not to go into, seeing iron bars on so many houses, seeing bullet holes in the office doors in an office building we visited (and having our host treat them as a very common occurrence,) having a security guard from the hotel follow myself and my sister around talking about Memphis being the "rape capital", etc. etc. Armed security guards at every motel it seemed (which at that time wasn't something we'd see here even though we lived in a huge tourism mecca at home,) and just a general feeling of being threatened different times when approached (ex. Friday night in the French Quarter in New Orleans, someone begged us in a way that felt threatening and made us decide to leave and go back to the hotel.) We were also told repeatedly on a Sunday afternoon in the French Quarter that we should not be out walking around (my Mom and myself) which was totally shocking to hear. When I said I wanted to go visit the Walled City of the Dead nearby, we were told not to go in there as locals hung around there to rob tourists. And these were shopkeepers warning us not to be out on the street or visiting that site on a Sunday afternoon!
Other than the above, hearing some Southern white friends refer to blacks as "high yellows" and "******s" and saying they wouldn't let their children go to school with them was jaw-dropping. It was something we never experienced before and never for a moment thought we'd hear from a family that we had come to know as so gracious and wonderful up to that point. (They were from South Carolina.) I can't say we really got into any in-depth conversations with any other whites down there, just small talk stuff but the other family we had known and corresponded with for some time and therefore I guess they felt safe to act normally but it was quite a shocker that I will never forget. Our relationship faded fast after that as we couldn't get over the attitude. We did argue with them about this and they continued in their mindset and we found we were too far apart in how we thought to continue on long as friends.
Sorry for the novel, but I have a lot of memories of my 9 trips to the South and the differences I noted...
I'm curious, what decade was this?
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I'm happy enough with basic politeness.
The South
