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It's just plain BS. People in my city are nice and friendly, but everyone in the so called "heartland" claim everyone here is rude and fake when they are the ones being rude and judgmental. I have met rude people in the south and the midwest.
HMMM ... well, I live in Savannah, GA -- "The Hostess City of the South" -- a place that has built a tourism empire on Southern hospitality. People come here from all over the world just to be treated "nice" -- but I'm not so naive as to think there's no selfish motive behind it. You treat people well, they respond in kind -- with tips, positive recommendations and return visits.
That said, the South was known for hospitality LONG before it became a tourist mecca. The difference can be traced to the people who originally settled in the South -- mainly protestant Scots-Irish, who are known for the same "hospitality" even to this day back in the old country.
Is it sincere or not? I'm inclined to say YES moreso than not. What always puzzled me, being a native Southerner, is how people from other parts of the country cast suspicion and doubt on what to us is just everyday courtesy -- something as simple as a store clerk saying "Have a nice day!" actually offends some people? That's crazy.
ANOTHER THING: Several years ago, a friend and I were visiting Mercer County, NJ, walked out of a store and began to cross a parking lot and were immediately cursed at and given the finger by a passing motorists. Here in Georgia, pedestrians ALWAYS have the right-of-way. To me, it was just a sharp reminder of how laws and customs vary from region to region.
On the flip side, I've been on a NYC subway train looking at a map and trying to figure out how to get where I wanted to go, and had locals -- even some who spoke very poor English -- jump up and come to my aid, even to the point of getting into arguments with OTHER passengers about the best route / transfers to make. Now THAT is hospitality!!!
It's just plain BS. People in my city are nice and friendly, but everyone in the so called "heartland" claim everyone here is rude and fake when they are the ones being rude and judgmental. I have met rude people in the south and the midwest.
LOL! I find it hard to believe you've ever left San Diego.
At any rate, you couldn't be more wrong on any of this. I don't know ANYONE from the South or the Midwest that think that way of SoCal - IF they have actually been there.
LOL! I find it hard to believe you've ever left San Diego.
At any rate, you couldn't be more wrong on any of this. I don't know ANYONE from the South or the Midwest that think that way of SoCal - IF they have actually been there.
FROM WIKI
Some characteristics of southern hospitality were described as early as 1835, when Jacob Abbott attributed the poor quality of taverns in the south to the lack of need for them, given the willingness of southerners to provide for strangers. Abbott writes:
“ [T]he hospitality of southerners is so profuse, that taverns are but poorly supported. A traveler, with the garb and the manners of a gentleman, finds a welcome at every door. A stranger is riding on horseback through Virginia or Carolina. It is noon. He sees a plantation, surrounded with trees, a little distance from the road. Without hesitation he rides to the door. The gentleman of the house sees his approach and is ready upon the steps. â€
Abbot further describes how the best stores of the house are at the disposal of visitors. Furthermore, says Abbott:
“ Conversation flows cheeringly, for the southern gentleman has a particular tact in making a guest happy. After dinner you are urged to pass the afternoon and night, and if you are a gentleman in manners and information, your host will be in reality highly gratified by your so doing.
Such is the character of southern hospitality.
LOL! I find it hard to believe you've ever left San Diego.
At any rate, you couldn't be more wrong on any of this. I don't know ANYONE from the South or the Midwest that think that way of SoCal - IF they have actually been there.
believe what you want, I've been all over the south and midwest.
Last edited by BacktoBlue; 10-17-2010 at 08:59 AM..
I notice that Southern Hospitality is shown more towards White tourists and White people than others. When you are a Brown person like me, they just disregard you. People also take religion VERY SERIOUSLY down here, I was told by a man that my parents should be Christians or they will burn in hell (my parents are Hindu but not overly religious). I mean overall if you are not Christian, it really limits you down here.
Also the South has surprised me in some ways too. My girlfriend is Hispanic BUT she is Southern raised, has sort of a country accent and everything. Just because she went out with me and exposed to me the best parts of the deep south and the positives about it, I am voting reality.
Though honestly, even though the people aren't the worst in the world, the excessive heat, lack of things to do and high poverty compared to other areas leads me away from the deep south.
I voted mainly because I had the chance to be with a Hispanic girl here and people don't care about it as much, I am not sure if I would have been able to do this in other areas.
Myth IMO. I would say that people in my area are generally friendly, but they don't necessarily come off as nice unless you're a tourist. From my experiences in more "traditional" parts of the south I found most of the hospitality to be fake. There are nice people and mean people, but they usually have this idea of "respect", "courtesy", and I guess "hospitality" instilled in them. Like it's a cultural norm to "act this way in public" and "to not say/do ________ in front of people". There's like an understood boundary of what is acceptable and what isn't and most people seem to have been taught not to cross it. I don't think that it's necessarily a good or bad thing, but I do prefer to be around people who display what they feel vs. people who want to appear friendly.
Quote:
Originally Posted by killakoolaide
When I was down south the women were easy, and everyone was acting like they were my best friend, not because they liked me, but because they liked what I could do for them, and my up-north swagger. When it was all said and done I realized most of their personas were fake. I just would have rathered them been up-front with me about who they truly were from the star
+1.
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."
if you don't like sharing all of your business and all that then thats a no no.
i'm not saying that everybody in the south is like that but a lot are. but again, a lot aren't. some ppl are generally nice...but the whole idea of southern hospitality or the idea that the south has some sort of monopoly on niceness is a myth.
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."
if you don't like sharing all of your business and all that then thats a no no.
i'm not saying that everybody in the south is like that but a lot are. but again, a lot aren't. some ppl are generally nice...but the whole idea of southern hospitality or the idea that the south has some sort of monopoly on niceness is a myth.
+1
I agree with this statement as well. There is a lot of gossip and what not down south. I think it's pretty ridiculous when people think every single person in the south or the midwest is nice. It's just simply not true. There is also still a lot of racism in those areas as well.
I bet the people who live in the south and the midwest are the ones voting "reality"
On the flip side, I've been on a NYC subway train looking at a map and trying to figure out how to get where I wanted to go, and had locals -- even some who spoke very poor English -- jump up and come to my aid, even to the point of getting into arguments with OTHER passengers about the best route / transfers to make. Now THAT is hospitality!!!
shhhh. you'll get a dozen or so posters that will say you're flat out lying.
awhile back, i was in chinatown (in flushing) and a man left his wallet in a store. one of the customers ran out of the store and down the block to find the man and to return the wallet to him.
granted some ppl on the block got shoved out of the way, lol, but at least the guy got his wallet back.
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