[goofykid]

I remember this guy once said SoFlo is so south you gotta hear north to hear an accent. Although I think he's somewhat right. I also think that its alot less than the rest of the state. I see Orlando becoming less southern too the rest of the state is good ol boys still. You gotta remember SoFlo was southern back in the 80's. It's been getting less ever since.

[ftlsmiles]

As a Southern girl from North Florida and also lived in East Georgia most of my life I moved down to South Florida 6 years ago where my grandpa's family had roots once. I have since traveled all up and down the East Coast up to Maine and back. You can find people of all kinds in all areas. The "Southern Hospitality" found in South Florida discussion that is of the original topic here is a way of life in the Southern states more so than anywhere else and I have found it to be more rare down here. Generally when you have the bigger cities such as Miami, Orlando, Atlanta, New York, etc. where there is a bigger melting pot of so many kinds of cultures the hospitality scale certainly gets diluted. Atlanta is probably one of the last metropolitan areas where hospitality and general friendliness still exists in greater quantities and that is mainly due to the geographic region as it is nothing else like NYC or Miami in their limited landscape. Atlanta still has rural countrysides sprawling for miles around before you run into the next big town or city so there are naturally more "country folk" that are the locals raised in the area and are known to be brought up with the Southern Hospitality.

I love the climate down here in SoFla and do get a since of "home" even though I find it difficult to find restaurants with real sweet tea and friendly people that naturally are willing to help if you need it. When I first needed to visit a doctor's office here I found the clerical staff to be rude, impatient, and generally unhelpful in getting together the necessary paperwork together I needed for my appointment. When I called my old doctor's office to request transcripts of my records for the new doctor they were more than helpful to dig up old archived records or track down what I needed. They asked me how I'm doing even though they don't know me. It was like a breath of fresh air compared to the staff at the new doctor's office who wouldn't volunteer any info I needed to know if I didn't specifically ask for it (like you need to get your primary doctor to approve this first before making an appointment or we need ___ info from you first).

I can definitely see the fast-paced lifestyle influences of the Northern big cities that have transplanted down here or the Latin countries' immigrants general lack of communication with the non-Spanish speaking cultures. Of course these are generalizations overall as a whole as I have many wonderful friends down here from all of the various backgrounds that have been given a bad rep to the area as no longer being part of the South or having any hospitality. I think until you become familiar to any group or culture the tendancy is to be stand-offish or wary and true Southerners brought up with the old-school manners and their family's values seem to wave that apprehension with strangers from the start more easily than any other culture.

[Shoegal1075]

ftlsmiles - that was beautifully said and hit the nail right in the head! Here is a little bit of my take - Common sense in general is not so common. More people than we care to admit go on living and working on a daily basis without the use of common sense and when you get someone who has this as a lot of us (not all on this forum) do, then you are easily frustrated by things you and I may find normal. The worst part is, I truly believe that people do not understand our frustation. Did I make sense?

[StreetSmarts]

Originally Posted by ftlsmiles

As a Southern girl from North Florida and also lived in East Georgia most of my life I moved down to South Florida 6 years ago where my grandpa's family had roots once. I have since traveled all up and down the East Coast up to Maine and back. You can find people of all kinds in all areas. The "Southern Hospitality" found in South Florida discussion that is of the original topic here is a way of life in the Southern states more so than anywhere else and I have found it to be more rare down here. Generally when you have the bigger cities such as Miami, Orlando, Atlanta, New York, etc. where there is a bigger melting pot of so many kinds of cultures the hospitality scale certainly gets diluted. Atlanta is probably one of the last metropolitan areas where hospitality and general friendliness still exists in greater quantities and that is mainly due to the geographic region as it is nothing else like NYC or Miami in their limited landscape. Atlanta still has rural countrysides sprawling for miles around before you run into the next big town or city so there are naturally more "country folk" that are the locals raised in the area and are known to be brought up with the Southern Hospitality.

I love the climate down here in SoFla and do get a since of "home" even though I find it difficult to find restaurants with real sweet tea and friendly people that naturally are willing to help if you need it. When I first needed to visit a doctor's office here I found the clerical staff to be rude, impatient, and generally unhelpful in getting together the necessary paperwork together I needed for my appointment. When I called my old doctor's office to request transcripts of my records for the new doctor they were more than helpful to dig up old archived records or track down what I needed. They asked me how I'm doing even though they don't know me. It was like a breath of fresh air compared to the staff at the new doctor's office who wouldn't volunteer any info I needed to know if I didn't specifically ask for it (like you need to get your primary doctor to approve this first before making an appointment or we need ___ info from you first).

I can definitely see the fast-paced lifestyle influences of the Northern big cities that have transplanted down here or the Latin countries' immigrants general lack of communication with the non-Spanish speaking cultures. Of course these are generalizations overall as a whole as I have many wonderful friends down here from all of the various backgrounds that have been given a bad rep to the area as no longer being part of the South or having any hospitality. I think until you become familiar to any group or culture the tendancy is to be stand-offish or wary and true Southerners brought up with the old-school manners and their family's values seem to wave that apprehension with strangers from the start more easily than any other culture.

Very good post. I too find that even though Atlanta is big like NYC, Miami, Orlando, etc... I still find, at least when I visit, that the people are still pretty friendly.

[Shoegal1075]

Guys, in fairness, I think that we should treat NYC as its own animal - I think it is safe to agree that there is no place in the WORLD like NYC. Comparing atlanta to miami, orlando, DC all similar, but NYC??? I just don't think you can do it. And for that reason you can not expect the same things that you would in any of those places.

[hiknapster]

I think people in NYC are a lot more polite and friendly than they are in Fort Myers and Naples, FL.

[Shoegal1075]

Thanks hip - I like to think that we are pretty nice too but reality is i think that nice may be the minority here! Believe mme no one is more disappointed than me to say this.

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by Chelsa1075

Thanks hip - I like to think that we are pretty nice too but reality is i think that nice may be the minority here! Believe mme no one is more disappointed than me to say this.

When I lived in the northeast, I thought they were the unfriendliest people in the country. It took moving away for me to appreciate who I am, where I'm from, and the people of the northeast US.

[StreetSmarts]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

When I lived in the northeast, I thought they were the unfriendliest people in the country. It took moving away for me to appreciate who I am, where I'm from, and the people of the northeast US.

It took moving to SW FL to see how unfriendly people can be, lol. That's pretty bad. I have family from the midwest and all very friendly. And that's why it's so strange that SW FL is pretty notorious (at least among native Floridians and long time FL residents) for being rude and cranky old people from the midwest.

[Shoegal1075]

I kind of just had a bad weekend - a guy was walking by my car and staring into the window as if he saw something in it that belonged to him - I asked him (in not the nicest way) why was he so interested in the car - he then started to yell at me and I of course yelled back a few choice word - that obviously wasn't enough for him because he began to walk toward me and...I spit on him - I know it is so gross but I was really angry and thought he had nerve to be yelling when he was into my car - honestly, I felt bad - disgusted that I got onto his level - I wish I had ignored him!! Not that u will but just in case - don't pre-judge who u think may have sone this because I don't think given 20 chances to figure out this person that u could!