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I have lived there for about 8 years and I lived in a smaller city (not a large area like Atlanta).
What I learned
1. Southerners ARE NOT stupid and backwards like people make them out to be, they know their stuff.
2. Southerners ARE NOT really that racist either, not more or less than people anywhere else.
3. There was not really that much diversity there, lots of Black people, and lots of Anglo White (no Italians no nothing) people, nothing else.
4. Southern Hospitality is most likely a myth, I do not know where it came from but I never experienced it (and I am not a minority either). I have met more rude, arrogant, stuck up, condescending, mean, hateful, bitter, and cocky people down south than I have anywhere else in the world or America. At best, it is AN ACT.
5. I do not know what the love with Southern weather is. It was very humid, lots of bugs in summer time, lots of snakes, and I would hate summers down there.
So in my experience, take all the negative stereotypes about the south, they aren't that bad at all, some of them are not true at all. Take some positive stereotypes (Southern hospitality for example), I can say they are very false indeed.
If you cannot find many things to do in your community, it's probably best that you look for another place which will better fit your interests.
I've lived and visited for weeks at a time in a variety of Southern states for almost all my life, and have never lacked for opportunities, both within the particular places I lived or visited, or within a two-hour drive. The South has mountains, beaches, caves, wild rivers, waterfalls, forests, cities, gardens, historic sites by the thousands, sports, music of all varieties and is the birthplace of Bluegrass and blues, notable writers, more so than any other region of this country, remarkable food - not all of it fattening! - and much more.
I am sorry you encountered inhospitable people, and think you've also mentioned this on another post. Citing examples of what you would consider to be "Southern hospitality" and examples of the less than hospitable incidents you experienced would help other posters try to figure out what went wrong - and, if posters are also Southerners, might provide examples of what to avoid when meeting and greeting newcomers to our beloved Southland.
I hope you find another place where you will feel more at home.
So in my experience, take all the negative stereotypes about the south, they aren't that bad at all, some of them are not true at all. Take some positive stereotypes (Southern hospitality for example), I can say they are very false indeed.
I don't think Atlanta counts. That is my Southern experience.
I think you are talking a Montgomery AL or a Jackson MS, or someplace smaller.
Correct. There is no such thing as "southern hospitality." The only moniker for hospitality that I've seen hold true is "Hoosier Hospitality," for those from Indiana. They're southern Midwest folks with a Germanic beer fest mentality (just kidding), but they are more genuine than most southerners, who are nice but keep a healthy distance.
True, being an ethnic white person in the South (Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Slavic) would not be easy if one is accustomed to that.
we lived in georgia before moving here to virginia. i liked it a lot. we were an hour east of atlanta...still too close imo. i think racism was much more open there though than anywhere else i've lived.
oh and add to that, it is very easy to get fat, very easy, the food is high in fat and there are not many things to do
really, not a lot to do? i think it has to do with the person...get up and find something to do. plus they have just as many healthy options for eating as they do unhealthy...it's all in moderation....there's fat people every where, the south doesn't have a monopoly on it
I met the most hospitable family in Amarillo Texas than anyplace I've ever been. I was a complete stranger, they knew that I was from out of town, invited me to have dinner with them, husband, wife and 3 small children.
oh and add to that, it is very easy to get fat, very easy, the food is high in fat and there are not many things to do
That's basically what it comes down to.
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