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I lived in another state for 5 years and also was on the receiving end of the eye-rolling in response to my "accent," along with a variety of other equally ridiculous reactions. It can be very painful, especially when you move out of NY with such a high state of optimism.
That said, I tried to find local people with a less insular aproach to outsiders, and also channel my efforts toward reaching out to other newcomers.
Incidentally, I had similar experiences living in the foreign country I returned from this summer, after living there for 9 months.
I think if you're going to live, and survive emotionally, long-term, in a place you don't come from, especially if the culture and mannerisms are very "regional," (rather than cosmopolitan) you have to find a way to desensitize yourself to the closed-minded reactions you can sometimes get. You'd also have to be able to find enough "pros" that outweigh the "cons," and focus on them.
Very few native Floridians here in Florida!!!??? Who are you kidding? Florida has 67 counties and 18 million people. Out of those 18 million people around 7 or 8 million give or take, are Southern, either Floridians or from other Southern states. The rest, some 10 or 11 million, although constituting most of the population are mainly concentrated in roughly 7 or 8 of those counties. The other 59 or 60 counties are largley Southern and largely rural! The Southern population is more spread out and encompasses the majority of Florida's land in counties and small towns and even some areas of larger cities such as Jacksonville, Tampa, Orlando, and especially Lakeland.
Maybe in your limited areas where you're at there's more Yankees than Southerners, but you can't base a whole state on your one area! I've been to many many areas all over Florida where Southerners abound, Southern accents pervade, Southern culture exists, and such. Mickey Mouse may draw people to Florida, but there's much more to Florida than the big Mouse! Get your facts straight before speaking about a state you obviously haven't a clue about!
Actually, I live in a rural area in Florida. And yes there are a lot of floridians here, but even the many generation floridians don't speak with the southern accent like Tenn and NC areas, my step daughter is married to a man whose family is generations of fisherman and he doesn't have the accent. My husband is native floridian and doesn't speak with the southern accent. And I am not wrong to say that a lot of people here are not native floridians. There are more with kids being born here, but they are not like the old floridians that do not like northerners.
Actually, I live in a rural area in Florida. And yes there are a lot of floridians here, but even the many generation floridians don't speak with the southern accent like Tenn and NC areas, my step daughter is married to a man whose family is generations of fisherman and he doesn't have the accent. My husband is native floridian and doesn't speak with the southern accent. And I am not wrong to say that a lot of people here are not native floridians. There are more with kids being born here, but they are not like the old floridians that do not like northerners.
What you're saying is only partly accurate. The native Floridians you speak of may go way back generations, but many born since the 1970s have been increasingly raised around Northerners since first grade. This can water down and eventually eliminate Southern speech patterns. I guarantee you that the Southern Accent that prevailed in Florida 40 years ago was just as potent as that found in TN and NC. Even the folks you speak of as being Floridians without a Southern Accent, if they were taken up North they'd be picked out right away as Southerners because although to your ears it might seem like they have none, to Northerners it would be noticable. Besides, not all of rural Florida today has strong or even predominating Southern speech. Urban sprawl from the Yankeefied cities has encroached into many rural areas and has or is destroying our accent at this very moment. But at Florida's core, the Southern drawl persists just as strong as TN or NC. Maybe not your immediate area or some others, but mostly yes! And go back to the 1970s and especially 60s and on back, every part of Florida, every town, city, municipality, and junction had a very noticable Southern drawl.
I feel for your grandparents and all but what most people are missing is most of us from NY were not even here for the civil war. Our grandparents and great grandparents came from other places long after the war it just happens ellis island is where they landed and stayed,so to say your families are still hurting has nothing to do with most of us that argument makes no sense at all. Thats like being pissed at the guy next door because the guy before him peed on your lawn.
I get your point, but at the same time people who immigrated after the civil war are also part of the group who c[SIZE=2]riticizes southerners. My best friend is from Michigan and we have no problems because she doesn't act like she is better or smarter than me because of where I grew up (south carolina).
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Any yankee down in NC feel like me?? Something is missing here that just isn't home. Lived in the lower hudson valley all my life, got tired of the rat race wanted better life for family....You all know what I mean right?? I even wrote the governor for squashing out the hard working middle class, never heard back. I have been here w/my husband and daughter for 8 LONG months, he's doing better than her and I but we are already putting house back on market. Please NC people when you read this don't get mad I DON"T HATE your state but the majority of you HATE us northerners and I'm sick of it! Guess what you won, we are going back home to kids playing outdoors and neighbors chatting in the front yard and we'll pay through our ***! And yeah some of us may be rude maybe because you are so rude to us, (rolling your eyes as you here my "accent", saying "you won't hold it against me" when I say I'm from NY. I guess I'm bitter, when you get that mostly everyday, how would you feel. Anyway, thanks for letting me sound off and if anybody thinks the grass is greener in NC, think again, don't come here until your kids are grown and you are prepared to live in solitude w/your spouse or significant other.. BYE BYE ignorancy, hello integellency!!! Can't wait to get back, hope my house sells soon!!! I LOVE NY!!!!
I also lived in the Hudson Valley near Kingston, I now live in Florida and I have hated it ever since we came down here. We can't move back to N.Y. as the taxes would kill our retirement. In two years we are thinking of moving to TN, at least we will have a change in the seasons and the mountains. The Catskill Mountains and the Smokies look to be about the same. I loved N. Y. I wish we had never left.
Last edited by Kim Gallagher; 12-06-2007 at 03:34 AM..
40 degrees North!!!!! Never go below that line that lies just North of the Southern boundary of Pennsylvannia. This has been my general rule and many, many people I know who have moved South of moved South and came back North tell me that my "stay North of the 40th parallel" makes total sense and they wish they would have followed my 'rule'. I can't explain it, but whenever I go below that line, no matter what part of the county I'm in (East Coast, West Coast, Midwest)...something feels amiss and it is more pronounced once you cross the Mississippi River. Its the whole spectrum, culture, natural environment, politics and I enjoy the four seasons.
Any yankee down in NC feel like me?? Something is missing here that just isn't home. Lived in the lower hudson valley all my life, got tired of the rat race wanted better life for family....You all know what I mean right?? I even wrote the governor for squashing out the hard working middle class, never heard back. I have been here w/my husband and daughter for 8 LONG months, he's doing better than her and I but we are already putting house back on market. Please NC people when you read this don't get mad I DON"T HATE your state but the majority of you HATE us northerners and I'm sick of it! Guess what you won, we are going back home to kids playing outdoors and neighbors chatting in the front yard and we'll pay through our ***! And yeah some of us may be rude maybe because you are so rude to us, (rolling your eyes as you here my "accent", saying "you won't hold it against me" when I say I'm from NY. I guess I'm bitter, when you get that mostly everyday, how would you feel. Anyway, thanks for letting me sound off and if anybody thinks the grass is greener in NC, think again, don't come here until your kids are grown and you are prepared to live in solitude w/your spouse or significant other.. BYE BYE ignorancy, hello integellency!!! Can't wait to get back, hope my house sells soon!!! I LOVE NY!!!!
I have to say I enjoy your post. I am originally from NEPA/Upstate NY and moved to south carolina 2.5 years ago. I felt the same way as you do when I first moved here. I can honestly say that for some reason most of the peope in sc are nicer....more of that "southern" hospitality we northerners always hear about. However when I have been in NC...i've actually had people give me a weird look and instantly ask, "are you from up north?!" when I say I sure am its down hill from ther! I know...sounds silly to say the least...and thats what I thought too. Well I wish you and your family could have enjoyed the warm weather here longer than you have been able too. I wish you the best!
The first chance of a job in NY that I get, I will be there but I have to point out NC is not all of the desolate, plastic wasteland that it is made out to be. Other towns exist here besides Raleigh and Charlotte.
Chapel Hill, Winston-Salem, Wilmington, Hickory, Boone, Blowing Rock, and Asheville are all gorgeous towns that have a lot to offer! They are also a lot nicer than most towns in NY and have a really good feel to them. Minimal traffic and plastic housing too
Well, to tell you the truth, and this is probably going to come as a shocking thing to say. But, White people, assuming you're White, are not designed for living in the Tropics or climatic regions that border on the Tropics. The South is tropical or temperate-subtropical. The Portuguese, Spanish, French, British, and Dutch colonizers were not designed for and could not cope with the harsh sun on their "white" skin! That's the main reason Black slaves were used by all these 5 European nations in their colonies. Not to get into a slavery argument by any means. Just stating facts. The Portuguese, Spanish, and French colonizers, invaders, and settlers really took a hard one when they settled the extreme Equatorial Tropics as well. Their lighter skins was no match for those extreme hot, sunny regions! The same went for the British and Dutch settlers and invaders to hotter, sunnier climates. Why do you think skin cancer is vastly more numerous in White people than in Mixed or Black people? So I can understand you when you say it's miserably hot in the South. However, it can be gotten used too more or less. You'll never be genetically capable of it in it's entirety, but you can get sort of used to it, especially if born and raised here. If you don't like it, can't or refuse to handle it, then move back North! Simple as that! You knew the South was hot, muggy, and sunny for much of the year! Again. If people don't like the South for whatever reasons, then please leave! I wouldn't want somebody in my house that really didn't want to be there in the first place! And by-the-way, it's Rod Serling, not Sterling, just to let you know. Y'all have a good'n!
African slaves were imported because of the very high death rate among Whites to malaria in the tropics and sub-tropics. White indentured servants were used in the south and West Indies, but they died to rapidly. Africans on the other hand could withstand malaria - although the downside to having the ability to resist malaria for African-Americans is sickle cell anemia.
African slaves were imported because of the very high death rate among Whites to malaria in the tropics and sub-tropics. White indentured servants were used in the south and West Indies, but they died to rapidly. Africans on the other hand could withstand malaria - although the downside to having the ability to resist malaria for African-Americans is sickle cell anemia.
That I did not know. We learn something new all the time. I agree with you as well. But also Blacks do withstand heat and especially strong sun much more so than Whites. Again, that, and as I just learned, coupled with malaria resistence, is the reason why Whites such as the Portuguese, Spanish, French, British, and Dutch brought over Blacks as slaves. I don't call Blacks African Americans though. Not all Blacks on Earth are of African descent nor are all Africans Black. Many Africans are White or Mulatto. Therefore using Africa as a moniker or synonym for Black is not reliable at all.
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Actually it was because of Malaria.
