Things I like about the South - Seriously!

In my last post I kinda did a little Arkansas bashing, which is easy, because Arkansas is probably the least cool state in the United States (unless you're being literal, then I'd have to say Hawaii). But picking on Arkansas is like picking on a socially awkward kid -- fun, but not very nice. I don't want to give the impression that I'm ashamed of my roots as a Mid-Western kid who moved to Dallas, Texas when she was ten. But I consider Dallas to be my true home town (Sorry Mom!) and have adopted many Southern cultural traits as my own.

The first, is the use of "y'all"* as a plural form of "you." Yes, I know that "you" is both singular and plural, but it's so confusing. Say, for instance, you (singular in this case) walk up to a group of people and say "Hey, you want to go to the store?" Now, do they know if you're talking to all of them, or just one of them? Because if they don't , things could be socially awkward quickly (like the said child in the above paragraph, but I digress). Therefore, "y'all" helps eliminate such awkwardness because it's clear that you are referring to all of them.

Second, I love real Southern barbecue! Dry rub, smoked, vinegar based, ketchup based, throw it all at me and I'll fill my tummy! I could probably eat barbecue every day and not get sick.

Along with barbecue, goes sweet tea! Aww, there is nothing better on a hot day then relaxing with a tall glass of sweet tea.

I could go on and on about good ol' Southern cooking, but I'm getting hungry so I need to move on.

Socially, something I like about the South is that Jesus=Cool! Now, that does has some problems of it's own, but it's nice to be able to talk about my faith without hearing 1: How dare you try to impose your belief system on me! or 2: Well, I'm glad Jesus works for you (you [singular] ignoramus) but I'm all set.

Along with the whole "We're all Christians (well, socially anyway)!" is the famous Southern Hospitality, which includes potluck lunches, big dinner parties, lots of sweet tea, and plenty of good, clean fun involving dice (Bunco) and cards (Spades) but no gambling!

I also like Southern Pride. We may have lost the War of the Northern Aggression (haha, I'm so just kidding. About the name of the Civil War, not that the South lost.) but we're not going to let that get us down! It's fun being a part of something bigger than yourself, even if it's something hokey like "Well, Texas could still be considered a Republic ..."

Finally, I like it because the South is a part of me. It's where I came from. But, now that I'm here up North, I'm ready to make it also a part of me. I don't know if I'll ever find a good substitute for sweet tea and y'all (maybe yous guys?), but I'm definitely ready to drop the whole debate over whether Texas can still legally secede from the Union. Plus, clam chowder is DE-licious!

*Now, there is some disagreement among users as to the correct spelling of the contraction, "you all." Y'all, Ya'll, Yawl, Y'll, and Ya'all are all variations, but each carries the same denotation of "you plural."