Flip-Flop Mentality

My daughter and I were talking about the difference between living in the Northeast and living in the South. We both recognized the Northeast is very up-tight, rush-rush, grumbly and loud place – as a group. It seems like they’re always on edge about SOMETHING and more than happy to impose their views on the rest of us because they think they know everything and are right about everything.
Southerners, on the other hand, have a much more laid-back approach to life. Southerners have an easy-going approach to almost everything, laugh a lot, take their time and ‘smell the roses,’ and KNOW Northeasterners don’t know a whole lot and don’t care to have anything imposed on anyone.
My daughter claims it’s the result of Southerners wearing ‘flip-flops’ that makes the South so much more laid back. We’re talking about those rubber soles held on by two pieces of plastic or fabric you wear to the beach or the pool – not the flip-flops of John Kerry fame. Nowadays people wear flip-flops everywhere when the weather is warm enough in the South – and that’s more that half the year for most of us. Her argument is that flip-flops FORCE people to slow down or lose a shoe. You can’t run in them – the next best option being to take them off and run barefoot. And when you’re forced to slow down because your shoes won’t stay on, your whole life starts to slow down. You simply have more time to ‘smell the roses’ because you’re going by them more slowly and have more time to take them in.
My daughter also claims no doctor or scientist will ever verify her theory because we’re talking about a shoe not a drug. Everyone knows researchers are interested in controlled substances for controlling behavior. Flip-flops would be considered a ‘home remedy.’
So… as the Northeasterners take their prescriptions to control their stress, the South has a prescription of their own that has nothing to do with pharmaceutical companies and costs less than most co-pays… flip-flops.

Loving The South

In looking at some of the blogs I’ve put out there on The South you’d think I hated my time in the South. Nothing could be further from the truth… I love it here. I have seen most of the United States and a lot of the world and I’d say we have a very nice chunk of all that is good in the world right here.
The people here are the best. Let me give you some examples… and YES, I know there are exceptions to every rule, but for the most part Southerners PROVE the rules…
Most people in The South are good people who would ‘give you the shirt off their back’ if you asked them. They’re good, hard-working, intelligent people who like to live and play hard… as a generality. Despite what you hear outside The South about the people here being small minded or backward, nothing could be further from the truth. It’s a misconception based on a post-Civil War South that has been washed out over the years. Even the people who were around during the Civil Rights days are either old or dead and the people who have replaced them are some of the more progressive thinkers in the country when it comes to race relations. Is it perfect? No. Could it be better? Sure. But in MY experience I have found The South to be one of the less prejudiced areas of the country. There’s more integration, acceptance and inter-racial couples than anywhere else in the country. The Northeast was EXTREMELY polarized on race by comparison. They talk a good game up there, but they make The South look two centuries ahead in their REAL thinking. The Northeast is still locked into an ‘us versus them’ mentality. In The South that is being blotted out by an ‘all of us’ mentality. And the areas that seem to reflect the polarization of the Northeast the most are the big cities like Atlanta. Where people WANT to retain the ways of the pre-Civil Rights era you’ll find that kind of thinking. Where people want to move on… they have.
Sorry, California, I know the Beachboys thought California Girls were the best, but they MUST have been talking about transplanted Southerners. There’s nothing like the women of The South. Whether they are natives or if they came from somewhere else and have melted into The South, they are great. They smile, they’re generally friendly, they get sun most of the year so they have that nice complexion, they get more exercise so they’re fitter than women from The North and they seem to love life. And that includes their sports. I’ve never seen women who love their sports the way Southern women do. You’d think they were men. And I mean that in a good way…
Then there’s the weather in The South. Let’s face it, anyone who’s been through a winter… or forty… in The North knows how nice it is to be in The South where they don’t even own snow removal equipment. If we get one of those freak snowstorms do you know what they do?? They wait for it to melt off. It’s like a holiday!! Don’t go out and shovel off your driveway, go out and try to have a snowball fight before it melts off!! And generally it’s melting as it’s falling!! Since the kids rarely get a ‘snow day’ like the kids do up north the schools are quick to let the kids off when there’s a dusting out there. I can remember days when it was snowing up north and we’d have several inches and they STILL would go to school.
And we’re ALL close to a beach. No matter where you are in The South you’re pretty close to good beaches. There are some spectacular beaches in the northeast, but the water NEVER GETS WARM. Not the case in The South. The water warms up in March in Florida and stays that way until October. Okay, for four months you have water that’s only as warm as northeast water in July, but for the rest of the year… WOW!!
So, just to put your mind at ease about how I feel about The South… I love it here. Don’t look for me to move back to The North unless you force me there at gunpoint!!!