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.
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.
Not to mention that flip flops are much easier to put on so that at any moment a good southerner can rush out the door to help a neighbor, while up north they have to take the time to lace up their shoes first-or often risk losing a few toes to the cold!
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