I've wandered down from the porch and to the nearest Wal*Mart because (let's face it) they do have the best prices. And as I bumped around the crowds with my cart, I couldn't help but notice how dayum polite everyone was.
Me: "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to crush your child with my cart!"
Shopper: (in a southern lilt) "Don't you worry about that! A little Bactine will fix that right up. Merry Christmas, y'all!"
I say it *used* to perplex me because I was observing my mother the other day when folks came over on Christmas. Now, she was born and raised in the south and has the ability, as I put it, "to invite a tornado in to 'set a spell'."
For example, this couple dropped by I know she didn't particularly care for. "Come on in!" she said. "Don't be silly, y'all just go'on have another piece of that pie!" she gushed. "Oh no! Do you have to go?" she says. Then once the door was closed behind them? "I never thought they'd leave!" she hissed. "Can you imagine the NERVE of them showing up here? And then to eat like pigs!"
Taught me a valuable lesson about people: Culture can mask a lot of things. Be aware.
- Farmer Ted
1 comment:
So during the American Idol interviews in Alabama, when Randy and Simon told some of the contestants that they sucked, and they replied "thank you", they really meant "screw you"?
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