Preponderance of Southerners!

Subject: Fwd: Fw: The South

This was written by Robert St. John, executive chef and owner of the Purple
Parrot Cafe, Crescent City Grill and Mahogany Bar of Hattiesburg, MS.

Thirty years ago I visited my first cousin in Virginia. While hanging out
with him and his friend, the discussion turned to popular movies of the day.
When I offered my two-cents on the authenticity and social relevance of the
movie Billy Jack, one of the boys asked, in all seriousness, "Do you guys
have movie theaters down there?" To which I replied, "Yep. We wear shoes
too."

Just three years ago, my wife and I were attending a food and wine seminar
in Aspen, Colo. We were seated with two couples from Las Vegas. One of the
Glitter Gulch gals was amused and downright rude when I described our
restaurant as a fine-dining restaurant.

"Mississippi doesn't have fine-dining restaurants!" she insisted and nudged
her companion. I fought back the strong desire to mention that she lived in
the land that invented the 99-cent breakfast buffet.

I wanted badly to defend my state, my region, and my restaurant with a
15-minute soliloquy and public relations rant that would surely change her
mind. It was at that precise moment that I was hit with a blinding jolt of
enlightenment, and in a moment of complete and absolute clarity it
dawned on me -- my South is the best-kept secret in the country.
Why would I try to win this woman over? She might move down here.

I am always amused by Hollywood's interpretation of the South. We are still,
on occasion, depicted as a collective group of sweaty, stupid,
backwards-minded, racist rednecks. The South of movies and TV, the Hollywood
South is not my South.

This is my South:

My South is full of honest, hardworking people. My South is the birthplace
of blues and jazz, and rock n' roll. It has banjo pickers and fiddle
players, but it also has BB King, Muddy Waters, the Allman Brothers, Emmylou
Harris and Elvis.

My South is hot. My South smells of newly mowed grass. My South was kick the
can, creek swimming, cane-pole fishing and bird hunting.

In my South, football is king, and the Southeastern Conference is the
kingdom.

My South is home to the most beautiful women on the planet.

In my South, soul food and country cooking is the same thing.

My South is full of fig preserves, cornbread, butter beans, fried chicken,
grits and catfish.

In my South, our transistor radios introduced us to the Beatles and the
Rolling Stones at the same time they were introduced to the rest of the
country.

In my South, grandmothers cook a big lunch every Sunday, so big that we call
it dinner (supper comes later).

In my South, family matters, deeply.

My South is boiled shrimp, blackberry cobbler, peach ice cream, banana
pudding and oatmeal cream pies.

In my South people put peanuts in bottles of Coca-Cola and hot sauce on
almost everything.

In my South the tea is iced and almost as sweet as the women. My South has
air-conditioning.

My South is camellias, azaleas, wisteria and hydrangeas.

In my South, the only person that has to sit on the back of the bus is the
last person that got on the bus.

In my South, people still say "Yes, ma'am," "No ma'am," "Please" and "Thank
you."

In my South, we all wear shoes... most of the time.

My South is the best-kept secret in the country.

Please continue to keep the secret... it keeps the idiots away

I have no idea what you're talking about.

Edited by ASA22 2005-08-04 10:28 AM

Warmer climate = longer season = more triathletes.....

You are making me sooo hungry!

And oh ya, you convinced me. Sounds fantastic. :)

Edited by newbiedoo 2005-08-04 10:43 AM

We have a few Floridians on BT but Florida is not really a Southern state. We are far too diverse and our population consists of millions of transplants. We do have rural pockets and anything in the panhandle is Southern.

This user's post has been ignored.

My south is:
GA Bulldog Football
ATL Braves Baseball
GA Tech Basketball
and
ATL Thrashers Hockey (yes, we have hockey)

Thought so.
BTW, aside from NASCAR - which I will never understand - I've always been interested in southern culture.
Although my Govenor can kick your Govenor's ass.

My south is high school football and Dixie youth baseball
Sandbars at low tide and calm days in the gulf stream
Oyster roast before the Super Bowl and Sunday dinner at our house
Sand gnats for tourist control and front porches
Kids who say Maam and Sir Please and Thank you

Do I ever think about the north. Yep, they have the ski resorts, white water kayaking, Ivy league, Military Acad. and people who talk funny.

I once new knew a young fellow from NY who was stationed here in Beaufort who would proclaim "youse guys talk funny".

In my south only two professional sports teams are acknowledged..
The Braves and the Saints..

My South has Puh-cahns. not pee-cans.. those are for truckers.

My south doesn't pronounce "ing"... ever..

In my south we are always "fixin" to do somethin..

Ya'll are always welcome to come to my south.. even move to and live in my south.. but if you don't like it... move back or stop complaining about it.

We are one in the same...the only thing I disagree with is the baseball. I love the Astros. LOVE the Saints (not the 'Aints) and dont get me started on pee-cans. That makes me cringe.

WHO DAT??

p.s. you know there is no way that anything in texas is in the south?? But i guess i'll still let you follow the astros...

OK, Lee. This is no doubt going to be a conversation between you and me, becasue I really doubt there are a lot of other Georgia Southern graduates here. But what is it with Bulldog football fans that went to Southern? Maybe it's because I was raised a Gator fan in Florida and therefore have a healthy repulsion of all things read and black, but isn't our football team good enough for you? We've won 6 National Championships in the last 20 years, at the highest level where a legitimate national champion exists. I guess it's probably being born and raised a Bulldog fan, but I was a Gator fan and we're no less ravenous... What's the deal-i-o?

Though neither one of them can probably successfully spell "ass."

New England born and raised, but will hopefully die somewhere here in God's Country Wisconsin, buried deep wrapped snugly in an aged brick of cheddar...

Better to be a cheesehead than a FIB (or so I've been told).

Um, Will, You must be forgetting the Cowboys and those 5 Superbowl rings.

As Tony Horwitz said, "The South is a place. North, east and west are just directions."
I won't ever move to a place where there isn't the possibility of riding a brand new bike on Christmas day wearing shorts.

Hey Joel!  You must have some extra time today at work- lol!

Your Gov: aaayyysssz
My Gov: arurse

The who?
Is that who Michael Jordan played for??

Those cowboys have come and gone.  Luckily, they left the cheerleading uniforms behind, still the best part about the Cowboys!

Ok, you can make the same argument for California so how come so few Californian's post on BT?

Are you southerners just more chatty? Is it all those burritos your eating? Are ya'll really just hanging around on poorches in the sultry heat with a mint julip in one hand and a mouse in the other?