Help for Newcomers to the Deep South

Hello Everyone!

If you are going to move into the Deep South from anywhere else, here are some tips:

1)  Yes, we are as friendly as we appear.

2)  A southern accent does not equal a low IQ.  It’s not our fault that national news media like to show our most ignorant on TV.

3)  “Y’all” means you and those immediately surrounding you, as in “It’s great to see y’all!”   “All y’all” means you and your household, regardless of whether they are there at the moment, as in “All y’all need to come over to our house sometime for supper.”

4)  Do not make fun of us when we are shivering in sweaters at 50 degrees.  You will need us when it is 98 degrees with 100% humidity.

5)  Do not immediately begin to tell us how much better things are done wherever you came from.  You are the person who chose to come here.

6)  Do not be offended when someone asks you to church.  You can say no, after all.  We are the Bible Belt and to not ask you to church is downright unneighborly.

7)  If you move here during the gloomy, rainy Dark Days in late December, January and February, take heart!  By the end of March, the Southern Spring Show will leave you breathless.

8)  College football is a second religion down here.  Live it, learn it, embrace it, enjoy it.

9)  If you are running low on self-esteem, go to Wal-Mart on a crowded Saturday.  You will feel better.

10)  Remember that your accent sounds as funny to us as ours sounds to you.

Have a great day!

Nancy