From Down Here
I love the South.
No, really.
We're stupid, we're backwards, we talk funny, we don't like fancy words, we don't wear seatbelts or motorcycle helmets, we kill each other, we want religion in our (horrible) public schools, we don't want anyone telling us what to do with our land, we don't like taxes, we don't have up-to-date roads, we don't care much for professional sports, we pledge our love to a university whether we never finished high school or not, we aren't vegetarians, we're fat, we can't drink beer on Sundays, we have beaches, we have mountains, our weather is splendidly hot, our winters drop just enough snow to make it novel, the only train we ride is an Amtrak to another state, we can't imagine warm tea and we have no idea what a toll both is.
Yes, I love the South.
But being in Chicago for this past extended weekend made me see my homeland and heritage from a different perspective.
We here in the South are always overcoming something -- something that regions like the Midwest and West have already overcome because they aren't as stubborn as we are.
I realized that while I love the place that is all I know ... it's painfully, pathologically, stubbornly, forever fighting off history that it refuses to leave behind.
What it must be like to be free of that, where those who came before us said, "Screw this provincial, caste-obsessing stew of passive-aggressive defiance: Let's head West."
I will always hold a torch for the dysfunctional culture of the South (because that's just what we're supposed to do). And I will defend it to the end, with a strangely superior air of "yeah-tell-me-something-I-don't-already-know-that's-fucked-up-about-where-I'm-from."
But, deep down, relunctantly, I know that these Midwestern folk have an open, accepting perspective borne of a willingness to change that we can only hope will rub off on us if only slightly.
Once we get over ourselves.
9 comments:
SC (and the south) is a great place to live, as long as you can get out once and awhile, and see that, yes, we are still a touch backwards.
I grew up in the north and moved to the south about 9/10 years ago. The adjustment was rough. I've learned to accept and even love southern living. But it still bugs me when I see bubba trucks decked out in rebel flags.
if it weren't for the south there'd be no southern rock and i'd never have learnt to play guitar.
The rebel flags in trucks don't bother me. Usually, it doesn't mean anything you should take to be offensive.
Although, I understand that is a touchy subject.
the flag is one of those things where i can see why it bothers people (particularly those directly affected by its symbolism), but at the same time the idea of it doesn't much rile me.
i usually consider the source on those flag displays. i think the problem is just the unfortunate nature of blind racism we see here. it's institutional. at the same, in a lot of ways, we all get along a lot better down here than a lot of outsiders think.
dan ... i'm glad to hear you got something from the south. you'd probably like it here -- except the education level probably isn't as consistent.
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the south doesn't sound that different from the english north, apart from the weather perhaps. southern rock taught me a lot about the politics of the place. the history there is quite deep.
as for education, the standard is consistently low in the north, at least at secondary education (11-16) level. those who want to learn either discover libraries or give up hope. sadly, usually the latter.
dan
I really like the way you write. You have talent, my friend. And that picture is great. I was in Chicago last November, I think it's a beautiful city.
a fine post sir
thanks, cindy.
simon, you probably know a good deal about regional differences ... as in world regions.
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