Posted on 01/24/2013 6:23:56 PM PST by FoxPro
I have lived in Las Vegas and Los Angeles for the past 5 years.
I drove down to Huntsville, Alabama to work on some software, with a friend of mine.
I have never been to the "deep South".
I have been here for 24 hours.
It is really a bit of a culture shock after spending a day sorting things out, here.
Everybody is "Yes Sir" and "No Sir" with people differing to you with "Am I in your way?" and "Can I help you find something?"
Well, this is exactly what happened to me today.
I sat down to get to work, on my computer and the battery in my mouse dies.
I move my mouse and the arrow is just there, not moving.
It always happens at the worst of times.
So I drive down to Kroger's grocery store, walk in, stand there, trying to figure out if I should turn left or right, in my hunt for the "Battery Center".
Well this very large man walks up to me, he is wearing a Kroger badge and below his name it says "Manager".
He intones "Can I help you?"
I said, a bit jaded "Yes, I need ONE AA battery, but I know I will have to buy a 12 pack, but that's just the way things go."
He motions me over to a check stand, grabs a 4 pack of AA batteries, tears it open, pulls out one battery, hands it to me and says "Merry Christmas."
I am stunned...
DO YOU REALLY THINK THIS WOULD EVER HAPPEN ANYWHERE IN LOS ANGELES? Really?
The guy made my day and it is a seemingly small gesture, I will never forget.
But this guy knows I will probably spend $100 or more, at this Kroger's, in the next few months, than I would have otherwise.
He knows that this small act of kindness will be recouped many times over in the near future.
This gentleman knows all about not being "Penny wise and pound foolish."
I think I will like being an Alabamian.
Re: Christmas
My company has offices in a number of states, among them Texas and California.
In Cali nobody dares say merry Christmas or even happy holidays.
In Texas everyone says merry Christmas, and refers to all the holidays by their proper name. Easter also.
I’ve died an gone to heaven :)
(yes, am in Texas now)
call the store!
You can call someone anything
as long as you end with
“Bless Their Heart”
You should probably warn him about the whole hugging thing before he shows up at your church.
I'm sorry, but that was funny. Because it's true! lol
SFran is the exact opposite. It is one of the rudest areas in the US.
You've hit on an unpleasant fact of life here. SF Bay Area people tend to see children as optional accessories to their lives.
That is So wonderful!! If I could tolerate the COLD, I definitely would consider WI. GO PACKERS!!!!! (Our FAVORITE NFL team. - Don’t ask “why” as it is a family secret. :-)
Most of California was like that before we were inundated by New York and east coast college students during the Viet Nam War. They got their deferments, hung on in our low-tuition state colleges, and stayed after graduation. The California culture has suffered ever since.
Like the store manager in this story, which I totally believe. Yet there was a level beyond which we did not go. It may not seem to make sense in the context here, but it does to me; and I call it "honor."
I sometimes trash southernors here for hypocrisy and thin skins, but the underlying fault is not living up to your heritage. Y'all should do and be better.
Welcome to the south. Kick your shoes off and stay a while.
Well, it’s Ma’am....but I’m not pickin’. I’ll PM you a place near me that’s worth the drive.
I got a smoked pork loin from a butcher in the Texas hill country last month for under $9.
“SFran is the exact opposite. It is one of the rudest areas in the US.”
Of course, and if your life was an ongoing pain in the a$$, you’d be rude, too.
"They're courteous, open doors, you sneeze they say bless you," Chris Gamell, of Dallas, said.
A Jackson, Miss., man said he was a bit skeptical of what he would see in this "cow town," but he said he was converted after spending a couple of days here.
"Everybody's been awesome!" he said.
Read more: http://www.kshb.com/dpp/news/local_news/mlb-declares-kc-one-of-the-best#ixzz2IxJXeWgO
Have you tried the boiled peanuts yet?
Bible-believing Christians, of whom there are many in the Bible belt, are blessed to be a blessing. Never deny them/us our blessing!
But these were really big!
It is pretty cool being in the South. Zero stress, very easy lifestyle, nothing rushed, people are much slower and willing to have a basic life. It is probably the way everyone should be.
No, where do I go for this?
Yes indeed. I am in rural CT and the people here are very friendly and would help a stranger in a minute.
In the old days they were known ‘goober peas’.
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