In my South, we put a lot of ice in our sweet tea, and think that no meal is so bad that a good biscuit can't make up for it.
In my South, old people can say pretty much what they want, and no one will stop them.
In my South, strangers in oncoming cars wave "Hey" to each other.
In my South, we don't spend much on weddings (no dancing or drinking), but we'll go bankrupt over a funeral.
In my South, we put our eccentrics right on the front porch where everybody can see them.
Ain't that the truth! I remember, once, when I was stationed in South Carolina, I was having a terrible day and nothing would make it better. I was driving my car with the A/C out in the mild of August and mad as hell at the entire world. A young lady in her late teens was walking on the side of the road. As I passed her, she smiled and waved at me. I had to turn the car around and thank her. She made my day bearable and she didn't care that my and her skin color didn't match.
I like the South.
And we give our "special" people jobs that they can do and make them part of the community. Many do not draw disability for being "special."
Where I grew up we had a couple of such people. Percy mowed everybody's lawns and lived with his family and loved reading "The Grit." Donnie was the retarded twin of a "normal" brother...back before there was a PC term for mental retardation. When he got older he was put to work at a local barbeque place washing dishes and helping with the cooking. These kind of people are part of what makes our communities unique.