Southerners Know How to React

NewsMax.com ^ | 07/30/03

[Phantom Lord]

Southerners Know How to React

Watch out who you call a nasty name - he might be a Southerner, and y'all will be in a heap o' trouble.

Southerners, it seems, are brimming over with cortisone and testosterone, and they tend to be quick on the trigger. That's according to eggheads at the University of Michigan, where shrinks wandered down corridors bumping into students and calling them names.

Students from the South reacted far more violently and aggressively than those from the North, and "in tests regularly suggested more belligerent solutions to problems," writes Britain's Spectator magazine.

At the root of it all is the nearly vanished concept of honor, which appears to be thriving south of the Mason-Dixon line.

The Michigan experiments demonstrated that Southerners "retain two vital aspects of the old honour system: a high degree of sensitivity to insults and a tendency to respond with violence and aggression," according to Spectator.

That sounds reasonable - except how does it explain Bill Clinton, Al Gore, John Edwards and Jimmy Carter?

[AgentEcho]

I'm French, Irish, and Native American (okay Indian). That all makes one BIG Texan. That explains my attitude at least...

Æ

[Hatteras]

That is Paw Rugg and his boy Shagg on the Hillbilly Bears. Paw was noted for mumbling everything he said. When he got mad, he'd mumble and then you'd hear the word 'shotgun' followed by more mumbling. One of my old personal favorites.

[1Old Pro]

where shrinks wandered down corridors bumping into students and calling them names.

This was not a scientific study. The story leaves out that the "shrinks" were all wearing "DEAN for President" hats.

[Clint N. Suhks]

How about St. Louis, New Orleans, Jacksonville, Tampa, Charlotte…

[southern cross forever]

GOT THAT RIGHT ;-)
DIXIE PING!

[azhenfud]

"That's according to eggheads at the University of Michigan, where shrinks wandered down corridors bumping into students and calling them names."

Dumb rascals. What do they expect when they kick em on the shins and call em names? They won't come down here and say or do that! They'll get their butts kicked 'till their noses bleed.

BTW, I see U2 are passive also.

[Clint N. Suhks]

How about St. Louis, New Orleans, Jacksonville, Tampa, Charlotte…

[stainlessbanner]

< adding to your list > Austin, Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville, Charlotte, Columbia, Memphis, Baton Rouge, Miami (gasp), Savannah, Charleston, New Orleans, Birmingham.....and the many other beautiful, conservative small towns across the South.

Perhaps they are not AAA rated "first class" cities, but they surely have first class people!

[babyface00]

Perhaps the term "first class cities" needs to be defined.

[wardaddy]

You could have chosen a better choice of words....what you really mean is "walk-around city centres" like NYC, Chicago, Philly, or Boston or even SF on the Left Coast.

The closest we have to that is New Orleans and we will doubtfully ever have more than that due to the type of expansion we have that is not so concentrated.

The issue is more cultural than topographical or even climatological. We are primarily Scots-Irish-Anglo-Huguenot and of course Black. There is some credence to the Roundhead (Yankee) vs Cavalier (Southern) dichotomy. Further, the influx of other Europeans into the North from the early 1800s onwards which was not mimicked down here contributes.

In the South, one usually does not talk aggrressively to one another or act meanacing unless prepared to fight. It is considered bad form and is a social more that crosses nearly all class, racial, or ethnic lines.

I had a place in manhattan for nearly 8 years and love the city but now at 45, I am much more provincial and would not tolerate the hassles and rudeness as well as I did then. I have found however that Yankee gals tolerate Southern chauvanism rather well if conducted with a sense of humour. The irony is that they would never tolerate such behavior from their local boys.

I think Colombus Ohio has pretty women.

[wardaddy]

Texans are Southern provincialism on steroids....and justifiably so!

We are glad to have ya'll.

[Labyrinthos]

Yes, and I've even been to Houston, Atlanta, and Raleigh. They are nice places to visit, but they are not first class cities. The streets in the downtown areas are virtually empty after 7:00 p.m. at night. With the exception of Buckhead, try getting a decent meal after midnight. There is no theater district to speak of (i.e. theaters showing first run dramas and musicals as opposed to the on-the-road versions), and the art museums have to borrow the best stuff from the museums in the first class cities. Public transportation is cute, but not necessarily effective, and the nightlife often ends before the night begins. And while even the cities you name have great restaurants, they are few and far between as compared to real cities.

[stainlessbanner]

My theory is "those Yankee gals" don't know how to act around a Southern Gentleman. Ever had a woman get mad at you for opening the door?

[Leatherneck_MT]

No, you have to be FROM that area so designated.

You sir, are either a Damn Yankee or a G** Damn Yankee depending on whether or not you intend to stay in Virginny :o)

[Pyro7480]

Yeah, that's why I said it because it is the neutral answer (as a student of American history, there are definite pro/con arguments for each side in the conflict). Delaware was asked to secede by a Confederate delegation, but decided to not join the Confederacy (we were the first state to ratify the Constitution, but one of the last to leave if we had). Delaware sent men to both Northern and Southern armies though.

[Labyrinthos]

adding to your list > Austin, Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville, Charlotte, Columbia, Memphis, Baton Rouge, Miami (gasp), Savannah, Charleston, New Orleans, Birmingham.....and the many other beautiful, conservative small towns across the South. Perhaps they are not AAA rated "first class" cities, but they surely have first class people!

The combined population of all of those cities is less than half the population of New York City. As you say, they are small towns with first class people. But they are not (except perhaps for Miami), First class cities.

[annyokie]

Thanks for the ping and Tom Petty, too!

[Pyro7480]

I've gotten both answers, so I guess it depends. In your view then, I'm a "damn Yankee," though my state is technically south of the Mason-Dixon line. ;-)

[sgtbono2002]

It was the "War of Northern Agression"

[sickofthehandouts]

The streets are empty after 7 because we all have jobs and have to get up early.

A decent meal---Waffle House is open all night with sweet tea and grits. Try'em you might like it.

Finally if you don't like the south take stay the fuck out of our 2nd rate cities with low crime rates and polite people lest you become the next ass kicked victim.