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?

[blackbirdphleps]

We also say "thank you", "you're welcome" , hold doors open, and help little old ladies across the street

The old ways aren't dead in the South. A male is still taught to treat all females like a lady.
If a male in the South tries to hurt a female in public.
Look out!
Cause no true Southern will sit by and watch a male try to hurt a female.

[Charles Martel]

Ever had a woman get mad at you for opening the door?

I feel a Jerry Clower joke coming on. ;-)

[Labyrinthos]

Never, ever smells like an open latrine.

Savannah, Jacksonville, and Norfolk do smell pretty bad.

[Charles Martel]

It was neither a "Civil War," nor was it a "War of Northern Agression."

True enough; there was plenty of aggression on both sides. My favored name for the war is "The Late Unpleasantness".

[blackbirdphleps]

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?

Well she had to be a Yankee gal cause a Southern gal just smiles and says thank you.

[webstersII]

?You must be one of those polite, respectful southerners that I?ve been reading about.?

That?s correct. And I save my polite, respectful attitude for those who deserve it, not people who have to improve their poor self-image by looking down on others. Where I grew up, people don?t have an attitude like the one you display for long because someone will give them an attitude adjustment. Then those people become much more pleasant to be around.

The cities you think are so great have lots of great things about them, such as entertainment and restaurants, but they also have lots of downsides, too (BTW, if you think NYC doesn?t stink, just walk around any of the areas where the restaurants put their trash on the street; in the summer it reeks around those places!).

I?ve traveled to most of the premier cities in this country and Europe. Some people don?t want to live in a big city like NY. Their idea of a great place to live is more oriented toward family and a quiet evening at home. Maybe you think that makes them poor, dumb, and backward, but that just shows how little class you have.

[Little Ray]

and say "yes ma'am," and "no ma'am," and use the signals when we turn, change lanes or exit, and ...

[Labyrinthos]

I?ve traveled to most of the premier cities in this country and Europe. Some people don?t want to live in a big city like NY. Their idea of a great place to live is more oriented toward family and a quiet evening at home. Maybe you think that makes them poor, dumb, and backward, but that just shows how little class you have.

You obviously haven't read my post very carefully on this topic. I haven't critcized anyone for the choices that they have made nor have I refered to any person or group of people as second class simply because they have decided to live in a second class city, the near burbs, the far burbs, or the top of a mountain all by their lonesome. If anything, I've been attacked because I like to work late, and eat late at restaurants that serve a cusine a few notches above Chicken Licken and the Waffle Barn, and because I like art museums (one of your southern gentlmen responded that I'm a sissy as a result of my love of art). I love the big cities where I can walk all day and see something new and different at every street corner. I love cities because of the great choices in food, drink, entertainment, sports, cultural events, and accommodations. I love cities because of love people and that's one thing that cities have a lot of. But unlike you, I have not criticized a single poster for choosing a different life style. And BTW. I don't live in NYC anymore. I live in the far burbs on a large piece of land, with a trout stream and a bass pond and lots of turkey, deer, coyotes, and an occassional bear. But I live close enough so that I can travel in and out of the city with and ease and continue to enjoy all it has to offer.

[webstersII]

?But unlike you, I have not criticized a single poster for choosing a different life style.?

That?s true, you haven?t criticized. But what you have done is made fun of the way that people live and looked down on them. Maybe that?s okay where you are from, but I was taught that that was called being a snob.

[honeygrl]

"The point is, your definition of "first class city" is not universally accepted. If you want to believe that some of the overpopulated, festering ratholes that you adore are "first class", then that is your choice. Other people might have very different ideas about the qualities that make up a fine city, such as: "Never, ever smells like an open latrine". "

That is a great point. My definition of a first class city would rely more on beauty than what restaurants are open in the middle of the night. We have a lot of beautiful cities in the south with clean streets and nice people.

[honeygrl]

"Savannah, Jacksonville, and Norfolk do smell pretty bad."

I don't know about Jacksonville or Norfolk, but Savannah has a paper mill (i think that's what it is) which causes the smell. It's not really something they can fix.

[najida]

Erm,
Stone Container closed and what used to be Union Bag has downsized tremendously. The filters have taken out the smell.

Really...it is quite pleasant here.

[honeygrl]

" (one of your southern gentlmen responded that I'm a sissy as a result of my love of art). "

That is likely because if you see a southern man in an art museum or at a play, it's usually because his female drug him there against his will.

[honeygrl]

"Stone Container closed and what used to be Union Bag has downsized tremendously. The filters have taken out the smell. "

I haven't been there since I was very young and hadn't heard about that. I do remember when I was little and visited relatives there that the smell from the mill had gotten into the water and my relatives had to have bottled water for us all to drink rather than city water. Has that part been fixed as well? I've been trying to get the hubby to take me to Savannah for a while to visit. I remember it being a beautiful place when I was young. I have relatives in Savannah and Hilton Head. One of them use to own an exotic pet store (selling things like tigers and monkeys for Hollyweird types to train for movies, or so my nanny told me when I was little) but I think she closed it years ago.

[najida]

Guess I am biased, but it is gaw-geous here hunny.

The water is chlorinated, but no different from city water anywhere else I have been. The spanish moss is back, the air smells pretty normal. River Street is loaded with tourists, the historic district is beautiful and there are gobs of wonderful restaurants.

Come on down!

[honeygrl]

"The water is chlorinated, but no different from city water anywhere else I have been"

It was probably around 20 yrs ago when my nanny took me there. I was about 5 I think.

[Labyrinthos]

But what you have done is made fun of the way that people live and looked down on them.

I haven't even done that. Maybe the problem lies with the premise of the original article that was posted that suggested that southerners are more agggressive and thin-skinned than their northern counterparts.

[Labyrinthos]

I don't know about Jacksonville or Norfolk, but Savannah has a paper mill

I think its the papermill and the brackish water near the mouth of the Savannah River. Norfolk's smell comes from the ship yards, a large landfill, and the brackish and swampy water that surrounds the area. I can't figure out why Jacksonville smells.

[Labyrinthos]

So what you are saying is that southern men are afraid that art and culture will sour their masculinity?

[webstersII]

So you haven?t made fun of people and looked down on them? Try these for a sample:

?I like to work late, and eat late at restaurants that serve a cusine a few notches above Chicken Licken and the Waffle Barn,?

?Some people don?t work 9 to 5 jobs or depend upon ?Wheel of Fortune? for their nightly entertainment.?

?We need plays and museums so that our wives and girlfriends have something to do while were are at Yankee
Stadium, Shea Stadium, Giants Stadium, and the Continental Arena, watching big-time, major league sports,
and I don?t mean the demolition derby and sack racing contests.?

I understand that you like to eat at nice restaurants and do cultural things. It might surprise you to know that I do, also. I?ve eaten at some of the finest restaurants in San Francisco, Atlanta, Chicago, New Orleans, etc., and I?ve seen alot of good theater in lots of different cities. But I don?t tell you that and then compare it to what others like to do in a demeaning way. That?s why I say you act like a snob. If it?s not your point to show that you are more cultured, more refined, and therefore, above others, then you might want to find another way to express it.

Anyway, I'm content to let others on this forum decide what they think about this subject. It?s apparent that neither of our opinions will be changed with more of this discussion.