I walked in on interesting conversation today, about the differences between northerners and southerners. I'd just walked over to Jepson Hall, where the rest of my Information Services buddies are. I go over once a day to take care of business (check snail mail and discuss projects with counterparts) and to say hello.
Lee and Lisa were discussing how folks from the north view and treat people from the south. In retrospect, I'm not sure how the conversation got started, since they seemed to be in agreement when I arrived.
Lisa made the point that many people from the north hear the southern accent and assume that the person speaking with the accent is uneducated. She recounted a particular story of a gentleman from Boston who made such an assumption, who subsequently paid a Richmond firm (where accents were evident) Boston rates for a job (about three times the going rate for said work in Richmond).
I am, as a old acquaintance of mine once put it, a "naturalized" southerner. Born and raised in Pennsylvania, I came to Richmond in 1981, rude and crude. It was over than a year (more like three) before I began to comprehend southern culture. I could have understood it sooner, I just wasn't paying attention (typical Yankee).
Up north, it seems you go about your business and stay out of everyone else's. You put up barriers of a sort to protect what's yours. That perception may be the result of big city living, but there are lots of big cities up there. Down here (and I mean south of Washington, D.C.) there's more a sense that people can be civil with one another, getting their business done while being pleasant. There's no need to get in someone's face, even if that person is rude.
Both sides have their extremes, of course. Northerners who are abrasive as a rule and southerners who prefer to back out of an argument to avoid difficulty. And, of course, all of these observations are grossly overstated. Relationships are matters of degrees and nuances, and in the end these stereotypes are probably more a reflection of the observer than the observed.
Still, I prefer to live close to the Mason-Dixon line between these two perceived extremes. I'm very issue-oriented, which can make me seem abrasive (just ask Jean, or most of the people at work). But I do believe that life is best lived graciously, and I hope that I am learning after all these years.
Wonderful rain today. Several times today while working in my office the wind and the rain outside stole my attention. The rain came back from time to time, with short periods of no rain but strong winds. When I walked from Maryland Hall to Jepson Hall, the rain had stopped but the blustery wind almost knocked off my hat. Moments later, it stormed again.
listening: Weekend Classics: Weekend Favourites (Various Artists); Spinner.com
reading: e-mail catch up!; The Hobbit (Bumpy's Bedtime Book)
© 1999 Kevin J.T. Creamer