8 ms·

You ever been with someone with a strong southern accent in the north? I heard them called "hick" and "redneck" any number of times, and a black man said (dire

You ever been with someone with a strong southern accent in the north? I heard them called "hick" and "redneck" any number of times, and a black man said (direct quote) "I ain't helping no racist" when he was asked (politely) for directions.

kenjackson 16y ago
You ever been with someone with a strong southern accent in the north? Not sure if DC is considered the North or not, but I had some friends from Florida visit me in DC. No one called them "hick" or "redneck", but honestly their accent was so strong that I don't think it would be identified as southern. Sometimes I literally couldn't understand what they were saying. But they also dressed about as sharp as anyone I know... that probably fights some of the stereotypes. But don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that the North is the most welcoming place in the US either. I simply think your perception of the hospitality of a region is not something uniformly agreed upon. For example, I'd find a Confederate flag or Swastika offensive, and not welcoming. Whereas I'm sure others would rationalize the postive aspects of their respective histories and not find them offensive in the least.
- sedachv 16y ago
  One of the best experiences I've ever had was dressing up as a Confederate general with very prominent Dixie flags for Halloween in NYC. I spent the day walking around Manhattan. People (mostly white middle-aged women) went out of their way to tell me how offended they were. I told them to "think of the heritage." I'm not American (well, I sort of am, long story), so to me it was both instructive and hilarious. What was really interesting in hindsight is that none of the Brooklyn hipster transplants at the parties I went to that night thought anything about it.
kareemm 16y ago
Reminds me of the time I was visiting South Carolina from Montreal. I was in a gas station waiting to pay when I overheard two guys talking in the thickest southern accents imaginable. I couldn't hear what they were saying and I chuckled to myself at how much they sounded like dumb hicks. It was only when they got closer did I hear that they were talking about nuclear physics. It was a good reminder about judging books by covers, etc.
- vacri 16y ago
  I was in a shop when I heard the lilting strains of a woman with an Irish accent at the next table over. Being quite partial to an Irish accent, I decided to eavesdrop and sate my desire. The first words I heard her say once I 'tuned in' - and I swear this is true - were "potato potato potato". I had to leave the shop quite quickly for fear of losing my composure :)
StavrosK 16y ago
On a thread about how Americans are good and kind people, you attempt to justify the behaviour of the Southerners but only show that there are rotten Northerners as well. In any case, these negative comments are a bit irrelevant, because it only takes one person who's willing to spit on you to say "we got spat on there, so people are rotten", but the vast majority has to be kind to you for you to say "we were treated well there, people are kind". I went to San Francisco and saw many helpful people, I saw a few people who didn't care either way (the bus drivers didn't bother to reply to my "thank you"s or "hello"s) and a guy on the bus shoved me and shouted because he judged that I wasn't giving him enough space. On average, people have been much nicer to me in London, but I wouldn't say people in SF suck because of that one guy on the bus. There were kind people there as well.

kenjackson 16y ago

You ever been with someone with a strong southern accent in the north? Not sure if DC is considered the North or not, but I had some friends from Florida visit me in DC. No one called them "hick" or "redneck", but honestly their accent was so strong that I don't think it would be identified as southern. Sometimes I literally couldn't understand what they were saying. But they also dressed about as sharp as anyone I know... that probably fights some of the stereotypes. But don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that the North is the most welcoming place in the US either. I simply think your perception of the hospitality of a region is not something uniformly agreed upon. For example, I'd find a Confederate flag or Swastika offensive, and not welcoming. Whereas I'm sure others would rationalize the postive aspects of their respective histories and not find them offensive in the least.

sedachv 16y ago
One of the best experiences I've ever had was dressing up as a Confederate general with very prominent Dixie flags for Halloween in NYC. I spent the day walking around Manhattan. People (mostly white middle-aged women) went out of their way to tell me how offended they were. I told them to "think of the heritage." I'm not American (well, I sort of am, long story), so to me it was both instructive and hilarious. What was really interesting in hindsight is that none of the Brooklyn hipster transplants at the parties I went to that night thought anything about it.

kareemm 16y ago

Reminds me of the time I was visiting South Carolina from Montreal. I was in a gas station waiting to pay when I overheard two guys talking in the thickest southern accents imaginable. I couldn't hear what they were saying and I chuckled to myself at how much they sounded like dumb hicks. It was only when they got closer did I hear that they were talking about nuclear physics. It was a good reminder about judging books by covers, etc.

vacri 16y ago
I was in a shop when I heard the lilting strains of a woman with an Irish accent at the next table over. Being quite partial to an Irish accent, I decided to eavesdrop and sate my desire. The first words I heard her say once I 'tuned in' - and I swear this is true - were "potato potato potato". I had to leave the shop quite quickly for fear of losing my composure :)

StavrosK 16y ago

On a thread about how Americans are good and kind people, you attempt to justify the behaviour of the Southerners but only show that there are rotten Northerners as well. In any case, these negative comments are a bit irrelevant, because it only takes one person who's willing to spit on you to say "we got spat on there, so people are rotten", but the vast majority has to be kind to you for you to say "we were treated well there, people are kind". I went to San Francisco and saw many helpful people, I saw a few people who didn't care either way (the bus drivers didn't bother to reply to my "thank you"s or "hello"s) and a guy on the bus shoved me and shouted because he judged that I wasn't giving him enough space. On average, people have been much nicer to me in London, but I wouldn't say people in SF suck because of that one guy on the bus. There were kind people there as well.