# My roommate knows (and doesn't know) the weirdest things **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 6, 2009, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roommate-knows-and-doesnt-know-the-weirdest-things/495496 "2009-05-06T01:42:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2009, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roommate-knows-and-doesnt-know-the-weirdest-things/495496/61 "2009-05-06T18:54:44Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#): > > Even Wikipedia would do. How about Nancy Pfotenhauer’s comment about “real Virginia” being “more Southern in nature”? Clearly she didn’t consider Northern Virginia to be Southern at all. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2009, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roommate-knows-and-doesnt-know-the-weirdest-things/495496/62 "2009-05-06T18:57:00Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Liberal, perhaps- but are you really suggesting that Cleveland is more cosmopolitan than Savannah? Yes, actually, but my comment stands either way. ---
**Author:** ![not\_alice](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_alice/32/7283_2.png) [@not\_alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_alice)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2009, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roommate-knows-and-doesnt-know-the-weirdest-things/495496/63 "2009-05-06T19:02:31Z")
> [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > He thinks Northern Virginia is part of the South, despite a 19-year resident thereof (me) repeatedly telling him it’s not. Heh. This 19 year resident of Maryland says “not so quick”. I know it is increasingly urbanized, but it is surrounded by “the South” to the north, east, south and west. In modern day Maryland and Virginia, both south of the Mason-Dixon line, there are sections and people which are “south” all over the place. They are sprinkled all over, and the distribution varies by location. You might be more persuasive if you say there are fewer elements of the South in Northern VA than in the rest of the state instead of denying it completely 🙂 Even that would be a only a relatively modern trend, there is the weight of history there too (which weight differs mightily from Maryland right across the Potomac I might add) ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2009, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roommate-knows-and-doesnt-know-the-weirdest-things/495496/64 "2009-05-06T19:09:41Z")
> [@filling\_pages](#): > > Are there Waffle Houses in N. VA? Is sweet tea the default tea option? Grits or cream of wheat? Virginia is a Southern state, like it or not. There are Waffle Houses in Maryland (techically more northern than Virginia), mainly in the northeastern counties (Harford and Cecil). Sweet tea is often the default here. I would suggest that Maryland is a border state, not Virginia. Sure, it has its cosmopolitan areas, but much of Maryland has a definite southern flair. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2009, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roommate-knows-and-doesnt-know-the-weirdest-things/495496/65 "2009-05-06T19:12:38Z")
> [@not\_alice](#): > > I know it is increasingly urbanized, but it is surrounded by “the South” to the north, east, south and west. Wait, are you saying DC is the south? > [@not\_alice](#): > > You might be more persuasive if you say there are fewer elements of the South in Northern VA than in the rest of the state instead of denying it completely 🙂 And that would be less accurate. In the 5 counties and 5 cities included in the Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia [Metropolitan Statistical Area](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Virginia#Defining_.22Northern_Virginia.22), I seriously doubt there’s much more than a small trace of Southernness left. At Christmas, I spent time with my brother, sisters, brother-in-law, and parents, all of whom have more or less spent at least the last twenty years in Northern Virginia, and I told them “My roommate claims that Northern Virginia is not part of the South.” (I misspoke, obviously) Every single one of them exclaimed “It’s not!” ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2009, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roommate-knows-and-doesnt-know-the-weirdest-things/495496/66 "2009-05-06T19:14:05Z")
> [@filling\_pages](#): > > The real question, regarding Virgina’s region, is what do they eat? Are there Waffle Houses in N. VA? Is sweet tea the default tea option? Grits or cream of wheat? Never heard of Waffle House, never had sweet tea presented as an option, and nobody I knew ate either. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2009, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roommate-knows-and-doesnt-know-the-weirdest-things/495496/67 "2009-05-06T19:14:32Z")
> [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > How about Nancy Pfotenhauer’s comment about “real Virginia” being “more Southern in nature”? Clearly she didn’t consider Northern Virginia to be Southern at all. Another opinion does not qualify as a citation for the first. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2009, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roommate-knows-and-doesnt-know-the-weirdest-things/495496/68 "2009-05-06T19:16:55Z")
> [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > Wait, are you saying DC is the south? Well, it is below the Mason-Dixon line. > [@](#): > > I seriously doubt there’s much more than a small trace of Southernness left. At Christmas, I spent time with my brother, sisters, brother-in-law, and parents, all of whom have more or less spent at least the last twenty years in Northern Virginia, and I told them “My roommate claims that Northern Virginia is not part of the South.” (I misspoke, obviously) Every single one of them exclaimed “It’s not!” If search is working, look for a few recent threads on this topic. Virginia is southern; so is Maryland. Go to some of the rural areas in Maryland (the eastern shore, the northeast counties, far western MD), and you’d swear you were in Kentucky. ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2009, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roommate-knows-and-doesnt-know-the-weirdest-things/495496/69 "2009-05-06T19:21:48Z")
I once had a roommate who thought Austin was in “the South” as well. He just would not believe me when I told him it is really a suburb of Los Angeles. I mean come on, sometimes people can just be so ignorant. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2009, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roommate-knows-and-doesnt-know-the-weirdest-things/495496/70 "2009-05-06T19:27:18Z")
> [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > Never heard of Waffle House, never had sweet tea presented as an option, and nobody I knew ate either. It sounds like you walk around with your eyes and ears permanently closed. I’ve seen many Waffle Houses & had a bunch of sweet tea in Northern Virginia. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2009, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roommate-knows-and-doesnt-know-the-weirdest-things/495496/71 "2009-05-06T19:28:30Z")
> [@BiblioCat](#): > > If search is working, look for a few recent threads on this topic. Virginia is southern; so is Maryland. Go to some of the rural areas in Maryland (the eastern shore, the northeast counties, far western MD), and you’d swear you were in Kentucky. Neither state is a monolithic whole. The rural areas are more Southern in nature, and the urban areas are very much not. Northern Virginia is not rural in any way, and hasn’t been for a while. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2009, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roommate-knows-and-doesnt-know-the-weirdest-things/495496/72 "2009-05-06T19:29:19Z")
> [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > Never heard of Waffle House, never had sweet tea presented as an option, and **nobody I knew ate either.** Bolding mine… really? You know all the places at which your friends and family have eaten? You know for sure none of them have been offered sweet tea in a restaurant? Color me skeptical. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2009, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roommate-knows-and-doesnt-know-the-weirdest-things/495496/73 "2009-05-06T19:29:28Z")
> [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > No, it isn’t. Most of Virginia is Southern, but several of the counties in the north are extremely cosmopolitan and liberal, OK, now I have to object on behalf of the South in general. Are you intending to imply the impossibility of the suburbs surrounding Atlanta (for example) being cosmopolitan and liberal? I think you are confusing “The South” with “The Rural South” which are two very different descriptions. ---
**Author:** ![filling\_pages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9bd4f/32.png) [@filling\_pages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filling_pages)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2009, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roommate-knows-and-doesnt-know-the-weirdest-things/495496/74 "2009-05-06T19:30:49Z")
> [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > Never heard of Waffle House, never had sweet tea presented as an option, and nobody I knew ate either. Really? Honestly? Well, if you’re at VTech in Blacksburg, there are two Waffle Houses within 20 miles of you and another three or four within an hour’s drive. And if you are saying that you have never eaten somewhere that sweet tea is offered, I’m thinking you don’t eat out much. And no one you know eats grits? I just flat find this whole statement hard to believe. But really, those specifics were just my way of asking, in a joking manner, if traditional southern foods and chain restaurants strongly associated with the south are commonly found in N. Virginia. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2009, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roommate-knows-and-doesnt-know-the-weirdest-things/495496/75 "2009-05-06T19:36:20Z")
> [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > Never heard of Waffle House, never had sweet tea presented as an option, and nobody I knew ate either. Rubbish. I’ve spent three days in Northern Virginia (Alexandria) and saw two Waffle Houses in that time. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2009, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roommate-knows-and-doesnt-know-the-weirdest-things/495496/76 "2009-05-06T19:36:54Z")
> [@BiblioCat](#): > > Bolding mine… really? You know all the places at which your friends and family have eaten? You know for sure none of them have been offered sweet tea in a restaurant? > Color me skeptical. No, actually, I wasn’t saying that at all, though I can see how you would read it that way. I was talking about grits vs. cream of wheat. > [@filling\_pages](#): > > Really? Honestly? Well, if you’re at VTech in Blacksburg, there are two Waffle Houses within 20 miles of you and another three or four within an hour’s drive. And if you are saying that you have never eaten somewhere that sweet tea is offered, I’m thinking you don’t eat out much. And no one you know eats grits? I don’t eat out much, true. Nobody I ever knew before college ever mentioned eating grits. > [@filling pages](#): > > But really, those specifics were just my way of asking, in a joking manner, if traditional southern foods and chain restaurants strongly associated with the south are commonly found in N. Virginia. As far as I know, they’re not, at least not nowadays. > [@Labrador Deceiver](#): > > It sounds like you walk around with your eyes and ears permanently closed. I’ve seen many Waffle Houses & had a bunch of sweet tea in Northern Virginia. Where? The outskirts of what I consider Northern Virginia do have some Southern influence. > [@RNATB](#): > > Rubbish. I’ve spent three days in Northern Virginia (Alexandria) and saw two Waffle Houses in that time. When was that? ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2009, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roommate-knows-and-doesnt-know-the-weirdest-things/495496/77 "2009-05-06T19:44:38Z")
There’s a Waffle House in Dumfries, which I think is Fairfax County. . . and really, have you tried the Tastee 29? Of course, there’s also the fact that Wawa now has a location in Fredericksburg . . . As for sweet tea, I like mine unsweetened. Most restaurants can provide it, but I have to ask. About three years ago the McDonalds near me stopped keeping it, they only have the syrupy stuff. I do recall once in Rural New Hampshire I asked for iced tea in a restaurant and the waitress looked at me like I was crazy. She had no idea what I wanted. Northern Virginia is the best of both worlds. Some companies I have worked for have held us in the mid-atlantic region, others in the Southern region. It’s always a toss-up. What we are not, is an agriculture-based society, so if that’s your definition of the South, you have your answer. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2009, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roommate-knows-and-doesnt-know-the-weirdest-things/495496/78 "2009-05-06T19:47:07Z")
> [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > When was that? This past December. You can search for my MPSIMS thread on getting engaged/visiting DC if you like. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2009, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roommate-knows-and-doesnt-know-the-weirdest-things/495496/79 "2009-05-06T19:48:32Z")
> [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > Where?? Falls Church & Alexandria. I’ve had sweet tea numerous times in both places. I can’t remember the locations of the Waffle Houses, but I know there are several north of Baltimore. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2009, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roommate-knows-and-doesnt-know-the-weirdest-things/495496/80 "2009-05-06T20:00:21Z")
For what it’s worth, this is a chat I just had with a friend who’s lived in Northern Virginia for about 25 years: me: a few questions is northern virginia in the south? tcheston: ha nice NO me: have you ever been offered sweet tea in that area? 3:55 PM have you ever seen a waffle house in that area? did you or anyone else you know who grew up in that area eat grits remotely frequently? tcheston: NO No No [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roommate-knows-and-doesnt-know-the-weirdest-things/495496.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roommate-knows-and-doesnt-know-the-weirdest-things/495496.md?page=5)