As someone who lives further south - yes, they do kind of speak for us. Not all of us, but the majority. They’re who we (in my state a least) are more likely vote for - in state legislature, governor’s office, national legislature, and in the presidency. See several state’s recent protections of Confederate monuments (meaning voters can’t vote to take down the ones in their cities, etc.) and how many are fiercely resistant to not having some semblance of the Confederate Flag (well, battle flag/Army of North Virginia flag) as state flag.
Very hot and humid at certain times of the year. Fine if you have AC, but very uncomfortable if you do not. At least if you are not acclimated to it.
We do tend to have better Italian, Chinese, Thai, Indian food and especially bagels in the NY Metro area then the south. Though in all these cases, the closer to Manhattan/Brooklyn the better the food. I have to search for the few excellent bagel places down in my area, great Italian Bread is tough and I can’t find a true egg cream at all. Oh, Edison, NJ area might actually win the Indian food. They may even beat out NYC itself.
Texas and the south win on the list above, what’s kolaches?
People don’t like the south because of Southerners. Up north here we don’t call ourselves Northerners, we just call ourselves Americans. That pretty much sums up the problem.
As a Southerner, I loved living in NJ. While the snow wasn’t the best thing in the world, I loved not having to have AC in the middle of the summer. And while biscuits and fried chicken will always have a special place in my heart (hopefully not in my coronary), I miss the plentiful pizza slices of the North.
The people were nice enough. Some people like all that honey-sweetie-bless-your-heart-god-bless stuff you hear in the South. Meh. Just ring up my order, please.
First of all, I LOVE Southern cooking. Although a thoroughbred Yankee (Cleveland, New England, NYC) I’ve taught myself to make excellent Creole, Cajun, and general SE food. My home made pan-fried chicken is better than any I’ve had in the South save for the Gullah Kitchen roadhouse in Mt. Pleasant, SC, now defunct.
The Ukulele Lady and I got married in 1989 in Charleston, SC, in Washington Square Park. The official said “Y’all want to get married on the Confederate Memorial? Most people do!” We were born in Cleveland and Chicago, so we said “ahhhh no.”
I love N’Awlins oysters because they are cheap and you can slather them with “oyster dope,” mixed personally from ketchup, horseradish, lemon, Tabasco, and black pepper. In the Northeast and the Northwest they are quite dear and take only a squeeze of lemon and a dash of salt.
That pretty well summarizes how it looks to me. Having lived in several sections of the country and travelled a lot in the rest.
Rural ignorance and backwardness is a problem in all 50 states. The problem much of the South has is that either A) the rural is all they have or B) even their cities celebrate their rural roots as the true ideal.
That and overweening evangelical christianity.
The people can be unremittingly sweet. If they think you’re one of them. Otherwise …
Institutional racism, evangelical fundamentalist Christian groupthink, a culture centered around purveyors of an ideology which celebrates the losing side of a civil war that killed upwards of half a million people over a “right” to continue slavery and oppression long after ever other civilized nation had outlawed such, oppressive humidity, tornadoes and sinkholes galore, and poor quality of life metrics across the board. Not to mention the “sweet tea” which is basically slightly colored water with sugar at saturation level and the slow welcoming drawl that conceals a contempt for all things not ‘round here.
On the other hand, there is some great food in Louisiana, and it is difficult to find good pit barbeque anywhere in the areas of the North and West. So, we need to encourage the creole peoples to migrate, and give the rest of it back to the Spanish and British to fight over. Except Florida, which needs to be surrounded by one of those fifty foot high walls that the Trumpster is always on about. Sure, they’re going to lose about two-thirds of their landmass to sea rise and flooding in the next century or so, but that is way too slow and doesn’t provide any gurantee that they won’t work their way up the Eastern Seaboard.
I was born and raised in Buffalo NY and love snow.
I went to boot camp in Florida. The way we marched in formation, I ate at the same table 3 times a day for 12 weeks with the same guys. I was surrounded by Southerners, they would make fun of me for saying “youze guys.” The first time I said conversationally “y’all” they lost their shit.
So y’all talk funny for one thing.
And grits are awful, and okra is so wrong. Who the hell eats lawn clippings? But sausage gravy over biscuits is a food of the Gods. Then there’s the chicken varieties, and pulled pork is really great too.
Ok, so this born and bred Yankee will say “Bless your little hearts.”
(And the genre of Southern Gothic. Us long time lurkers enjoyed the hell out of Samprios amazing stories. I was away a long time and wonder about the potential book of his worked out)