North vs. South - is there still a "conflict" there?

[Luv2Scrap]

Would you mind sharing WHERE in LA your ex lives?
If his parents live by YOU-doesn't that make HIM an outsider too?

I think there are ignoramouses anywhere you go-BTW

He lives in Morgan City. When I lived there with him, we lived in New Iberia first, then just outside of Lafayette.

yes, he's a "transplant", went down there to be a commerical diver. So he hangs out with lots of other transplants, but he has also made friends with some local people as well.

LOL on the ignoramous comment - that could certainly describe my ex, if that's who you meant (probably not, after reading it again. But it still applies!) - there were definite reasons why I left him!

 

[traviesojmt]

I don't think your going to find much problems anywhere. There are still a few places in the rural-rural areas that might crack a joke about Yankees but not really mean any harm. I think the hardest place to move would be Alabama...they are still behind in current times of thinking last time I visited there...that's not everybody but there are some. Like I said go to a place that has a great demographics range and you'll be fine...plus nobody has better hospitality in the world than the South and I'll argue that point all day long...

Now, see, we moved to AL last year from CA and have found the people to be extremely friendly. I haven't noticed that the people seem behind the current times here. We have lived all over the country, from MA to CA to AL and we have found AL to be among the friendliest. We have a hard to pronounce Cuban last name and will get comments on pronuniation, but never in a rude way. It is usually just interest in the unknown.

You will find rednecks and ignorant people in every state in the Union. It is not confined to the south. You will also find kind, generous and welcoming people in every state. Many times, you get what you put out. When we move, we understand that it is up to us to adapt to our knew surroundings and not make everyone else adapt to us.

 

[okeydokey]

A few more things you can start doing now to help with the culture shock:

- learn to drink sweet tea (nectar of the gods)
- Give me some sugar does not mean that sweet granuled stuff you use in sweet tea.
- learn to eat shrimp cooked a bazillion different ways
- boiled peanuts are the best
- crawfish are not just bait anymore
- start telling your children to be sweet
- also women at least 20 years older than you are Miss Lucy or Miss Helen. Same concept with men, Mr. Frank, Mr. Albert

Anymore you can think of southerners?

The bolded part is the only thing I disagree with. I never learned to liked boiled peanuts, and never will!

One more, it's not a car accident, it's a car wreck. Oh, and high school football is the sport to follow.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

I moved from the suburbs of NYC to the suburbs of Houston and back and forth again when I was a kid. I never had any problems in either place. People in both locations occasionally joked about my accent, but it was never mean spirited. People in NY often assumed that we had a ranch, cattle, and oil wells in Houston (sorry, just a regular suburban house with a few head of dogs and cats). People in Houston often assumed that I lived in a cramped, dirty apartment in the city (sorry, just a regular suburban house).

The only incident I recall was when my very shy sister was severly dress down by a teacher in New York because she called her "ma'am." Apparently that was considered derogatory there while it was consider a polite for of address in Houston.

 

[BelleWDW]

He lives in Morgan City. When I lived there with him, we lived in New Iberia first, then just outside of Lafayette.

!

Dh deals with lots of customers in Southern LA & I have to say , Morgan City really has some "rough" type people there(according to him from things one really good customer has told him-labor problems, very unsafe areas etc)-so I can see what he is saying.

 

[snapppyd]

A few years ago my DH's cousins were thinking of moving from NYC to North Carolina. He is a doctor and she is a nurse. When they took a tour of the hospital the woman showing them around told them "I was 21 before I knew damn Yankee was two words".

 

[Luv2Scrap]

Welcome to NC! We have great places to visit & better places to live. We have the gorgeous Blue Ridge Mountains and beautiful beaches and lots of great places in between. Hope you enjoy your visit!

Thank you! I am looking forward to the visit!

 

[clarabelle]

I know more people in my southern town from "up north" than I do natives.
They seem pretty happy.
I agree with pp -there are "rednecks" all over the world and there are nice people all over the world.

 

[Luv2Scrap]

A few years ago my DH's cousins were thinking of moving from NYC to North Carolina. He is a doctor and she is a nurse. When they took a tour of the hospital the woman showing them around told them "I was 21 before I knew damn Yankee was two words".

That's great!

It won't bother us to be Yankees (or even damn Yankees ) at all - it would only bother us if people were mean about it, like they really hated us!

 

[tzolkin]

The only people I was friends with - who wanted to be friends with me - were from New Jersey, Illinois, etc. Once the "native" (for lack of a better word) parents found out we were Catholic and I let my son read Harry Potter, all hell broke loose. I suddenly became a Damn Yankee.

I hear more times than I care to remember, "Damn Yankee! Go home!" I was also told I was going to hell for being Catholic. People from the local churches started showing up on our doorstep trying to "school" us in the right way to be a Christian. One group of people even had the nerve to stand right in front of my husband as he was on the lawn tractor, trying to mow our grass. They started spouting Bible verses at him and tried to debate the Bible. What they didn't know is my husband went to Catholic school from first through twelfth grade. He sent one lady in the group home, crying!! She couldn't keep up with him. "Christian" became a four letter word to us. Religion is sooooo much different there than in the North.

This was similar to our experience as well. We did not have too much of an issue for being "Yankees", but the Catholic thing was often a sore subject. I can't tell you how many times I've been told that I'm going to hell, that I worship Mary, am a cannibal, etc. When my mother started homeschooling my younger siblings she tried to join a few local homeschooling/moms groups-- that did not go well. Obviously, this was not all southerners (the majority of people I knew were lovely) but I have never experienced such religious intolerance anywhere else.

(We were pre-Harry Potter, but my parents were awful because they allowed their children to watch Disney movies. )

When my DH moved to NY to marry me, he was relentlessly teased by some of his friends and a few refused to speak to him because they were convinced he was going to become a Yankee. None of them came to our wedding, most because they would never visit a Yankee state. The funny thing is we live in a very poor rural area of central NY where everyone farms and listens to country music that these guys would find more appealing than the overly commercialized built-up areas their "southern" town has become.

 

[tzolkin]

The only incident I recall was when my very shy sister was severly dress down by a teacher in New York because she called her "ma'am." Apparently that was considered derogatory there while it was consider a polite for of address in Houston.

I still can't figure this one out. I've had several people annoyed that I called them ma'am. Usually they take it as being called "old"

I don't say it all the time, but I'll say "Excuse me, ma'am" or something if I don't know the person's name. I think it's more rude for them to yell at me for calling them "ma'am" than it was rude for me to call them "ma'am" to begin with. What's the prefered address? "Hey you"? I also get annoyed when people tell you off for calling them Mr./Ms./Mrs. I always thought that's the polite way to address some one you're not well acquainted with.

 

[hentob]

If you have the time, here is an interesting thread from the NC City-Data Boards::

http://www.city-data.com/forum/north-carolina/693834-word-yankee.html

 

[brerrabbit]

I know more people in my southern town from "up north" than I do natives.
They seem pretty happy.
I agree with pp -there are "rednecks" all over the world and there are nice people all over the world.

Hold the fort ya'll! we gotta stop this use of the word Redneck in a negative connotation. I am Southern by birth and more specifically a sixth generation Texan. Where I am from the word Redneck is something that a great number of folks take pride in. I have been referred to numerous times as a redneck in a non deregoitory way. Even though I have a graduate degree, hold a professional job and am a very respectable person in most ways. However both my parents were born and raised on farms, and were the first generation to move to the city. A lot of my family still lives in the "country" and are the nicest people you would ever want to meet. They don't have a discriminating bone in their body and are considered rednecks.

I think the proper way to phrase it is that there are ignorant and hateful people everywhere. Not that there are Rednecks everywhere.

Sorry but I just had to point that out.

As far as Houston goes, you would never be picked on for being from somewhere else as we are considered probably the most diverse city in the nation. We have large populations of just about every ethnic and racial group you can think of and just elected a gay mayor. Actually as a northerner or non southern person you probably fit in better around here than I do as a native. I am in the significant minority.

 

[pjb0216]

Speaking as a lifelong rural NC resident, I just don't see those issues where we are at. First of all, with all the moving around people do, there are very few lifelong residents that even live in this area to begin with. My ds's school is full of children from different states and countries for that matter and it never has been an issue. We are a small town, but because the schools are popular we have people that have moved in from all over. Honestly, I think my kids only have one friend each who was even born around here.

 

[Goofycampers]

I live in a rural southern town which has a lot of northern transplants...mostly retirees. People here would never ridicule or be mean to anyone because they were from the north, especially a child. The problem comes from northerners who come to live here with an attitude that southerners are stupid or other such stereotypes and try to tell them the way is done up north. That doesn't go over so well and we DO refer to these folks as "cranky Yankees". But this is just a tongue in cheek reference and people here are really nice to everyone. I am not from this area but have been a southerner my whole life. We don't live far from Atlanta and it is such a large city that I'm sorry but I just buy that someone was treated bad there because they weren't from the south. I don't buy it. The poster that said that should really examine their situation and be honest with themself about their own attitude. If you move to the south and make disparaging remarks about accent, or the way southerners do things or what we eat then you're asking for attitude imho.

 

[ead79]

I can only speak from my own personal experience having lived in a suburb just north of Atlanta my entire life. I have NEVER seen anyone be picked on for being from the North. The only thing I've ever seen is good-natured joking about silly things like how wrong it is to prefer Pepsi over Coke. Seriously though, I can't imagine that you would have a problem. After all, the South is known for its hospitality. I will admit that my experience is based on living in a major metropolitan area, but I don't think you'd be likely to encounter any discrimination around here.

As far as the religious issue goes, Protestant churches are certainly more prevalant around here. However, there is a HUGE Catholic church not far from my own church, and tons of people attend there. I've never heard anyone be bashed for being Catholic vs. Protestant.

The South is made up of many transplants these days, so you would not be the only non-local, that's for sure! Maybe it's our milder winters that makes the South so appealing. Of course, Chick-fil-A and sweet tea might have something to do with it too!

If I'm being totally honest, I think that some folks (not most, but a handful) move to the South and are very bitter at having left the North. Those folks sometimes say stuff that is very insulting--constantly complaining about how different everything is down here. To me that's just bad manners, just as it would be for me to talk poorly about where they live.

 

[clarabelle]

Hold the fort ya'll! we gotta stop this use of the word Redneck in a negative connotation. I am Southern by birth and more specifically a sixth generation Texan. Where I am from the word Redneck is something that a great number of folks take pride in. I have been referred to numerous times as a redneck in a non deregoitory way. Even though I have a graduate degree, hold a professional job and am a very respectable person in most ways. However both my parents were born and raised on farms, and were the first generation to move to the city. A lot of my family still lives in the "country" and are the nicest people you would ever want to meet. They don't have a discriminating bone in their body and are considered rednecks.

I think the proper way to phrase it is that there are ignorant and hateful people everywhere. Not that there are Rednecks everywhere.

Sorry but I just had to point that out.

.

I stand corrected. I have no issues with farmers or southerners -I come from a long line of them as well.

 

[SaraJayne]

I'm sorry to hear that. I heckle my friends for different things, including the way they talk, but they rib me right back. No one gives it a 2nd thought, it's all in good fun.

I hate to hear that it was a serious thing for you. i don't know anyone like that.

Thanks. It was a long time ago and didn't scar me too badly (), though at the time, it soured me a bit on the south.

I've since met many lovely people from the south and traveled from Texas to SC and people have been very friendly and gracious.

I must have just gotten lucky with those few in Atlanta.

 

[mvazul]

If you move to the south and make disparaging remarks about accent, or the way southerners do things or what we eat then you're asking for attitude imho.

As far as the religious issue goes, Protestant churches are certainly more prevalant around here. However, there is a HUGE Catholic church not far from my own church, and tons of people attend there. I've never heard anyone be bashed for being Catholic vs. Protestant.

If I'm being totally honest, I think that some folks (not most, but a handful) move to the South and are very bitter at having left the North. Those folks sometimes say stuff that is very insulting--constantly complaining about how different everything is down here. To me that's just bad manners, just as it would be for me to talk poorly about where they live.

About the attitude - I have to agree, you get what you give. However, in our situation, we tried to be as nice as we could and were still treated as an outcast. However, I think alot of it had to do with the fact we inadvertently got involved in a family battle when we bought our piece of land. That had nothing to do with whether we were nice or not. And my son certainly didn't deserve to be beaten up in school or on the bus for it.

I wasn't talking about Catholic vs. Protestant. There was not a single Protestant church in our area. And the closest Catholic church was over an hour away. No, I was talking Southern Baptist. A whole different "animal" altogether.

 

[GoofyBaseballMom26]

As a born and bred Southerner I can tell you first hand that the accent issue goes on within the Southern boundaries. When I moved from AL to TN you would have thought I moved from another country.. Everyone I talked to wanted to know where I was from!

I will say though that depending on where you live, religion does play a big part in everyday life. In the small town I lived in near Knoxville, heck we are Methodists and you would think we are heathens. The Baptists are deep rooted around here.

But honestly.. the biggest issue I've encountered is the fact that I'm an Auburn graduate in TN VOL country...... Pick the right SEC football team to follow and you will fit in perfectly!!!

BTW... WAR EAGLE!!!!!!!!!!!!