Regional Traditions

[Skip2MyLou]

NO one I know here in the south, purchases milk or eggs before a storm. Don't know who is doing this, maybe people who have never been through one. The first things to disappear are bottled water and batteries. Never mild or eggs.

Originally from Michigan and been in Tennessee for 10 years. Every time there is snow forecasted, there is a run in milk & bread. Not heard of eggs tho. Schools are usually cancelled just based on the threat of winter weather.

I've asked my MIL why they do this. She says its just how it is, and how it's always been.

FWIW, I have only experienced 3 snow storms here in the last decade. All less than 6". It completely cripples this area for 1-2 days, but we have never lost power. Temps usually return above freezing by 2 days & snow melts. One of the biggest reasons I love living in the south!

Something else I just thought of. Snow cream. I had never heard of it before moving here but every time it snows here people talk about making snow cream.

 

[scrapquitler]

I live in CT. You need the eggs, milk and bread in the snowstorm so you can make French Toast for breakfast if school is cancelled. That's why! It's just what my Mom always did...when school had a delayed opening or cancellation due to snow, she always made a big breakfast with French toast, and I still do the same...I think everyone else does too!

 

[tajz90]

If a hurricane was cold, I'd buy milk too We had an ice storm once in my lifetime. Lost power for days. We put all of our freezer/fridge contents outside on our porch!

 

[mhsjax]

Originally from Michigan and been in Tennessee for 10 years. Every time there is snow forecasted, there is a run in milk & bread. Not heard of eggs tho. Schools are usually cancelled just based on the threat of winter weather.

I've asked my MIL why they do this. She says its just how it is, and how it's always been.

FWIW, I have only experienced 3 snow storms here in the last decade. All less than 6". It completely cripples this area for 1-2 days, but we have never lost power. Temps usually return above freezing by 2 days & snow melts. One of the biggest reasons I love living in the south!

Something else I just thought of. Snow cream. I had never heard of it before moving here but every time it snows here people talk about making snow cream.

True, that would make perfect sense in the snow, you can just put that milk out in the freezing temps.. lol. But we all know how blasted hot it gets after a hurricane down here, just nasty.

 

[mhsjax]

I live in CT. You need the eggs, milk and bread in the snowstorm so you can make French Toast for breakfast if school is cancelled. That's why! It's just what my Mom always did...when school had a delayed opening or cancellation due to snow, she always made a big breakfast with French toast, and I still do the same...I think everyone else does too!

Sounds good, but I assumed the poster was talking about for hurricanes, because he was asking people from the south. Maybe not.

 

[Skip2MyLou]

True, that would make perfect sense in the snow, you can just put that milk out in the freezing temps.. lol. But we all know how blasted hot it gets after a hurricane down here, just nasty.

My apologies, I assumed turn the page was talking about a snow storm since s/he mentioned snow in their post, not hurricanes.

 

[mamacatnv]

I lived in Reno, NV for 20 years - Huge pet peeve of all the locals is the way the TV, the media and those not in the know pronounce Nevada.

Its: Ne VA da not Ne VAH DAH

We have t-shirts and bumpers stickers that correct the pronunciation

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

See this is where we disagree. I do not believe just tacking a ma'am or sir on the end of something automatically makes it polite. She may have said no ma'am but she was still throwing a temper tantrum which is not good manners no matter how many ma'ams she tacked on.

Good grief. IT WAS A JOKE! Of course it is virtually impossible to have manners when you are having a tantrum.

Lighten up, folks! It was just a cute story, not meant to be literal. Two year olds throw fits, no matter where they are from, and this little southern sweetie added "ma'am" onto hers. I think it's adorable.

Very cute story!

This exactly. For the others, I have one thing to say:

Yes, it was a cute story. What I interpreted the story to mean was that her DD may have been throwing a temper tantrum but she said ma'am several times so that meant she was displaying good manners while she threw the fit. Yes, 2 year olds throw fits, it's just the nature of that age group.

My point was that it isn't good manners simply because she said ma'am. From what I'm reading some people from the south believe you are automatically being rude if you don't tack ma'am or sir on to the end of the sentence but you are being polite if you do. I was just pointing out that is not always the case.

I was giving you the benefit of the doubt earlier, but I think you actually look for things that aren't there is other posts. It was just a joke. Saying "ma'am" is so ingrained in my daughter that she says it even when she is yelling and disobeying. It made me laugh because we teach it as a sign of respect down here and she was in the middle of a tantrum but still saying it. I thought that was hilarious considering the argument earlier today about manners.

 

[mhsjax]

My apologies, I assumed turn the page was talking about a snow storm since s/he mentioned snow in their post, not hurricanes.

No problem what so ever. I read south and think hurricanes, I know they hit up north also,Sandy, but not as much as down here, so I assumed that Turnthepage was talking about hurricanes. It is all good.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Demolay is the Masonic youth group for boys.

Yup, I remember when I was 15 and a friend got pulled over. The officer wanted to see all our IDs and the only thing I had was my Demolay card

 

[Minnesota!]

Boblo! The boat ride there and back was always as much fun as the day in the park itself. I miss Boblo.

I thought of another one; here we don't "mow the lawn," we "cut the grass." And we don't "edge" we "weed wack."

Cut the grass and weed whack here, too.

Another one I thought of last night - it's "Duck, duck, grey duck" here. I believe everywhere else...it's "duck, duck, grey goose"?

 

[Becky2005]

Cut the grass and weed whack here, too.

Another one I thought of last night - it's "Duck, duck, grey duck" here. I believe everywhere else...it's "duck, duck, grey goose"?

Or just "duck, duck, goose" -- I have never heard of grey duck/goose. Reading your post was the first time I heard of it.

It has always been "duck, duck, goose" here all of my life.

 

[momof1princess]

Also from the south so I relate to alot of this... I'll add

if you ask for tea, it's gonna be sweet & cold. If you don't want it sweet or cold you have to specify as in do you have any Hot Tea or Unsweetened Tea.

"bless her/his heart" is usually an insult or accompanies some sort of judgmental gossip (not proud of this, but it's the truth)

Going "out back" could mean anything within a 10-20 mile radius

pot lucks (described by another poster up thread) are very common.

When you ask for pizza, you don't ask for Pepperoni & Cheese... the cheese is a given.. you just ask for pepperoni

BBQ/grilled IS a verb here... anthing grilled is BBQ'd.

and see, i find that so odd....i was born, raised, and still live in NE alabama, and i've NEVER heard "bless his/her heart" used as an insult. here, it is used as an expression of sympathy. example: "oh, i didn't know your mom had been in the hospital! bless her heart! how is she doing now?"

yes, tea is sweet and cold-if you don't want it that way, you'd better say so up front.

everything is "coke", it doesn't matter what flavor of soft drink it is.

 

[JaneBanks]

Yup, I remember when I was 15 and a friend got pulled over. The officer wanted to see all our IDs and the only thing I had was my Demolay card

I was in a Masonic youth group for girls. It is basically a version of Rainbow and Jobs Daughters (I'm sure you've heard of them) but is only located in New York.

 

[design_mom]

I was giving you the benefit of the doubt earlier, but I think you actually look for things that aren't there is other posts. It was just a joke. Saying "ma'am" is so ingrained in my daughter that she says it even when she is yelling and disobeying. It made me laugh because we teach it as a sign of respect down here and she was in the middle of a tantrum but still saying it. I thought that was hilarious considering the argument earlier today about manners.

I'm not the poster you quoted, but I guess I don't "get" your point either. I'm not trying to be obtuse. I don't think anyone is disputing that saying "sir" and "ma'am" to everyone is a southern thing. The dispute is coming over whether saying "sir" or "ma'am" indicates good manners (and lack of saying so indicates poor manners), or whether it's just "a thing".

In your anecdote (which is cute), you say:

Oh those southern manners...
{snip}
She might have been having a temper tantrum, but gosh darn it, she was going to have manners while she did it.

But, then in your "geez, people, it was just a joke. Of course you don't have good manners when throwing a tantrum" response, you seem to indicate that she says "sir" or "ma'am" whether she's using good manners or not. So, in that case, it seems to lean more to the side of it's just "a thing southerners say," not actually good manners.

Were you being facetious in your first post (that doesn't read very well in text)? I saw the little rolling smiley face, but I originally took that as "isn't my daughter adorable" rather than "isn't that ridiculous that she says it even when using bad manners?"

In addition, regarding a previous poster who was shocked by the poor manners of her daughter's friend who didn't say "ma'am?" when she hadn't heard the question ("ma'am" was "the correct answer," according to that poster.) I agree that "huh?" or "what?" probably wasn't the most polite response. However, I don't see "ma'am?" as being any more polite than any number of other possibilities that don't include "ma'am." ("Pardon me?" "Excuse me?" "I'm sorry, Mrs. Smith, I didn't hear what you said..." etc.) If someone responded "Ma'am" to me in that situation, I would probably have been confused because I would have assumed that "ma'am" was their answer to my question, rather than a request for me to repeat myself.

Not to beat a dead horse, but "ma'am/sir" definitely seems to be a southern thing, but I think some of us are frustrated by southerners patting themselves on the back for their superior manners because they say "sir/ma'am" and other people don't. It can definitely be part of good manners, but just because someone says "sir/ma'am" doesn't mean they have good manners or that their manners are better than another person's.

 

[islandtimect]

I live in CT. You need the eggs, milk and bread in the snowstorm so you can make French Toast for breakfast if school is cancelled. That's why! It's just what my Mom always did...when school had a delayed opening or cancellation due to snow, she always made a big breakfast with French toast, and I still do the same...I think everyone else does too!

The media builds everything up too. Half the time the forecast for CT snowstorms is 1-3 inches, but they talk it up so much, everyone goes crazy buying milk and bread. On the few occassions that we lost power, the milk could stay cold in a cooler in the garage or back deck.

How many days has your school missed this year? We moved to northeast FL over 2 years ago, and DD and I miss the occasional snow day, or delayed opening. Of course you've had more than a few the last few years...

 

[Turn the Page]

Good grief. IT WAS A JOKE! Of course it is virtually impossible to have manners when you are having a tantrum.



I was giving you the benefit of the doubt earlier, but I think you actually look for things that aren't there is other posts. It was just a joke. Saying "ma'am" is so ingrained in my daughter that she says it even when she is yelling and disobeying. It made me laugh because we teach it as a sign of respect down here and she was in the middle of a tantrum but still saying it. I thought that was hilarious considering the argument earlier today about manners.

No, I don't look for things that aren't there. I genuinely don't know what you think that story expresses. You were trying to make the point that good manners and saying sir/ma'am is so ingrained in your daughter that she even says them during a temper tantrum. You said, and I quote, "She might have been having a tempertantrum, but gosh darn it, she was going to have manners while she did it."

What that means is she was throwing a fit but she was still displaying good manners because she said ma'am a lot. What I am telling you is that she could say ma'am as much as she wanted but in no way does it mean she was being polite. She was throwing a fit. There is no way to dress it up.

If you meant to say something else, you may try rewording it because what you wrote does not illustrate the point you were trying to make.

After pages and pages of people telling me that I am impolite because I don't call my mother ma'am it grates a bit to have you say that your two year old has good manners because she says ma'am while throwing a fit. What my central point is, and the point several other posters are trying to make, is just adding ma'am to something does not mean the person speaking is displaying good manners and I for one am mildly offended for the implication that I have worse manners than a two year old throwing a tantrum simply because I don't call my mother ma'am.

 

[Turn the Page]

I'm not the poster you quoted, but I guess I don't "get" your point either. I'm not trying to be obtuse. I don't think anyone is disputing that saying "sir" and "ma'am" to everyone is a southern thing. The dispute is coming over whether saying "sir" or "ma'am" indicates good manners (and lack of saying so indicates poor manners), or whether it's just "a thing".

In your anecdote (which is cute), you say:


But, then in your "geez, people, it was just a joke. Of course you don't have good manners when throwing a tantrum" response, you seem to indicate that she says "sir" or "ma'am" whether she's using good manners or not. So, in that case, it seems to lean more to the side of it's just "a thing southerners say," not actually good manners.

Were you being facetious in your first post (that doesn't read very well in text)? I saw the little rolling smiley face, but I originally took that as "isn't my daughter adorable" rather than "isn't that ridiculous that she says it even when using bad manners?"

In addition, regarding a previous poster who was shocked by the poor manners of her daughter's friend who didn't say "ma'am?" when she hadn't heard the question ("ma'am" was "the correct answer," according to that poster.) I agree that "huh?" or "what?" probably wasn't the most polite response. However, I don't see "ma'am?" as being any more polite than any number of other possibilities that don't include "ma'am." ("Pardon me?" "Excuse me?" "I'm sorry, Mrs. Smith, I didn't hear what you said..." etc.) If someone responded "Ma'am" to me in that situation, I would probably have been confused because I would have assumed that "ma'am" was their answer to my question, rather than a request for me to repeat myself.

Not to beat a dead horse, but "ma'am/sir" definitely seems to be a southern thing, but I think some of us are frustrated by southerners patting themselves on the back for their superior manners because they say "sir/ma'am" and other people don't. It can definitely be part of good manners, but just because someone says "sir/ma'am" doesn't mean they have good manners or that their manners are better than another person's.

This. I totally agree with all of this.

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

and see, i find that so odd....i was born, raised, and still live in NE alabama, and i've NEVER heard "bless his/her heart" used as an insult. here, it is used as an expression of sympathy. example: "oh, i didn't know your mom had been in the hospital! bless her heart! how is she doing now?"

yes, tea is sweet and cold-if you don't want it that way, you'd better say so up front.

everything is "coke", it doesn't matter what flavor of soft drink it is.

Around here, "bless your heart" is said in the same way that you described. I guess I might have heard it a time or two when a person was referring to someone doing something less than intelligent, but rarely ever as a real insult.

I'm not the poster you quoted, but I guess I don't "get" your point either. I'm not trying to be obtuse. I don't think anyone is disputing that saying "sir" and "ma'am" to everyone is a southern thing. The dispute is coming over whether saying "sir" or "ma'am" indicates good manners (and lack of saying so indicates poor manners), or whether it's just "a thing".

In your anecdote (which is cute), you say:


But, then in your "geez, people, it was just a joke. Of course you don't have good manners when throwing a tantrum" response, you seem to indicate that she says "sir" or "ma'am" whether she's using good manners or not. So, in that case, it seems to lean more to the side of it's just "a thing southerners say," not actually good manners.

Were you being facetious in your first post (that doesn't read very well in text)? I saw the little rolling smiley face, but I originally took that as "isn't my daughter adorable" rather than "isn't that ridiculous that she says it even when using bad manners?"

In addition, regarding a previous poster who was shocked by the poor manners of her daughter's friend who didn't say "ma'am?" when she hadn't heard the question ("ma'am" was "the correct answer," according to that poster.) I agree that "huh?" or "what?" probably wasn't the most polite response. However, I don't see "ma'am?" as being any more polite than any number of other possibilities that don't include "ma'am." ("Pardon me?" "Excuse me?" "I'm sorry, Mrs. Smith, I didn't hear what you said..." etc.) If someone responded "Ma'am" to me in that situation, I would probably have been confused because I would have assumed that "ma'am" was their answer to my question, rather than a request for me to repeat myself.

Not to beat a dead horse, but "ma'am/sir" definitely seems to be a southern thing, but I think some of us are frustrated by southerners patting themselves on the back for their superior manners because they say "sir/ma'am" and other people don't. It can definitely be part of good manners, but just because someone says "sir/ma'am" doesn't mean they have good manners or that their manners are better than another person's.

That little guy rolling on the floor laughing is supposed to show that I am not being serious. My daughter knows that she gets in trouble if she doesn't use "ma'am" or "sir". She knew she was going to be in trouble for her tantrum. Ergo, she wanted to "lighten her sentence" by attempting to still use "ma'am". It amused me.

No, I don't look for things that aren't there. I genuinely don't know what you think that story expresses. You were trying to make the point that good manners and saying sir/ma'am is so ingrained in your daughter that she even says them during a temper tantrum. You said, and I quote, "She might have been having a tempertantrum, but gosh darn it, she was going to have manners while she did it."

What that means is she was throwing a fit but she was still displaying good manners because she said ma'am a lot. What I am telling you is that she could say ma'am as much as she wanted but in no way does it mean she was being polite. She was throwing a fit. There is no way to dress it up.

If you meant to say something else, you may try rewording it because what you wrote does not illustrate the point you were trying to make.

After pages and pages of people telling me that I am impolite because I don't call my mother ma'am it grates a bit to have you say that your two year old has good manners because she says ma'am while throwing a fit. What my central point is, and the point several other posters are trying to make, is just adding ma'am to something does not mean the person speaking is displaying good manners and I for one am mildly offended for the implication that I have worse manners than a two year old throwing a tantrum simply because I don't call my mother ma'am.

No one ever said that you were being disrespectful by not calling your mom "ma'am". Not in one single post was that ever said. One poster did say that she found the response "what" instead of "ma'am" to be rude and then went on to say that once she realized that not everyone said "ma'am", she realized that the person wasn't being rude. You are the one who was taking great offense yesterday because someone (not even from the south, by the way) mentioned that he or she liked the manners of the south. You somehow took this to mean that she was saying that no one else had manners. Clearly that wasn't what she was saying, but that is what you decided to read into it. My post was showing that while we teach "ma'am" and "sir" as terms of respect, that doesn't mean that every time they are used, a person is exercising good manners. IT is just ingrained in us so much that we use those terms all the time. I have a two-year-old who is in the middle of a tantrum and is still using "ma'am" as if that is respectful just because she is using it. It wasn't. Hence the laughing face.

 

[momof1princess]

Four inches of snow doesn't even register a blip on the radar beyond the morning weather report in this neck of the woods.

One thing that did crack me up, and maybe some of you that live in the south could explain this to me, is the run on certain products at the grocery store every time there is a storm. It was always milk, bread, and eggs. Now I get the bread, it's relatively nonperishable. I assume people are worried about losing power but if that's the case what good will the eggs do you? Honestly. I have always wondered what was up with that particular phenomenon.

as i stated in a prior post, i'm from NE alabama, and i can only speak for my area, but, here, there's no run on eggs, just milk and bread. the reason for this is that our DOT really isn't equipped to deal with a widespread, average snowfall (which most areas of the country consider to be anything under 6", but here, all it takes is an inch or so). we don't have much snow clearing equipment-there's RARELY ever a need for it; the cost of maintaining it would be much greater than any use we'd get out of it. so, whenever a weatherman even mentions the dreaded "s" word, the stores are usually cleared of milk and bread within 24 hours, because we realize that even if it's only a couple of inches of snow, it's going to make a mess of the roads (our temps aren't usually low enough to sustain a snowfall, so our roads end up being a solid sheet of ice), and no one wants to drive on them if they don't have to. schools are usually cancelled, and anyone who can, calls out of work. getting milk and bread just allows us to have the basics, if we're stranded for a few days.
i'm often envious of places where a foot of snow can fall, and they just clear the roads and go on with life-here, a foot of snow would be a major blizzard, everything would be shut down and NOTHING would be moving for days.
when the blizzard of '93 hit (which was waist-deep on my DH), DH and i had only been married about 9 months, and we were without water and phone for over 4 days, and without power for a week.