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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
Racism.
Tom Loncaric, a very smart young man from Atlanta, once told me that the Northern way of doing business is to act smarter than you really are. For example, in the the guitar store in Michigan, where we both worked, all the Northern-born employees acted like experts, and tried to impress the customers.
But, Tom told me, the Southern way of doing business is to act dumber than you really are. Southerners, he said, act impressed by the customers, rather than trying to impress them. Tom did not include a judgment on which method is better, but his insight blew me away.
I have no judgment either, but this is such a brilliant observation that I believe it. And I am sure it has something to do with Garrison's contrast between North and South.
P.S. Even if you are from the South, the Herb David Guitar Studio in Ann Arbor, Michigan is a great place to find great music and a great deal.
P.P.S. I do not understand the previous post about "racism."
Mr. Keillor:
You compare the north's cool public dispassion to the south's unzipped warmth and wonder why a region so outwardly friendly consistently elects repressive goons to office.
It's because the northerner expects one to earn his way in, and in the south you have to earn your way out. We southerners assume you have character and well ordered priorities and we'll embrace you from the get-go and forever till your behavior provides contrary evidence. You yankees assume every stranger is an idiot until he can illustrate otherwise. While the southern trait might favor us as a holiday destination, yours is pobably the better strategy for choosing public officials. That prick Kennedy notwithstanding.
Dear Mr. Keillor: Before you generalize about how seemingly warm, friendly people "elect regressive, warmongering politicians", KINDLY take a look at how Travis County--home of Austin, Texas--votes. You'll observe that it is the blue heart of a red state.
Grrrrrrrrrr.
In central NY to be precise. My cat of 13 years died this week, and I have told librarians and bank tellers, people I also don't know from Adam, (because I just can't hide the fact that I'm a wreck) and they couldn't have been sweeter. The bank teller and I really connected on how a house just isn't the same without a cat. I have lived in the south, and I know the kind of kindnesses Garrison is talking about that are available down there. Somehow the kindnesses mean more up here because they're not so easy to come by. My cat's name was Gina. I didn't appreciate her enough, there's a life lesson for you.
To the person who didn't understand what the "in a word: racism" person meant: I think the person holds the theory that Southerners, despite their overt friendliness, etc., elect the evil, idiotic politicians they do because lots of white Southerners would rather keep African Americans down than have good politicians giving the country (state, city, etc.) good government--and perhaps the person also means that in largely black Southern areas Af. Ams. (by this theory) prefer blacks in office whether or not that gets them good government--the color being the important factor. By this theory, each group has something it values more than it values good government. (Yes, I know there are many people in the South who are neither white nor black, of course; I just don't understand how they fit into that theory.)
Well, if the above is a good interpretation of the "racism" statement, frankly I don't know about all of that. I'll sit back and see what others say.
Correction to your article Mr. Keillor, the "south" begins somewhere in east texas and continues until you reach the atlantic. Austin, Texas has never been the south and never will be, native austinites will tell you that. The friendliness you experienced is quite the norm, after all, Austin is just that kind of place. One more thing, Travis county (austin) did not vote for these "idiots", too bad the rest of the state did. Thanks for the article, I enjoyed it, just needed to get the correct facts out there.
que tengan una buena dia!
Or selective use of it anyway...
On the one hand it leads to charmingly naive "faith" in God, strangers, courtesy - a sense of fatalism that it will all be alright - it's in God's hands, and the sun is shining. So just relax and have another mint julep, hon.
On the other hand... it leads to a not-so charming faith in appearances - "well as long as he prays, he must be okay" - & a certain apathy when it comes to curiosity or questioning. Better not to spoil the mood of charm & gentility by asking difficult questions...
Sir, that was perhaps the most enjoyable comment I've read on a Salon article. Well done.
My mother imparted to me her experience of this famous Southern Hospitality after living in the South during the 1970s. It's easier to stab someone in the back if you're giving them a hug. I'm not quite as pessimistic but do find it hard to reconcile smothering everyone in sugar and using a bible belt to beat people instead of lifting up the fallen.
I live in Texas now and a Texas born-and-raised friend of mind told me what she learned at her mother's knee: "You can hate someone's guts, but there's no need to be rude about it."
I have never lived in a friendlier place, certainly including the upper midwest that is my native land. You cannot stand in any line here without someone starting up a conversation. It took some getting used to but now I too can call perfect strangers "honey."
Mr Keillor:
Correlation does not imply causation.
I have to second the applause for Mr. Peet. Where's the red stars when you need them?
The cities in the south are not The South. I live in Atlanta, not so different from Austin, and there are more northeners, mid-westerners, Californians, etc, here than true Southerners. There ARE a good number of restaurants that exploit the tourists and the yankees, but that is commerce, not culture.
I used to have a sweet Alfa Spyder that was a joy on the back roads of Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana and Texas, North and South Carolina. I still drive those roads. I have broken down, been hit by a deer, had flat tires and a dozen other road tribulations and the local people have ALWAYS risen to the occasion, helped without pay, sheltered me and my possessions with just the willingness to be there for a stranger. Never did I have to discuss my race, religion, or politics, much less defend them, in spite of my city dress and flashy car.
I have done the same driving through New England, Pennsylvania, New jersey, New York. It costs to be in need there, through the nose and you have to pay extra for a smile. Political diatribes are free, usually about the Jews (gulp). I slink away in fear. I don't like to drive up there.
I had always figured that it was because Northerners grew up without front porches; they were not used to hailing their neighbor from a rocking chair, asking about the kids, loaning out a yard tool, offering a cool drink, small talk in the heat of the day. Cold weather makes you suspicious neighbors, I think.
My theory is that Southerners, having this neighborly trait, tend to go into politics more frequently. Good with people, they are chosen by the operatives for media. They are just more visible.
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