On the subject of stereotypes, there’s another one that’s starting to piss me off: the idea that Southern families are all a bunch of wacky, wild, irreverent, outspoken, good-time guys and gals. I mean, I’ve spent nearly all my life south of the Mason-Dixon, and I’m here to tell you, I’ve never met a Southern family remotely like the ones depicted on the small screen, the big screen, or in print.
Now, that’s not to say we don’t have our fair share of “characters” (I promise, we do), nor to say that the South doesn’t have a unique set of social customs (hello? monster trucks?). It’s just that…well, I’m starting to feel guilty. Folks come to visit, and they’re expecting everyone to be all Greater Tuna and crap, and I have to break it to them that we’re just as dull and boring as, say, anyone from Vancouver.
So for any of you planning to travel down this way, I suggest you spend your time flipping through the generic, inoffensive pages of Southern Living and avoid anything that reeks of ya-ya (with two very notable exceptions).
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