Now I’m sure I will come across countless things about the South that seem odd to me as a northwesterner. I hope to share some of the regional oddities in my blog. Here are some of the most recent observations.
*Subarus are few and far between. In Portland every third car you see is a Subaru. Though it isn’t really surprising, they are marketed as great cars for the outdoorsy folk and that sort of suits the PNW.
*Names here are really different. A lot of people use two first names (like my coworker Jean Ann). Then there are names that just sound southern, Dolly (a woman working in the Knoxville airport). And then of course, there are made up names. Names I’m certain wouldn’t be found in the baby book of names... It seems that parents just take an ordinary name like Shaun. Add a couple new letters and you have your son’s unique name: Vashaun. Or your daughter’s name: KaShawna. A twist on my own name: JaKara.
And so on and so on…
*One of my friends here invited Matt and me over for dinner. She has a two year old daughter and when she does something she isn’t suppose to, Jennifer says (read with a southern accent), “Maddie, no ma’am. Don’t put that pea up your nose.” I actually love the use of “no ma’am” and hope maybe one day to use it with my own kids!
*Church is definitely viewed quite different here in Knoxville. It seems that most people I encounter are religious in some fashion. And you just see more churches around town. Matt and I drove out in the country on Saturday and drove past 3 Baptist churches within 3 miles of each other…and we were seriously out in the country, with very few houses around but lots of churches. In our outing on Saturday I counted a total of 8 Baptist churches.
*Along those same lines, there is a pregnancy help center right by our house. The sign says that all services are free. They must perform abortions there because all day every day there are anti-abortion protestors along the street. I personally don’t think it’s appropriate to protest there. I doubt that the only thing this clinic does is in abortions. And it isn’t exactly fair for some girl who thinks she might be pregnant but doesn’t know where to go (and fully intends to keep the child) to have to walk past protestors who are probably judging her. BUT that’s not the problem, people can protest…go for it. I am up in arms with what I saw on Sunday afternoon. It was right about the time people get out of church, when a big group of people joined the protest. It was a couple of families with kids in tow. They walked right past a big playground and made young kids (probably ages 5-10) hold signs up on the street. Really??? Seriously!? Kids protesting? How did you explain to them what abortion is? They shouldn’t even know what that means yet! Shouldn’t you take them to the park to play on a beautiful, sunny Sunday afternoon?!? I just hope they didn’t have any graphic pictures included in any of the brochures or signs.
5 comments:
Sounds very intersting! Can't wait to come see eeeeeeeeeec! Maybe we can take Becca out protesting- get her started real early!
Loved your post... great observations. And yes, I am stocking you through your blog now. :o) I love the idea of Becca protesting too. The sad thing is I'm sure people bring their babies with them all the time. You're a brave woman to make the jump from the NW to the South!
You know what else is unique to the south? Grits. They have instant bacon and cheese grits at the grocery store...just like instant oatmeal only with fake bacon and cheese flavoring. Sounds disgusting to me.
Of course, Matt said he tried them once and they're pretty good. I am guessing that is a boy thing!
I like the two first name thing, but I think people up here in the NW would get confused if we tried it.
My favorite part of your blog is that you said "my friend invited matt and i to dinner". Sounds like you have a friend??! Yay!
Also, when I tell Evelyn no for something, I find that I often say "No, thank you Evelyn!" No m'am is cuter though, but not really fitting for us.
Lastly, I feel like I visit your blog a lot, but you hadn't updated in a bizillion years. Then I got your email and you cropped up with three posts! You should get a tracker to see where people are visiting from, and how many times. Stalk your stalkers.
Love ya girl.
We do call Becca by two names half the time- calling her Becca Rose. And on top of that I tend to call her Miss Becca Rose. Which using titles, like Miss, Mam, Mr., etc is a Southern thing too. Will see if it sticks.
What about guys names? notice anything there- or are they pretty standard? just curious
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