Stories of the South

When I first moved to Knoxville I was very observant of how the South is different than the Pacific Northwest. I blogged about it here. I still notice many oddities of the South but I sort of forgot to document and share them on my blog. Now that Matt and I know we only have 6-8 months** left in the South, I feel the pressure to note my experiences in the South.

At work on Friday, I was talking with a few people about our upcoming office move and the office dynamics. We work in the tallest building in downtown Knoxville, the First Tennessee Bank Building.

So we're talking and my coworker Michelle said something that was a quick reminder that I live in the South. Before I tell you what she said, you should have a picture of Michelle in your head. She is in her thirtys, dresses fairly trendy, has a pretty "hot" body, has fake red nails and often wears bright red lipstick. She comes across as a very girly girl. Are you picturing her? Something like this only with a little more skin showing:

Then somehow she slips this into the conversation: "Can you believe we can't bring guns into the office? I mean, if though I have a license to carry it, I can't have it here because of the bank. It's so stupid."

Hmm...Okay. Didn't expect her of all people to want to carry a gun. And why in the world would she think she needs to carry it around in lil' old downtown Knoxville? Definitely not something I would have heard at my old office in Vancouver, WA!

And then, to cap the day off, we had our Christmas party in the office and at least 4 guys pulled out pocket knifes at different times to cut open presents. Now I recognize that many guys carry pocket knifes so that isn't that unusual, but in combination with the gun comment, I was totally cracking up.