Been here two days and I’ve had three different women - total strangers - call me “dear”, “sweetie”, and “love.” Fantastic. I grew up in the South but I’ve lived for years in a more northern area. The difference is profound. I mean, where I live now if I called a woman “sweetie” I might get arrested.
And before one of you idiots asks, yes this is Trump country, for sure. I don’t vote for President anymore, so I have no dawg in the fight. Forget all that. I’m talking about people here.
Very church going community too. I am certain that makes a difference. Makes me want to retire here.
I’ve somewhat of a “digital nomad”, as they say nowadays. In a nutshell, I have always found myself happiest in the southern communities for a few reasons.
1) Beautiful weather, plenty of sun. This is generally helpful for your mental health, obviously. 2) There is an easy going, amicable feel to communities that make day to day interactions low stress, and many people are genuinely at peace with their existence. 3) I have never had someone initiate a political conversation with me in these towns. NEVER. This is amazing and so relieving. I love avoiding politically fueled conversations and arguments. In large cities I’ve lived in, it’s near impossible to go a few days without someone starting a political conversation with me.
I’ve somewhat of a “digital nomad”, as they say nowadays. In a nutshell, I have always found myself happiest in the southern communities for a few reasons.
1) Beautiful weather, plenty of sun. This is generally helpful for your mental health, obviously. 2) There is an easy going, amicable feel to communities that make day to day interactions low stress, and many people are genuinely at peace with their existence. 3) I have never had someone initiate a political conversation with me in these towns. NEVER. This is amazing and so relieving. I love avoiding politically fueled conversations and arguments. In large cities I’ve lived in, it’s near impossible to go a few days without someone starting a political conversation with me.
It’s true, I think outside of big cities people are generally pretty live and let live.
I’ve somewhat of a “digital nomad”, as they say nowadays. In a nutshell, I have always found myself happiest in the southern communities for a few reasons.
1) Beautiful weather, plenty of sun. This is generally helpful for your mental health, obviously. 2) There is an easy going, amicable feel to communities that make day to day interactions low stress, and many people are genuinely at peace with their existence. 3) I have never had someone initiate a political conversation with me in these towns. NEVER. This is amazing and so relieving. I love avoiding politically fueled conversations and arguments. In large cities I’ve lived in, it’s near impossible to go a few days without someone starting a political conversation with me.
1) I agree it is beautiful in the southern states except Florida right now.
2) dead on.
3) What cities you in? I have lived in cities all my life and never have political discussions unless I seek them out.
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Been here two days and I’ve had three different women - total strangers - call me “dear”, “sweetie”, and “love.” Fantastic. I grew up in the South but I’ve lived for years in a more northern area. The difference is profound. I mean, where I live now if I called a woman “sweetie” I might get arrested.
And before one of you idiots asks, yes this is Trump country, for sure. I don’t vote for President anymore, so I have no dawg in the fight. Forget all that. I’m talking about people here.
Very church going community too. I am certain that makes a difference. Makes me want to retire here.
I'd certainly characterize people from the American South as "friendly" and "polite", but not necessarily "nice", at least not more so than anywhere else. People seem to confuse niceness with politeness as the responses here demonstrate so I wanted to point out the difference.
Nice or kind people generally only become more obvious when some sort of setback occurs. You said the wrong thing during a conversation perhaps, but a nice person won't judge you harshly for it because they know everyone has been there. This is a trivial example, but it demonstrates the kind of litmus test needed to determine true niceness.
I've heard anecdotally in the South that a lot of their gestures that are outwardly nice or polite can hide an agenda. If you live in the South, it's very common for neighbors to be VERY interested in your life. They watch comings and goings, they show up on your front door step with baked goods that can become a segue into being invited into your home, they will figure out if you're religious or not, etc. Personally, I find that kind of thing bizarre and offensive.
I live in the Pacific Northwest so this is a stark contrast to life here. I don't talk to my neighbors nor do I care to know them. The fact that the cubic space my chunk of real estate occupies is next to theirs is purely coincidental and it doesn't entitle them any kind of affiliation to me or details of my personal life. That's not to say I don't value meaningful human interaction, but I prefer to do it on honest terms where no agenda is at play. That takes time to build trust enough where it's clear people are worth the time and risk to build a more meaningful connection.
Bless your heart. You actually think they are being nice to you.
I do, and they are.
Nice as in nice manners, sure. Nice as in good will, think again.
They are genteel. Maybe they like you, maybe they don't. But like an English lord, they will never break character, you just have to learn when they are insulting you.
I’ve somewhat of a “digital nomad”, as they say nowadays. In a nutshell, I have always found myself happiest in the southern communities for a few reasons.
1) Beautiful weather, plenty of sun. This is generally helpful for your mental health, obviously. 2) There is an easy going, amicable feel to communities that make day to day interactions low stress, and many people are genuinely at peace with their existence. 3) I have never had someone initiate a political conversation with me in these towns. NEVER. This is amazing and so relieving. I love avoiding politically fueled conversations and arguments. In large cities I’ve lived in, it’s near impossible to go a few days without someone starting a political conversation with me.
I love political trolling on LR, but even I have to admit this sounds pretty amazing
Been here two days and I’ve had three different women - total strangers - call me “dear”, “sweetie”, and “love.” Fantastic. I grew up in the South but I’ve lived for years in a more northern area. The difference is profound. I mean, where I live now if I called a woman “sweetie” I might get arrested.
And before one of you idiots asks, yes this is Trump country, for sure. I don’t vote for President anymore, so I have no dawg in the fight. Forget all that. I’m talking about people here.
Very church going community too. I am certain that makes a difference. Makes me want to retire here.
Let me guess: you are a white, protestant male? Might be interesting to hear the comparable experiences of someone with more melanin, a less traditionally westernized name, someone less heterosexual, etc.
Been here two days and I’ve had three different women - total strangers - call me “dear”, “sweetie”, and “love.” Fantastic. I grew up in the South but I’ve lived for years in a more northern area. The difference is profound. I mean, where I live now if I called a woman “sweetie” I might get arrested.
And before one of you idiots asks, yes this is Trump country, for sure. I don’t vote for President anymore, so I have no dawg in the fight. Forget all that. I’m talking about people here.
Very church going community too. I am certain that makes a difference. Makes me want to retire here.
I'd certainly characterize people from the American South as "friendly" and "polite", but not necessarily "nice", at least not more so than anywhere else. People seem to confuse niceness with politeness as the responses here demonstrate so I wanted to point out the difference.
Nice or kind people generally only become more obvious when some sort of setback occurs. You said the wrong thing during a conversation perhaps, but a nice person won't judge you harshly for it because they know everyone has been there. This is a trivial example, but it demonstrates the kind of litmus test needed to determine true niceness.
I've heard anecdotally in the South that a lot of their gestures that are outwardly nice or polite can hide an agenda. If you live in the South, it's very common for neighbors to be VERY interested in your life. They watch comings and goings, they show up on your front door step with baked goods that can become a segue into being invited into your home, they will figure out if you're religious or not, etc. Personally, I find that kind of thing bizarre and offensive.
I live in the Pacific Northwest so this is a stark contrast to life here. I don't talk to my neighbors nor do I care to know them. The fact that the cubic space my chunk of real estate occupies is next to theirs is purely coincidental and it doesn't entitle them any kind of affiliation to me or details of my personal life. That's not to say I don't value meaningful human interaction, but I prefer to do it on honest terms where no agenda is at play. That takes time to build trust enough where it's clear people are worth the time and risk to build a more meaningful connection.
I don’t know, that description seems off to me. I said they were polite and friendly, not that they were frozen in amber from 1950s America. What you describe is something that doesn’t really exist anywhere anymore, where neighbors knew each other, helped each other, fewer people reported loneliness, and your biggest challenge was avoiding the nosy neighbor, which was a real thing. I doubt that’s what I would encounter here.
That said I’d take that world in a second over what we have today. I’ve lived in my neighborhood for many years and I am just starting to know my neighbors. And that is partly my fault if I’m being honest.
Been here two days and I’ve had three different women - total strangers - call me “dear”, “sweetie”, and “love.” Fantastic. I grew up in the South but I’ve lived for years in a more northern area. The difference is profound. I mean, where I live now if I called a woman “sweetie” I might get arrested.
And before one of you idiots asks, yes this is Trump country, for sure. I don’t vote for President anymore, so I have no dawg in the fight. Forget all that. I’m talking about people here.
Very church going community too. I am certain that makes a difference. Makes me want to retire here.
Let me guess: you are a white, protestant male? Might be interesting to hear the comparable experiences of someone with more melanin, a less traditionally westernized name, someone less heterosexual, etc.
Lots of black folks here. I heard a black lady who works behind the counter refer to a white man as “sweetheart” to get him to come back and fill out a form.
Damn, some of you people are determined to make the South a terrible place.
Let me guess: you are a white, protestant male? Might be interesting to hear the comparable experiences of someone with more melanin, a less traditionally westernized name, someone less heterosexual, etc.
Lots of black folks here. I heard a black lady who works behind the counter refer to a white man as “sweetheart” to get him to come back and fill out a form.
Damn, some of you people are determined to make the South a terrible place.
I grew up in the deep, deep South. I'm allowed to sh*t talk it. Beneath the veneer is a spewing hatred, a massive chip on their collective shoulder, and a proud, willful ignorance and mistrust of the actual world. Just look how they vote, and that's all you need to know.