A2Z: My Yankee Confession
One more week after this and the A2Z meme is done. I really had fun with this. No pressure on Patty Wysong, but I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next.
Today is the letter “Y.” I thought I’d share a confession with you–there is a part of me that wishes I was Southern. Living in the south earns certain rights I covet.
–I want a drawl. I have a clear YANKEE accent that every once in awhile people can pinpoint to my birthplace, Upstate NY’s Southern Tier. I will never be confused as a Southern belle.
–I want to say bless your heart and mercy. Where I come from and live now, that would fall flat.
–Southern ladies are born with class, at least it seems that way. They sit straight, use the right utencils, they seem to know and use manners with ease. Even TNT’s Brenda Leigh Johnson from The Closer shuts the perps down with a simple, “Thank you, thank you very much.”
-I didn’t notice when I visited the Southern states, that anyone sweats. In fact, if they did, they would say it’s a little perspiration. Thanks to hormones, I mow for 10 minutes and I won’t get my color back for hours. I turn beat red and sweat. YEP, I’m a YANKEE.
I’m not sure I could handle Southern food, though.
-Grits. Can’t do it. I’m such a YANKEE I only know about grits from Shoney’s. Are they even open anymore?
-Fried okra. Okay, any kind of okra sounds gross to me.
-I don’t know what a mint julep is.
-Fruit pies. I love fresh fruit, but in a pie, I have to pass. No on peach, blackberry, key lime…
-I’m all about pop, and specifically, I’ll always say I want a diet. My Southern friends tell me all soda (shudder) is called Coke. Everyone orders Cokes. I wouldn’t be able to do that.
I’m a gal that tells it like I see it, I talk fast, and I use my hands. I may live in Ohio, but I’m New York State bred through and through. I don’t know a soup spoon from a salad fork, and my pie is pumpkin or chocolate. When the snow starts falling I won’t shut everything down, but get in my AWD Subaru and take you where you need to go.
I know a lot of the attributes here are stereotypes, and I don’t mean to offend. I guess at the end of the day, as much as I want to sprinkle Y’ALL in my sentence, I love hearing it from friends who live in the warmer states. I am a northerner. I am a YANKEE. To live out my fantasy, I’ll keep reading great fiction from my friends who live and represent the south well.
If you’re a Yankee like me, try reading Southern Belle View.
