5 Things in the South That Northerners Don’t Get

Years ago my grandparents lived in Dayton Ohio.  My grandfather was an Air Force pilot, so they moved around the country, as many of us in this area with Barksdale Air Force Base can understand.  But I remember specifically my sister and I were visiting them when we were young, and were playing in a park with several local children.  When the kids heard we were from Louisiana, their first question was "Aren't there alligators everywhere?"  To which my reply was, "Oh yes, a lot of times before school, we would have to knock them off the porch so we could go to the bus stop."  People north of the Mason-Dixon don't understand the south. Here are 5 things we do or have in the south that people up north just don't get.

Crawfish

If you look at a crawfish in it's natural habitat, I understand your first inclination would be "Who would eat that??"  But you could say the same thing about oysters and chicken.  Chickens are some of the nastiest animals around... but they are soooo good. I'll also go as far as to say most people in the south don't know how to eat crawfish correctly. But that's for another time.

Seersucker Suits

Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon recently joined us in the studio sporting a crisp seersucker suit.  He told us he recently attended a national conference of commissioners where he received compliments on his suit. Some had said they'd never seen one before.  I recently attended an outdoor wedding where I wore my seersucker, and received several compliments. What else would you wear to a summer outdoor wedding in Louisiana?

Get our free mobile app

Ya'll

We've all seen TV shows or movies where an actor is trying to affect a southern accent and uses the word "ya'll" incorrectly.  In a conversation with another person you don't call that person ya'll... Ya'll is plural... it's a contraction of "you all" and refers to multiple people. Get it right

Noodling for Catfish

I confess, the first time I heard noodling, I was pretty astonished.  If you're not familiar with how it works, the 'fisherman' catches catfish by hand.  Basically using your hand as bait. I think enough said....

Sweet Tea

OK, here I'm somewhat of a connoisseur. I grew up on sweet tea... I found out later my mom would fill my bottle with sweet tea and put me down for my nap. (Then wonder why I wouldn't go to sleep!)  But in her defense, it was 1961, and the detriments of sugar and caffiene weren't common knowledge.  There are very few places in the south where you can't order sweet tea, but that's not the case up north.  Even Dallas, (that I don't consider the south), it's hard to find a glass of sweet tea!  They just don't get it....