DARE NOT JUDGE BASED UPON THE COVER

An honest admission---we Southerners can be quite snobbish! 

We are guilty of judging based upon geography.  The deeper South our Southern roots---the deeper our prejudice.  We head north with the expectation of being cold shouldered, looked down upon, ignored, and subjected to bad manners.  Somehow we have the notion most inhabitants north of the northern Arkansas border must be viewed with suspicion and anyone above Missouri does not stand a prayer of being regarded without a wary eye.

We might be slightly critical of the social skills of the Yankees and certainly consider them aloof and cool.  The problem begins when they are not willing to give their social history within the first five minutes of meeting us.  Why all Southerners have a deep need to tell you at a minimum about their momma and daddy.  If you are willing to stand and listen for longer than ten minutes we also will share all the intricacies and nuances of our entire clan.  Giving even a curt head nod will encourage us to expound upon Aunt Minnie Mae and all six of her husbands--and the successes, failures, and felonies committed by each of her brood of children,

The only thing we enjoy as much as the narration of generations of family history is telling you our complete medical history.  Dare NOT mention any illness, injury, or mental impairment and not expect to listen to our own version of the same malady--only more and worse than your story.  Nothing is sacred---from crossed eyes to fallen arches---we will tell it all. 

 Perhaps this propensity to tell all has lead to those born north of Little Rock to become leery of making eye contact--knowing the tales of incestuous family ties, family feuds as complex as the Hatfield-McCoy debacle, long liturgies of marriages and deaths, and complete colorful descriptions of all medical facts has lead to a cause for alarm when the slow drawl and red neck twang from the south rings close by.

Our trip up north---WAY north for these Southerners -has brought to light -perhaps we have judged too hastily.  We found everyone we encountered cordial and congenial--but being on the giving end of the tip scale perhaps does influence the warmth factor.  Always finding hikers warm and engaging---as the runners have always been, we did not expect any trail snobbery.  We also enjoyed warm chatter with many locals in all manner of meeting.  It was a mind changing trip since we found most to be at a minimum curious as to our home.  Perhaps when one of us asked for  Brrrr  eeeee   aaaaddd-we might have given our southerness secret away.  Why I failed to notice any difference in our accent---with the exception of the Bostonians.

I am HAPPY to report---we only had to tsk and say, "Bless Their Heart" a couple of times.  Why we even find the occasional rudeness here DEEP in the south---but we usually suspect they have Yankee roots or a bad case of hemorrhoids when that occurs.  SO I plead for forgiveness from our Northern neighbors and vow to never again judge them based upon the unfortunate occurrence of living in the Land of the Yankee!