When I first met my FIL some 20 years ago, I still remember how he reacted to some of my southern tendencies. He was and is a very liberal northerner. And when addressed as sir, he not only didn’t appreciate it, he mostly dismissed it. Here are a few values that I was raised by and enjoy passing on to my children. 3 Southern Values We’d All Do Well to Adopt Hospitality, being neighborly Respect Timeliness, respecting others time Go ahead libs, rip away! https://verilymag.com/2018/11/southern-manners-everyone-should-adopt
People in the South can usually count on their neighbors to be, well, neighborly. Southerners are mindful of their time, especially when it affects other people. If I could choose only one word to describe the culture of the South, it would be this: respect. While the practice of saying “ma’am” and “sir” might seem silly or unnecessary to many people outside the South, these terms exhibit a great deal of respect to their recipient. Hot take…many libbies do not give a crap about these ideals and the culture. You don’t have to give a crap, but you should be aware that many people like me will fight to maintain this family atmosphere.
I mean - it would be great if everyone was kind, respectful, and punctual. I don't think anyone would disagree with that. Why would you get ripped for that?
We can all be thankful that you decided not to have children. Of course you don’t care about these things.
Did you not ask me what were the differences in southern values to northern values? You’re either playing games with me or you’re acting obtuse.
The values you mentioned are completely generic and more or less what a broad array of people around the world find to be decent behavior lol
You couldnt make this movie today, conservatives would call it racist cultural appropriation. Cancel culture is out of control, folks.
I had a very similar experience, though my FIL warmed up pretty quickly as he was in business in the south and had already bought in to the culture. MIL never really did. Her disrespect to me almost ended Mrs. Aging and my relationship. I was the lowest SIL on the totem poll for years. After a while I was the only SIL left, and the only one who had really looked after any of her daughters. I never forgave her for that. My wife to this day cannot understand how I can and will strike up a conversation with anyone, anytime. It’s how my parents were and how myself and my siblings were raised in the south.
As someone raised with some of these "Southern Values" presented here, I'm always amused by the presumption of some "Southerners" that they have somehow cornered the market on kindness. That they're kindness is the true kindness. We bought a house up heah in the rude libby New England. No one brought us cookies to welcome us. What jerks. Winter comes and we get hit with a doozey of a storm. I hadn't learned I needed a snowblower yet and was shoveling my driveway with every storm (ugh). My reclusive non-cookie-bringing jerk of a neighbor walks over to the end of my driveway (where the huge 3' slushy snowback is) and proceeds to clear it out with his snowblower. I tried to put myself in his field of vision to wave a big thanks - but he wouldn't even look at me even though there was zero chance he didn't see me trying to thank him. This is anecdotal of the hardy New Englander. There is a strong individuality AND a presumed duty to help others. Sounds like kindness to me. I think much of it comes from the hardscrabble life of previous generations. That's just what one did. Period. The lack of chit-chat in the check out line doesn't remove this duty. And I don't pretend to think this is the sole domain of New Englanders. There are many flavors of kindness and community. For some reason, some Southerners feel a greater need to protect / project theirs as better than other parts of the country's kindness. Perhaps a sense of victimhood.