Southern folks....

Yesterday I got a cell phone and called my children to give them the number. Today, I decided to check the ringtone...I hate those obnoxious loud ringtones....so I used the hosue phone to call my number so I could hear the tone. I waited, and waited, then put the cell phone up to my ear and heard someone saying hello. I figured that I had dialed the wrong number, so I told the person and then told them why I was trying to dial my own number. She was nice about it and laughed. Later today, I was wondering why not one of my kids had called me so I called my youngest daughter. She laughed and told me it was because I had given out the wrong number. So, the poor woman I had talked to earlier today had gotten calls from two of my children and one of my grandchildren. The grandson, Ryan, talked for quiet awhile telling this stranger about the new Harry Potter movie. She was nice to all of them. She never, at any time, got all upset and hostile with us.

Then, this afternoon, three people from a church in Georgia came to the door to invite us to a program they have setup this Tuesday. There will be singing and some preaching and they have 20,000 turkeys to give away. These people have come here to help the victims of Katrina. One of the ladies was an older woman who did most of the talking. She was the sweetest thing. She told me that she just wanted to hug my neck. Then, she told me that the group she was with had been taken on a tour of the most devastated parts of the Mississippi coast. We talked for quite a bit, then she said they had to go to more houses. She had asked me if I had children or grandchildren, then asked their ages. She said that she didn't have anything that the oldest two would like, but, that I could choose from what she had to give to the youngest. She was just a sweet, caring lady.

See, this to me, is true southern temperment. The first woman did not get tootie when she kept getting my calls. She even listened to us! She took the time to be gracious. And, the second lady took time out of her day to talk to me and offer whatever help she could. This is typical southern behaviour. I know there are some deviants that I am ashamed to call southern, but the way these ladies acted to total stranger is the typical attitude you will see down here.

So, even though I know this will make some people mad, this is what I see as the difference with southern people. People care about you and want to know what you think about things. And, they listen to you when you talk to them.

I know that the whole country has sent aide to us down here. I don't mean to dismiss that. I know there were people who have survived because of the kindness of strangers. Strangers from all of this country. Actually, this isn't even about aide or anything like that.