being southern in florida

     There are many debates among southerner's about what actually constitutes "The South." As a Floridian, my family in Kentucky says I'm nowhere near Southern, an yet when I visited family in Baltimore as a child, I was ostracized for my "country" accent and made fun of mercilessly for saying "y'all" twenty times per day. The editor of the Oxford American, a Texas native, told Stephen Colbert on a recent show that South Carolina was too far North to be truly Southern!
      No matter where you go, people have their own geographic rules and definitions of being Southern. For me, it's not really where your from but how you act and what you're interested in that makes you "Southern." I have a few basic criteria.....

You must love....

 

You must crave...

Outside of food and culture, one of the most important things a southern guy or gall can have is manners! 

Hey y'all!

Please!

Thank you!

Excuse me!

Yes sir!

No m'am!

Despite being a Floridian who lives 5 minutes from the beach and my intense obsession with Manhattan, I will always love the South and all of the quirks that make it unique.

aBd