THE OLE SOUTHREN HOSPITALITY

image courtesy photobucket.com



Being partly raised in the South I experienced a certain element of the courtesy of southern folks.

As a young lad arriving in California during depression days in 1936, I had to get used the cosmopolitan environment.

In the first place they spoke so many languages which I couldn't understand, and their English was highlighted with an accent common to their language.  I was used to people greeting you whether they knew you or not, and here no one was friendly unless they knew you very well, and then they seemed reserved.

During the period of the World War II, many people from the south came West and though they were southerners they didn't bring with them all of the common southern courtesy as practiced in the south.

Several years later I was in the roofing business and while in the process of installing the roof about eleven o'clock the little old woman came out and said to me; I usually feed my hands when they work for me, but I just don't have anything to fix.  I assured her that we had our lunch and we would be all right. It was good to see that a vestige of southern hospitality still remained.


The Fundamentals of Good Old Fashioned Southern Manners

These five fundamentals should set you in good stead. Good manners are extended to everybody, regardless of whether you know them, on which side of town they live, or whether they tithe.

1. Be Humble: Others first, yourself last. Self-denial and deference to others ("After you") is the cornerstone of good manners, acting selfishly or uppity is not. This commandment is indisputably rooted in the Bible Belt theology ("the first shall be last, and the last shall be first").

2. Be Courteous: Remember the Golden Rule.  Go out of your way to be helpful and kind to everyone you encounter.

3. Behave Yourself: Don't be uncouth, rude, brash, loud, coarse, or cause a commotion in public.  Only trashy types do such things.....and obviously this is because they weren't raised to know better.

4. Be Friendly: Put your friendliest foot forward, whether you've been properly introduced or don't know the person from a hole in the ground. Be sociable and neighborly, just like you learned in Sunday School ("Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself").

5. Be Modest: Never be highfalutin'. Practice modesty in all situations. "Why, shucks, I guess I was in the right place at the right time" would work just fine upon learning that you had won the Pulitzer Prize. "Of course I won it, I deserve to" would absolutely categorize you as too big for your britches.

The Bible says much about good manners, and should always be practiced by all who name the name of Christ.

This post is linked with Jennifer at:  God-Bumps and God-Incidences
and with Good Morning Girls Wednesday