Northern Virginia is truly a melting pot, it's difficult to find people that were born and raised in this area, most are from various locations around the world. Moving here from Massachusetts took a bit of adjusting to different cultures and customs. The one thing that I have yet to get used to is this strange breed of people who stop and offer to assist or have full conversations with random strangers, always in a pleasant southern drawl. This weekend, Mary, visiting from South Carolina, informed me that this is referred to as "southern hospitality." To me, it's just plain odd.
I've experienced this odd phenomenon since moving here. People would stop to ask me if I would like directions whenever they saw me staring at the metro maps. People would strike up conversations with me on the elevator. Someone even offered to carry an ottoman to my car when I realized the shopping cart locked up outside of the store. To me, these people all want something. No way they are taking time out of their lives to talk to me without a motive. The last guy mentioned clearly wanted me to open up my car so he could steal it. These are the thoughts I get from having grown up in New England. Typically us Northerners leave the house with a motive in mind, the goal is to accomplish that motive as quickly as possible and move on to the next item. For example, if I need to get groceries, I want to get in the store and get out with my groceries in the least amount of time possible. Yes, if I ran into a friend or acquaintance I wouldn't mind stopping to talk, but that's certainly not the time to strike up a conversation with a random stranger.
I've gotten quite good at avoiding random strangers (stranger danger, right?) however now that I'm pregnant it's nearly impossible! I can't go anywhere without random people wanting to know every detail of my pregnancy and tell me all the stories about their pregnancy or their friends or children's pregnancies. I wouldn't mind a "congratulations" or just a simple "are you having a boy or a girl?" or "when are you due?" as these are standard things to say to a pregnant lady, but I'm not one for discussing if I plan on breastfeeding with random people I don't know from a hole in the wall. To me, it's still quite odd. Mary insists they are genuinely interested and it's just how they were raised, but I still think there has to be an ulterior motive in their somewhere. According to wikipedia "Southern hospitality has been examined by sociologists and other social scientists, one of whom has characterized the practices as a masquerade designed to cover deficiencies in southern culture, such as slavery, discrimination, and widespread poverty." I'll go with that.
I've experienced this odd phenomenon since moving here. People would stop to ask me if I would like directions whenever they saw me staring at the metro maps. People would strike up conversations with me on the elevator. Someone even offered to carry an ottoman to my car when I realized the shopping cart locked up outside of the store. To me, these people all want something. No way they are taking time out of their lives to talk to me without a motive. The last guy mentioned clearly wanted me to open up my car so he could steal it. These are the thoughts I get from having grown up in New England. Typically us Northerners leave the house with a motive in mind, the goal is to accomplish that motive as quickly as possible and move on to the next item. For example, if I need to get groceries, I want to get in the store and get out with my groceries in the least amount of time possible. Yes, if I ran into a friend or acquaintance I wouldn't mind stopping to talk, but that's certainly not the time to strike up a conversation with a random stranger.
I've gotten quite good at avoiding random strangers (stranger danger, right?) however now that I'm pregnant it's nearly impossible! I can't go anywhere without random people wanting to know every detail of my pregnancy and tell me all the stories about their pregnancy or their friends or children's pregnancies. I wouldn't mind a "congratulations" or just a simple "are you having a boy or a girl?" or "when are you due?" as these are standard things to say to a pregnant lady, but I'm not one for discussing if I plan on breastfeeding with random people I don't know from a hole in the wall. To me, it's still quite odd. Mary insists they are genuinely interested and it's just how they were raised, but I still think there has to be an ulterior motive in their somewhere. According to wikipedia "Southern hospitality has been examined by sociologists and other social scientists, one of whom has characterized the practices as a masquerade designed to cover deficiencies in southern culture, such as slavery, discrimination, and widespread poverty." I'll go with that.
MARY VISITED and I WAS IN HAWAII!!!!!! nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooOOOoooooooooooooo!
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