southern living

I've only lived in the South a year now so I am no expert, but I've definitely noticed some differences from living in the Midwest (or North, depending on how you categorize Ohio).  Here are some things I've learned:

• Southern hospitality does exist.  The people here are much nicer than in the north.  It never fails that a complete stranger will hold a conversation with me out in public (especially Walmart workers, they are the nicest people down here!)
• Kids use ma'am and sir and they use miss or mr and then the person's first name when addressing an adult.  For example I would be Miss Ashley.  I'm still undecided how I feel about if this is how I'd like our kids raised.  It feels awkward to me to use someone's first name, I grew up using adults last names instead (which I realize is even more formal).  I've started teaching W to use Mr. and Miss but I haven't really pushed the sir or ma'am.  I'm pretty sure all of A's coworkers think he's rude because they frequently correct him, but it's just not something that is important to me right now.
• They love their gravy and fried foods down here.  I ordered mashed potatoes at KFC and they come with gravy on top. In Ohio, they ask you if you'd like gravy and it always comes on the side.  I now know to order my mashed potatoes WITHOUT gravy.
• Good food is hard to come by.  I'm probably sounding like a snobby northerner, but I love eating out at unique restaurants. We have yet to come across one we love (there is one we like, but it's hit or miss as to whether you get good food or not). I think this is all due to the area we live in, I won't hold it against all of the South ;)
• Easy access to fresh seafood.  We don't typically order seafood out (it's pretty much always fried), but we do buy seafood we cook at home.  My brother bought us a huge boiler which is perfect for crab.  I do love seafood :)
• The bugs are terrible.  They are probably my least favorite part of living down here.  We have problems with roaches, flies, mosquitoes, love bugs (they are "in season" twice a year and our house literally gets flooded with hundreds of them), spiders (typically the jumping kind), fire ants, and wasps.  We have issues with all of them at some point or another during the year.  I realllly hate bugs! 
• Sweet tea.  We keep a gallon of it in our fridge at all times. I've basically turned into Uncle Si from Duck Dynasty :P

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