The classic cultural differences between North and South are often a source of jokes and stereotypes, from the North vs. South civil war to the East Coast vs. West Coast hip-hop rivalry.
But for those who have lived in the South their whole lives, a visit to the North can be filled with more than just the usual culture shocks.
Adirondack Park is the largest state or national park in the Lower 48, and New York State has its fair share of rural populations. New York State is the fourth food producer in the land and has some remote villages too.
Californians and rural Kansas cities are not natural bedfellows, so when a native from the Golden State visited Wichita for work, he was puzzled when the streets were empty one Sunday afternoon. “Church,” locals told them when they asked why.
Another Californian was nonplussed when told they had to buy a six-pack of beer from a bar — not a grocery store while in Pennsylvania. Compared to California’s sell-anywhere mentality, this must have been frustrating.
“My first day or two in Long Island, I terrified people because I’d walk down the street and say hello to people as I passed,” comments one blessed Mississippian. I love hearing from people like this.
After spending four days in Manhattan, one Southerner observed that the people don’t say “you’re welcome” at all. “I don’t think they were being rude, it’s just not part of the culture I guess,” adds the same person.
The snow shocked a South Carolinian who once went to Chicago in October. “It snowed sideways,” they laugh, also noting how they once had a heat stroke during the same month back home. That’s America for you — every climate on the planet.