South Florida
ain’t The South
As a South Florida native, I always heard of the ‘tales’ surrounding the practices and subculture of what lay to the north ironically known as ‘The South’. The most absurd fact about this predicament is the further north you travel it no longer is known as ‘The South’ it becomes ‘The Deep South’.
As a ‘Florida Man’ (minus the infamous media headline making behavior), I couldn’t even fathom let alone create such a ‘logic’. Then again, I think as somebody who is a graduate of the Florida Public School system, I think I actually could come up with something that has such faulty logic.
Hashtag: No Child Left Behind Act.
I’ve lived the majority of my life in South Florida surrounded by diversity, whether there were Jews, Hispanics, Eastern Europeans, a few Western Europeans, Filipinos, Vietnamese, Chinese, Koreans, as well as people hailing from many other countries from the Caribbean, South and Central America.
In addition to that, I’ve lived almost 7 years in South America as a missionary and as an English teacher.
It was only until January of 2023 did my virtuous and ‘Miss Colombia’ gorgeous wife and I find ourselves moving to the Atlanta metro area; where the city meets the mountains, where the nearest water source were local rivers that clearly have seen better days compared to the blue crystallized beaches we were used to.
The wide variety of restaurants we would see in our daily routine were now Mexican restaurants, Bar-B-Q restaurants, and Burger joints.
All of which are equally delicious as they are dangerous for your health.
Yes, I’m aware that the southern cuisine has roots that run deep in the region’s history that are like that of the local families whose last names and legacy continue to plant itself here like that of the local oak trees who drop their acorns in their forest.
These sincere and hospitable locals have introduced me to the ‘true meaning’ to a potluck as well as some Southern lingo or phrases. One of those phrases being the ol’ infamous “Bless your heart.”, which of course depending on the context could be the sincerest thing you’ll hear or the ‘kindest’ insult you’ll ever receive.
Even with that in mind, who would ever think that “Bless your heart” could be synonymous to having the ‘F-bomb’ dropped on you as a Southern Belle smiles with her classy and expensive get-up and says in a sweet, seemingly innocent voice “Bye, ya’ll”.
Only in America, right? Insults in Florida were straight to the point in English, Spanish, and Creole.
By the way, there’s the phrase “Only in America”, well where I come from “Only in Florida”. That phrase runs with the weird and bizarre headlines we hear about the infamous ‘Florida Man’ for example who called 911 because McDonald’s ran out of a menu item.
My personal true story favorite goes to the local ‘Florida Man’ from my hometown who put a 3 and a half live foot alligator through a fast food restaurant drive-thru window.
Yes, that’s a true story. Google it, I dare you.
Transitioning back to Georgia, I can say that I love the small town feel we’ve been blessed with since leaving our ‘nest’ that has been overpopulated with ‘Snow Birds’ and that has kicked us out due to the rise of living expenses as well as stress.
Conclusion
There is however more I’m learning, analyzing and appreciating about this neck of the woods that we’re beginning to call ‘home’.
There may be significant differences between Florida and Georgia, but don’t let a map deceive you into thinking they’re the same.
Get an education by meeting the people of any culture or subculture and you’ll see there’s more than what meets the eye.
Mind you for us, this is barely ‘Year Two’ for us.
