Southern Courtesy

            Arriving in the south from New England is always a surprise.  Suddenly people everywhere are smiling and greeting me with, “How’re you-all?” and “nice day isn’t it?”

            In the supermarket, I walk through the produce department with employees asking if there’s anything I’m looking for.  The deli person starts with, “Good morning, nice day.”

            The clerk in the post office has a big smile and asks if there’s anything else they can do for me, and hotel reception wants to know if there is anything more we need.  When we ask for a coffee pot it arrives, with a smile, within minutes.

            I had forgotten my surprise last year when I spent a few weeks in South Carolina.  Afternoon walks were marked by greetings from all the other walkers.  No one averted their eyes when passing. 

Conversations spring up easily, the kind that don’t require any commitment but make me feel like I’m not invisible, one of the hazards of independent travel.

            Our meal in a restaurant was like visiting a friend.  The waitress asked where we were from and then told us the city highlights and where we would get the best dinner in town.  Remarkable.