Everybody likes to put people from the South into the same category . However, Southern life in a small town is drastically different from Southern life in a city, and Southern has a lot of different meanings based off the state you use to define it. Certain aspects of Southern life are universal: our tea will always be sweet, our hospitality will always be famous, and the jokes about incest will always be abundant. However, there are certain aspects of small-town Southern life that end at Louisiana's borders.
1. You can't understand a word that the old people are saying.
French is the native language of a lot of older Louisiana citizens. This creates an interesting language barrier between the older and younger generations, even when everyone is speaking the same language. The older generation tends to speak French so quickly that even the fluent French speakers of the younger generation cannot keep up. When English is used, the accent on the older citizens can be so thick that the younger citizens are still lost.
2. Your grandparents are basically your parents.
Whether or not you can understand grandmaw doesn't matter. You love her just the same. Whether you have both parents in your life or not, your grandparents always have a big hand in raising you. Weekends are often spent at their house, and its not uncommon to even have your own room at their place.
3. You drank coffee out of your sippy cup.
Coffee-milk, often affectionately referred to as "café au lait" by the older generation, is a staple of everyone's childhood. With more sugar and milk than coffee, every child starts their sugar addiction early via the help of grandmaw's coffee pot.
4. There are so many gay people.
You would think that the conservative ideals of the stereotypical South would be found in every aspect of small town Louisiana. Yet, for some reason, an abundance of homosexuals can always be found. Everybody has at least two gay cousins, and half of your high school memories revolve around watching lesbian couples kiss in the hallway.
5. The smartest kids are also the wildest.
AP kids work hard and play hard. All the good drugs come from the kids with the high ACT scores. All the hard drugs come from the private school kids.
6. Half of your middle school shoplifted for fun.
It was always either condoms from Walmart or lewd items from Spencer's.
7. Everyone at your local college wears LSU gear to class.
Why have school pride when you can just jump on the bandwagon?
8. Wild animals are your friends and your food.
Deer, rabbit,and duck were all food items. Meanwhile everyone was super excited when they found an orphaned raccoon or squirrel to raise.
9. Teachers become friends after you graduate.
It still feels a little bit illegal when you tag them on Facebook or visit their houses, but you wouldn't trade those friendships for anything.
10. The local Sonic was everyone's favorite place to hang out before they were old enough to go to bars.
Even if it was freezing cold, you and your friends were always sitting outside and drinking slushes there on Friday nights.
11. Everyone got tattoos in high school.
Even the quietest kid probably had a small diamond or cross hidden somewhere. Parents often signed off for their kids to get inked sometime around age 16 or 17.
12. Teenage pregnancy was common.
Despite the young age, most of the girls who got pregnant somehow ended up being great moms.
