Picture this: You are in class. You discover, to your dismay, that you have forgotten a pen in the midst of your early morning scramble to class. You lean over to your friend who is seated next to you and you kindly ask them if you can borrow a writing utensil. Your friend says, “Certainly, I think I have one in my book sack."

Hold on just one moment here. Did they just say book sack?? BOOK SACK? You begin to question your entire friendship with this person. Can you actually trust them if they call what is obviously a back pack, a book sack?

Okay, maybe you wouldn't act so melodramatically, but you definitely would question it if someone erroneously named a common place object such as the back pack. I've heard this carrier of books also dubbed a “book bag," which is equally as appalling as “book sack." What is the reason for this madness, you ask? I will reveal the mysteries surrounding this phenomenon.

It is strictly a regional difference. The children who grew up in Baton Rouge and the numerous suburbs and towns that surround the capital city know the "backpack" as the "book sack." I wonder if they called rolling backpacks “rolling book sacks." I hope they didn't, because that just sounds ridiculous if you ask me. Kids from any other city that heard that name come out of a capital city child's mouth would definitely ridicule that looney little child.

Now, for the people hailing from Lafayette, Louisiana: All I can say for these fun pals is that they are definitely their own people. They have gone along with the “book sack" craze, but they also substitute a sweet little word into their vocabulary—“sha." This unique word can be placed in a sentence in the place of “aww" or “so cute." It is pronounced with as long "a" sound as if you were going to say chaperone but then cut off the word after the first three letters. It has a simple meaning, but it can baffle anyone who isn't from Lafayette. “Shaaa baby" is a common phrase in a Lafayettian's (Laffayite?) vernacular and if you ever hear that simple yet infinitely descriptive word from someone's mouth, the chances are they find their roots in Lafayette.

There are a myriad of cultural differences throughout the state of Louisiana and with those differences come inconsistencies in language as well as customs. I know this from experience because I find my home in a modest town in northern Louisiana and well, frankly I find southern Louisiana to be an entirely new world. These differences, while they separate us, give us a home that is unbelievably charming, diverse, and fascinating as a result. Therefore, cherish every difference as a culture and as a person, because if we were all the same then life would be unbearably boring.