Instantly, many people from the South saw that headline and were defensive. Southern pride is a real thing and if it gets insulted, well, heaven help the person who did the insulting.

In this case though, I'm not insulting being southern. I was born and raised in the South. I've only ever lived in Tennessee or Georgia. I love being from the South. So many things are uniquely southern and I identify with so many of them. Even though I'm not from Alabama, I certainly can identify with the band Alabama's lyric, "I'm in the heart of Dixie, Dixie's in the heart of me". Simply put, I love my Southern heritage and can't imagine living anywhere else in the whole world.

But, there are some drawbacks to being southern. It's not really a "curse" though. I only said that for effect. While I know there are more, here are five things that I see as drawbacks to being from the South:

1. The Accent

Comedian Jeff Foxworthy said, "I used to say that when people heard my southern accent, they always wanted to deduct 100 IQ points. Because apparently, the Southern accent's not the most intelligent sounding accent in the world." Ain't that the truth?! Have you ever traveled out of the south and had someone make fun, maybe not really make fun, but talk about your accent? It NEVER bothers me, but I agree with Foxworthy that our accent doesn't make us sound too intelligent. Just last week, we were in Destin, Florida (and no matter what y'all think, Florida is NOT "the South") and my wife ordered shrimp. Only she said "shre-ump". The waitress repeated her order just as Tiaa had said it. I thought it was hilarous, but I can see how that would offend some people. The southern accent is incredibly distinct, but it's also one of the curses of being southern.

2. Weather Freak Outs

Alright, it's true. None of us know how to drive in the snow. Yes, we fear being stranded in our homes with no power and/or no cable (not sure which one is worse anymore). We are afraid we can't get to the store and so we stock up on milk and bread. All of those jokes are true! We get made fun of...and rightfully so. However, in my area of the south, we also have started freaking out about bad thunderstorms. Maybe we always freaked out about them, but since the invention of Facebook, I now get to read about everyone's fear of thunder and lightning. I don't especially like these things either, but I don't post about it on my Facebook each time the weatherman calls for a storm. Another new phenomenon I've noticed is that schools will now close over things such as cold, thunderstorms, or even the threat of these things. I'd hate to be a school superintendent making these calls because it's automatic that folks are going to be mad no matter what. We live in such a litigious society nowadays. Anyway, I digress. Go ahead and make fun of us, you Yankees, but when Paul Barys says it's going to snow, I'm headed to Walmart.

3. Everyone's a Christian

I'm being facetious, so chill out. The thing about a church being on every street corner in the South isn't literally true, y'all. But, this area is most definitely the Bible belt. As I'm a Christian, I certainly don't mind living right in the buckle of the Bible belt. HOWEVER, here's a big problem: just because you grew up in a church doesn't mean that you're a Christian. I'm afraid a lot of people in the South confuse being a Christian with church membership. Those are two very different things. I feel like some folks believe they have their ticket for Heaven punched just because their daddy is a deacon. That's not how it works, folks. I think most people in the south think they are Christians though...even if they really aren't.

4. Stereotypes

This sort of goes along with the accent point, but there's far more to the Southern stereotype than just a hick sounding accent. You know what I mean: all Southerners drink sweet tea, love guns, are passionate about college football (well, that one may be true), we're all racist, we sleep with our cousins, we're all rednecks, we run around barefoot all the time, etc. The antebellum South died a long time ago, but those stereotypes probably never will. I'm from the South and I don't hunt or fish. I hardly ever go barefoot. I don't go camping. I don't drink sweet tea very often. I also have all of my teeth. But if I tell someone who doesn't know me, and who doesn't live in the South, I'll bet you they immediately assume that I hunt, fish and drink sweet tea. I do love me some college football though.

5. The Weather

No, no, no...overall, the weather in the South is pretty great. However, the wild swings the weather can confuse and frustrate even the most prepared Southerner. For example, I'm writing this in May. May weather in the South is typically glorious. Do you know what the high is going to be tomorrow? 54. FIFTY-FOUR!! In MAY!! That'll seem like 24 in January. You know what else is bad about the weather here, the humidity. You know I'm right. The air is so thick in the summer. It's impossible not to sweat. But, if you choose to live in the South, you know that you're subjecting yourself to Mother Nature's moodiness. She seems to get worse each year too.

So that's it. The curse of being Southern. But, in my best Southern dialect, I don't care what nobody says, I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.