We all know that cultural differences exist. No matter where you go in the world there will always be something that is done differently from how you do things in your home town or household. Well believe it or not, there are even some very prominent differences in culture, lifestyles and even personality differences if you were born above or below the Mason Dixon line.
I was born up in New York and then due to my father’s job, my family relocated to the south. Tennessee, to be exact. I've always noticed differences in accents and sayings like "y'all" but until recently, after taking a vacation up to see my family, I never noticed that the north and south are basically two different worlds. Here are just a few of the differences:
Soda
That's right, it's actually called soda or soda pop, not coke. Coke is a brand. Up North, you don't ask someone what kind of coke they want because Sprite and Dr. Pepper or Pepsi aren't cokes, they are considered sodas.
Churches
Up in the north people are religious and there are definitely plenty of churches. Yet down south, there is a church on basically every street corner. Also up north, while there are a variety of churches, most of them are Catholic churches. Down south, however, there's a church for every religion you've never heard of and then some, and they are on every block.
Shopping Carts
Up north, shopping carts are just that, carts you use while shopping. They are carts you push things around in while shopping and looking for groceries or even clothes if you go to some bigger stores. Yet down south, they are apparently called buggies. To me, a buggie makes no sense and makes me think of bugs, but whatever...
Y'all
Honestly, I think that's the first time I've ever typed or said that word. Up north, "you guys" is how you address more than one person. "You guys going out to dinner?" or "What time do you guys have class today?" Southerners use y'all instead of you guys because I don't really know why; it's not any shorter...
Football
Up north people definitely watch football, but football night is Sunday night and Monday night. Northerners only like a college football team if they went to that school. I had never ever heard of people watching football on Saturdays until college because to southerners, the SEC is where it's at and football day is Saturday.
The Weather
Obviously the weather, and therefore some of the clothes are culturally different. But if I hear one more person says it's cold when it's 60 degrees outside, I'll scream because that's a beautiful day with perfect weather. To me, as much as I love school being out of session and swimming in the summer time, summer in the south is 20 degrees hotter than it needs to be.
Manners
Up north, manners are knowing not to burp at the dinner table and when to say please and thank you. However, manners down south are on a whole different level. For example, waitresses: Your typical southern waitress probably calls you darling, honey, sweetheart or something just as gross (like sugar) about five times a meal. I don't know if it's me thinking manners and being sickeningly sweet are two totally different things, but nothing churns my stomach more than a waitress at a restaurant calling me darling or sweetheart. I know you think you're being polite, but you don't know me, so it's just weird.
Sweet Tea
Up north, it just doesn't exist. It's called iced tea with some sugar packets. Down south, it's basically its own food group people drink it so often.
Fried chicken
I'll give it to you fried chicken is delicious. But it's also something I can get at KFC or Chick-fil-a, which are nationwide places. So fried chicken is one of the few things the north and south now have in common.
A mudroom
This is one of those things that I'd never heard of until my roommates freshmen year had to explain to me for about 20 minutes that a southern mudroom is in fact what I had been calling a front hallway or foyer my whole life.
Bless your heart
Up north, it's actually not a phrase that's said, but if it is it's probably said in church. However, down south, it can be said to mean just about anything. Typically it seems to be used in sadness or in the form of a backhanded insult when people don't want to just come forward and be mean. I have lived in Tennessee quite some time now and I still don't really understand why and when people use it.
Mudding
This is one of those activities that northerners see on reality TV like "Honey Boo Boo" and have no idea that real people do. But apparently mudding is 100 percent a real thing. People enjoy dirtying up their clothes and cars to slip around in dirty rain water. I personally had no idea this was a real thing people did until college.
Accents
Up north, things seem to be faster paced in general. The driving, the fast food service and especially the talking. I grew up my entire life thinking that I talked fast when in actuality, I just talk fast for where I live. Down south, words are more annunciated and said far slower than when people talk up north. Of course, there is also how the accent itself sounds on top of all that, but I could go on for days how things are pronounced so differently down south as opposed to up north.
It's funny that crossing something as simple as the Mason Dixon line can bring out a whole different culture where people are entirely different from what you’re used to.
