God love 'em

For all the racism and humidity, there are a few things about the Deep South that I love dearly. One is iced tea. The other is southern hospitality, which translates into a fairly rigid social expectation - no matter what happens, do not not be rude. Do not cause a scene. Ever.

Case in point: This morning I was driving down a main road during "rush hour." Let's be clear - there is no actual rush hour around here, because the city is just not that big. But there are a few roads that slow down at certain times of day, and I was on one of them. I was sitting at a red light, and across the way, a car was stopped in the turning lane. My assumption is that it was broken down, though it did not have its flashers on. When the light turned green and the car did not turn, the car behind it honked. A man got out of the stalled car and began screaming and approaching the honking car (who was now stuck, as the light had turned red again). The man was clearly irate, and was looking for a confrontation.

In another city, I would have witnessed a crime in that moment. I have lived and driven in places where the driver of the second car would have gotten out of his car, and the scene would have escalated. But not here, honey. Here, the entire three lanes on that side of the road gave the man a wide berth, allowing the car that had just honked to move quickly into another lane and avoid a confrontation. Nobody else honked, spoke, or bothered the angry man in any way. It was as if the other drivers were all smiling sheepishly and saying, "Excuse me, Mr. Thug, Sir. Sorry to disturb your tirade. Don't mind me. Have a good day."

God bless their Southern hearts.