So, I confess. I grew up in St. Louis. But it was not until I moved to the East Coast that people tried to tell me that I was from the South. I think Nelly had something to do with this. Everyone knows he grew up in St. Louis but no one knows he was born in Texas. I didn't really know anyone growing up who had a southern accent. If they did have any type of twang, it was because their people were from..... the South! I mean, come on people, St.Louis is "the Gateway to the West" There is that big Arch thingie at the Mississippi River and it could not be more clear that Missouri is the MidWest.
But over the years I have come up with a few sure-fire irrefutable justifications of how I know that St. Louis is not in the South
- 1. I never actually had grits until I moved away from St. Louis. In fact, I barely knew what a grit was until late in high school. It was not served as a regular side on any breakfast platter that I ever had growing up. (Case in point, no Waffle Houses!)
- 2. I thought Luther, Bubba or Justus were just names for black men. I had no idea that somewhere there were white people with these names to.
- 3. No sweet tea!
I rest my case! :-)
But over the years I have come up with a few sure-fire irrefutable justifications of how I know that St. Louis is not in the South
3 comments:
A man from Chicago once told me he was from the East Coast too. Some people have a strange sense of geography.
I'm from St. Louis too! I live in the DC metro area now, and people do say I'm from the south...I don't get it.
I do have to disagree...there is a Waffle House right by the airport. That's the only one I know of though. It's been there at least 10 years..
My mother is from Mississippi so sweet tea is in my blood, and so are grits..
My only defense is, "It's the Gateway to the West." I always correct them and say I'm from the Midwest. When I went away to college, people thought StL was in Louisiana. Why? No idea. People ARE weird.
I didn't realize that all southern states in the south didn't have sweet tea until I went to New Orleans for the first timeand they didn't have sweet tea. The horror! So I had water and liquor while I was there! (LOL) Not all southern states have sweet tea, which is a travesty. LOL!
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