More Southern Traditions...

Tea
My husband and I have traveled and lived in the north for several years, but we are southerners through and through. I will never forget when we lived in NY we went to this restaurant with some friends. We ordered tea, they brought it to us hot. So we re-ordered tea, iced and sweet. Yeah, no. They didn't serve sweet iced tea, they served iced tea, you sweeten it yourself. Now all good southerners know you sweeten you tea as you make it, or the sugar (all two cups of it) does not dissolve.  Oh my word! What they brought us was nasty, it was black, instant tea. We promptly re-ordered cokes.  Surely they couldn't mess up a coke.
Now the funny thing is, years later, over twenty now, we don't drink sweet tea anymore. We do like our tea brewed but prefer it unsweet now, and I even love hot tea during the cold months. Especially hot peppermint tea.
Shoes
I have to laugh, some friends from Mississippi are visiting my state and went to Walmart, where they of course saw a grown woman with no shoes on. Now I do want to say, Mississippi is the south too, but there is as much difference in Mississippi and Arkansas as there is between Arkansas and NY.  I know I have lived in all three states, so I feel qualified to make that statement. Now here is the shoe rules at my house.  You don't have to wear them in the house, or even running outside to stand with the dog when she does her business, but you MUST wear them out to stores.  My son loves to skip the shoes when he hops in his car and runs to a drive-thru. Momma fusses. So I am sitting here barefoot, telling all my fellow Arkansans, to please wear your shoes to Walmart.
Talking
I have to say, I love to hear southerners talk. There is a comedian named Jeanne Robertson who is from the south, who is so fun to listen to. Her drawl is perfect, She is from North Carolina and her accent is just so fun. I was in a store yesterday and this gal said something and I had to look twice to make sure it wasn't Jeanne, she sounded just like her. Now here is the deal, not all Southerners talk alike. I was amazed at the difference between the way, we talked and the way they talk in Mississippi, when I lived there. To my ears it often sounded like they were talking with a wad of cotton in their mouths. One of the things I was told the most that I didn't say right in MS was all my words that end with "ight" I still don't know what I was doing wrong there.  
So I just wanted to share some fun insights into how this Southern girl thinks, about her tea, her shoes and how she talks.