Southern Hospitality: More than a Phrase

When I hear the phrase, “southern hospitality” I see visions of people welcoming people. I see people bringing food for neighbors who have moved in, lending a hand on those everyday tasks, and welcoming people they have just met into their homes. Southern hospitality is something that I believe could change the world if everyone adopted it.

The south was built on old southern values. Southern hospitality stems from the strong sense of community and respect. Some sociologists do say that southern hospitality is just a way to brush away the bad history, but in my opinion even if it is true it doesn’t matter. Even if the phrase was just used as a PR response, it has become part of the south. People in the south are hospitable and that makes it one of the nicest regions in the U.S.

I have seen southern hospitality, but I have only seen it in small towns. In the bigger cities this word is just another phrase thrown around to describe the old south. The new large southern cities have become machines. There is no need for this much emotion. The cities have become dog eat dog. Traditionally the north has been urbanized and has never developed this hospitality.

I remember being in the small town of Shelbyville, Tennessee and seeing southern hospitability in progress. I saw a man carrying a large amount of building materials out of the local Home Depot and another man was walking in. He saw the first man couldn’t handle all of the material and volunteered to help him carry his materials back to his truck. I’ve seen someone help the casual wonderer pick up something, but to help the person load it into their vehicle I think is just another small glance into southern hospitality. I know it’s more than a phrase because I choose to live my life with southern hospitality in mind.