Neighbors in the South

One BIG advantage to living in a southern state is neighbors. They are nosey, spontaneous, funny, helpful, generous, inclusive, and these are really good qualities. I’ll explain. Nosey – “Honey, I see someone walking around our neighbor’s house that I don’t know.” Spontaneous – “I think I’ll go over there and ask them what they are doing.” Funny – “Hi neighbor, I think I scared your AC repairman off yesterday.” Helpful – “I’ve got a cousin that does AC repair and he won’t charge you a lot.” Generous – “Hey neighbor, come stay with us till your AC is fixed.” Inclusive – “Come with us to church on Sunday and we’ll get everyone to pray that your AC is fixed soon.”

Neighbors in the south expect interaction. They will walk by your house expecting you to come out and talk awhile, which could be ten minutes or an hour. For every subject you bring up they have an anecdote, a reference, or a full blown story. They are great storytellers and some stories border on gossip. The difference lies within the point of view of the storyteller and how he interprets the facts. If he sees the AC repairman walking around your house he might interpret it as "skulking" or "creeping". At that point it is his duty to investigate on your behalf. The story will also take on vivid color as it is re-told from neighbor to neighbor. The neighborhood grapevine has now become more vigilant since the story morphed into a possible burglar posing as an AC repairman.

Still, it is great to be surrounded by people who will stop and chat, tell you a story about a neighbor who has had trouble with his AC, and give you a full account of how the Lord played a hand in helping him get his AC fixed for almost nothing, then suggest y’all get together sometime for dinner.