So You’ve Decided to Move to the Rural South

seetsybee:

Congratulations! However, depending on where you’re from,
there are probably a few things here that will come as a nasty shock to you. Here
are a few of those things. Consider this as a guide. It is by no means
exhaustive.

1.      
When you’re driving past your neighbors, you wave at them. This sends a signal that
says “I am one of you, I belong here, I see you”. It also sends another,
arguably more important signal that says “I promise not to scrape the left side
of your F150 with the left side of my F150”.

2.      
Yes, everybody here drives an F150. Yes, every
single one of those F150s is absolutely necessary (according to the owner).

3.      
The sweet tea is going to be sweeter than you
expect. No matter how sweet you expect it to be, it’s going to be sweeter.

4.      
“Corn from a jar” means moonshine.

5.      
“Y’all” is a contraction of “You all” that means
“You guys” or “all of you”. “Ya’ll” doesn’t mean anything, as far as I’m aware.

6.      
Tennesseans WILL fight you if you say anything
bad about Dolly.

7.      
Please stop making Deliverance jokes. We’ve
heard them all. They’re not funny anymore.

8.      
It’s hot. It’s so, so hot. If you’re from a dry
place, you don’t even understand what I mean when I say it’s hot. Every part of
you will sweat and you won’t feel any cooler because the air is so full of
water that no sweat will evaporate. You’ll just be hot AND sweaty. It’s
basically a jungle. The windows fog up from the outside.

9.      
If you have a house with a screened-in porch,
that screen is a blessing from God. Do not remove the screen to “let the air
circulate through”. There is no air to circulate. There are a lot of mosquitoes,
however, who are more than happy to check out your circulation. Which brings me to my next point…

10.  
Look around you. Do you see mountains on every
side? That’s right, if you live in Appalachia you essentially live in a bowl.
How fast does the air move around in a bowl? That’s why it’s 92 degrees and 80%
humidity at midnight…

11.  
… and it’s also 92 degrees and 100% humidity in
the middle of the day! So if you’re from a place that maybe is a little less
humid and you’re thinking of going for a jog outside, don’t bother. All the
sweat-wicking microfiber in the world won’t save you when there is nowhere to wick the sweat to. Just go to Planet Fitness.

12.  
You can’t defeat the kudzu. It’ll come back next
year. Save yourself the trouble and the Roundup exposure.

13.  
You also can’t defeat the insect life. A wasp or
a beetle will get into your house eventually. Your best bet is peaceful
coexistence, because paper wasps (the type you’re most likely to see) are not
aggressive and keep other, nastier insects at bay.

14.  
There will probably be a pack of free-range dogs
in your neighborhood, probably without collars. They’re friendly. Give ‘em a
pat.

15.  
Seriously, wave at your neighbors. It’s rude not
to.

16.  
A firework echoes, a gunshot doesn’t. This comes
up more than you’d think. Except on the 4^th of July, when you’ll hear
both.

17.  
Opossums eat ticks and are nearly immune to
rabies, so if you see one making its dumb little way across the road, please do
your best not to hit it.

18.  
Deer hunting is actually vitally important to
maintain the ecosystem. We killed off all the whitetail deer’s natural
predators, and now there’s just too god damn many of them. Hunting permits are
strictly controlled by the state’s Fish and Wildlife Department, and they give
out enough necessary to maintain the deer population. If the deer population
isn’t maintained, they outgrow their food supply and begin to starve. You may
find it distasteful but trust me, it is way better than watching deer slowly
starve to death.

19.  
The cooler you just bought has a ruler on top
for measuring fish. See #18.

20.  
Sometimes our local politicians say terrible
things. If this bothers you, you are welcome to:

a.      
Vote for a candidate that opposes the terrible
politician
b.      
Volunteer for a candidate that opposes the
terrible politician
c.      
Write letters to the terrible politician telling
him he’s terrible and should stop that
d.      
Run for office yourself

You are not welcome to:

e.      
Talk about how everybody who lives here is an
inbred racist hick

21.  
Most importantly, please do not come here and
think you’re going to magically change everything that’s wrong. Give the people
here some credit. If there were easy solutions to the problems they face, they
would have solved their problems themselves already. Life has its own pace
here, and the problems in Appalachia and the South generally are deep-seated
and far-reaching. You don’t have the magic solution to the opioid crisis,
racism, wage stagnation, brain drain, economic inequality, generational
poverty, chronic disease, environmental contamination, resource exploitation, or
any other of the issues that are endemic to this area. It is at best insulting
and at worst actively harmful to have a person who has zero understanding of
this region and the people who live in it come in and insist that big changes
need to happen and by golly gosh, he’s the one to make them. If you want to
help, listen to the people here. Support them in their fight for justice.

22.  
WAVE AT YOUR FUCKING
NEIGHBORS.