There’s a certain je ne sais quoi about the South. The first time I heard the French phrase, I sent a friend, who had 5 years of French, a message asking her what it meant. Her reply was; I don’t know. In surprise, I immediately responded; how could you not know – you’ve had 5 years of French! She simply wrote back; no it means I do not know. So I coined the phrase as my idea of being Southern. It’s I don’t know. Je ne sais quoi.
Being Southern is not about being from the South – south is just a region. Being Southern is about life and more importantly about living. It’s not all Magnolia and Lace; the magnolias wear football pads and the lace lines the helmets. Life here is really made of steel. Steel with sweet tea.
It’s an identity to be proud of in spite of the sneers from other areas in the country. True, there are stereotypical Southerners, trailer parks, and hound dogs. And packed to the brim with rednecks. But that is not depicting the genteel part of life in the South. Nothing is more genteel than Tuscaloosa, Alabama on football Saturdays in the fall. Bryant Denny Stadium — One hundred and one thousand eight hundred and twenty one fans in one place. This is pretty amazing considering the population of Tuscaloosa is only 94,000. We could hold a town meeting, inviting everyone in town and everyone would have a place to sit. Je ne sais quoi but its awesome to live in such a place. We have our priorities in the proper order.
Being Southern is not just being from an area, it is a personality that creeps and oozes with charm, chivalry, and loyalty. I would like for this to continue to be true and we prove it every time we say Roll Tide Roll.
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