ife in the South É what can you really say about it?

For all of our hospitality and charm, Southerners are snooty. Sure, we know how ladies should be treated and there is nothing wrong with a little rowdy fun, as long as no one gets hurt.

But when someone from the not-South comes to visit, we aren't always so forgiving.

Sometimes we Southerners forget the Northern states don't grow crawfish as a crop or go shrimping for a living.

We can't expect states with little open water to know what a house-boat is. It isn't fair.

Gumbo, jambalaya, red beans and rice are all foreign to them, and we think they are ignorant for it.

Let us reflect on our states.

Lawn mowing is a competitive sport, dogs are next of kin. Hunting is fun for the whole family. Good trucks have gun racks, shoes are not for summer time. Cousins can be married.

No, I made that last one up. It's just a myth, kids. We don't really do that in the South. (It's the Appalachians.)

To those of us who know it best, this life is far from foreign.

What is unsweetened tea? If such a thing even exists it is little more than brown water. My personal favorite explanation for the superfluously sweetened concoction is "unsweetened tea is like Kool-Aid without sugar."

Duh. Who wouldn't know that?

Why do we eat crawfish? Because they're good. Who first discovered they could be eaten? Who cares? Pass the Tony's.

Southerners are an elitist group one can only be born into. A person can be born in the North but be raised in Louisiana. He or she will always be introduced as "the yankee that moved here years ago. He/She's OK now."

Or, in my case, you live your life in Louisiana then spend a brief reprieve in Kentucky.

When introduced, "This is my friend Sharon, she's from Kentucky." Then I am properly schooled on how things work in the South.

I've lived here for 17 years, now. I think I can manage. Thanks.

Southerners feel a certain superiority in everything.

Things that can't be bettered are simply overlooked. Who needs Broadway or art museums when each city, township, village and community has its very own arts & crafts show complete with a local (usually country) band.

Who says we're uncultured?

I believe we, as Southerners, should practice a little more of our charm and hospitality, especially to our own.

No one can resist the feminine wiles of a Southern woman, I know for a fact. The most easily ensnared are those who do not regularly live in this environment.

My boyfriend, soon to live in Ruston, has lived his entire life in Iowa. When people learn this they raise their noses and give a condescending sniff.

"You're dating a yankee?" Once I was apologetic and would describe some of his better qualities to meet their approval.

Now I raise my own nose and give a little sniff of my own.

"I'd take him over one of these 'good ole boys' any day. He's the best damn yankee I've ever met."

Sharon Moore is a junior journalism major from Natchitoches and serves as a news editor for The Tech Talk. E-mail comments to sharon@wesleymail.com.