Southern Hospitality

Before I moved to the South, I was informed by friends and family to embrace ‘the Southern hospitality’. This phrase is generally used to describe the stereotypical warm, sweet, and welcoming nature of Southerners, and has definitely been out in full force throughout the course of my Year Abroad.

A couple of weeks ago, after a stressfully long rehearsal, my close friend Rachael and I, decided that we were in need of a large glass (or four) of wine to accompany our girlie downtime. We went to the local ‘liquor’ store near campus and were pondering, as you do, over which bottle to choose. Red or white? Dry or Fruity? Merlot or Shiraz? Cheap or Expensive? Screw top or Cork? As we chatted and debated over what bottle best fitted our current mood, Rachael realised we would have to purchase a screw top because her ex-boyfriend stole their bottle opener when he moved out. Just typical! All the screw top bottles were so much more expensive. How selfish of him! As we cursed Jeff for taking the bottle opener, another woman paced the red wine aisle, looking for the perfect bottle. We finally agreed on a delicious Merlot, slightly more than we were willing to pay, but without a bottle opener we didn’t have much choice. Upon reaching the ‘check-out’ line, the same woman who had previously been in the red wine aisle approached Rachael and I and bluntly claimed; “Girls, I am going to buy you two a bottle opener”. After a few moments of delayed confusion, she continued; “I couldn’t help overhearing your conversation about Jeff, so I’m going to buy you a wine corkscrew”. Apparently, she had recently read an article about going out your way to help total strangers and she was waiting for her ‘good Samaritan’ moment. We laughed, we smiled, and gratefully accepted her offer. Although, I doubt she was going to let us say no. “So you never have to buy a screw top again!” she continued, “This can be your ‘screw Jeff’ bottle opener”. After profusely thanking her, I realised she was just one of many American’s I’ve met that fit this stereotype of ‘Southern hospitality’. So, not only is Rachael now the proud new owner of a fab bottle opener, the wine tasted ten times nicer because of her spontaneous act of kindness. Turns out there are some lovely strangers in the least expected places!