Some examples of what I mean...
Executive Sous Chef Kenny Burlew will brand the Knoxville Marriott's Hill St. Cafe on my memory with his culinary creations and his endless raconteurship about the south. He treated me to numerous dishes and introduced me to bourbon on the rocks, 100 proof...wow, as potent as his dishes.
The WAFFLE HOUSE, UNION CITY, GA
AM/PM GAS BAR, UNION CITY, GA
I was pumping gas into my bike, when this black man, about 75 or so, approached me and commented that I was a long way from home. Then, he began a conversation with me about riding, about his dream to still try out riding, though he cautioned, not the distance I was touring.
This one was the clincher. I went into what I thought was a typical roadhouse diner. My expectations: glorified fast food, bar service of draft beer and cocktails, a typical American roadside restaurant. Well, 'ya gotta get past the cover of every book you touch.' This was no typical roadside restaurant.
I negotiated with 'Summer,' the 20 yr old (I guess) bartender over my menu selection. I just wanted a salad and a single piece of southern fried chicken (Is it all like KFC?) To cut to the quick, she steered me into having a dinner salad with chicken critters on the side for she felt it would be the closest way to meet my wishes.
Meanwhile, this man in a Texas Roadhouse Baseball cap, jeans, and sport shirt, seated 4 bar stools away from me, began talking to me. Soon, I discover, he is the managing partner of this franchise and proudly boasts that he has tripled its weekly sales since he took over, from $30,000 which was dismal, to over $90,000 which is one of the top performances in the franchise. I am not off topic. I now will refocus. He asked me if I had tasted their ribs. With my negative reply, he quickly ordered a rib sampler for me. When we shifted to his steaks, I quickly said, please no sample of it too as I am trying to eat less. I hate the word diet!
Then, Troy Craig, this manager, sat down beside me and in our discussion he verified my thinking about people in the south are just as I am beginning to see them. He confirmed that they have a different attitude, a different view on how to treat people. He told me a number of stories which just reinforced what I am beginning to see. Southerners seem to be happy go lucky people who care about how you are doing. I know this is a leaping conclusion but I sure felt good every time I dealt with a southerner.
Now I mentioned 'blacks' a couple of times above. My limited experience with blacks in the bigger northern cities was that many of them are angry persons, as if they had an ax to grind. Maybe they did, maybe they do. But the southern blacks seem to have adopted an attitude of "Well, life dishes out lots of lemons, so laugh and keep slicing for the iced tea!" They seem to be a delightful bunch of people, much like southern Italians, or the stereotypical southern Italians, laughing and smiling and hugging and kissing both cheeks. The southern blacks don't do ALL of that, but nearly so.
By the way, this Texas Roadhouse is far above the average roadside restaurant. Their food is not pre-packaged, commercially prepared but done totally in-house, from scratch. The rib sampler, WOW is the short, to-the-point compliment, smoky tasting, sweetened with molasses and falling of the bone. I am glad it was a sampler because I was full after eating it. The dinner salad, enough to feed 3 people...Americans do like quantity...but the quality was there, fresh lettuce, a couple of gentler cheeses, the chicken critters, nicely battered and fried, not KFC at all. I had no room for anything else but coffee.
Kevin Follis, the assistant manager, came over to talk with me filling me in on his take of southern hospitality. Sure, doing his job, but there is some built in fun in it too when he led a number of his waitresses in some impromptu line dancing. Just his job, you say...well, I think I would be embarrassed to do the line dancing the way they did. But they laughed, and enjoyed it as did all the diners.
But wait, another tidbit, maybe a good marketing ploy, or another example of the personal touch and caring of southerners. Troy, the manager partner, has photos of his VIP diners plastered on the walls, in the booths, above the bar, torso shots of what he calls his special guests with their names labeling each photo. The booth photos indicate the favorite booth of the particular persons depicted in that booth's photos. Troy says, his VIPs get VIP treatment when they come in, front of the line service, and their own particular booth ASAP.
I could go on with more examples, but blogs are supposed to be shorter, I think. I need some feedback folks! Whatchya wanna tell me? Too long? Stuffy? Opinionated? Or simply Szpin's observations on life...which is what it is supposed to be. Being an old history, political science teacher, I marvel at the social culture of the south, knowing its past turmoil and problems.
But one thing does trouble me...the further south I go, the more difficult it is understanding conversations if they are speedy. I thought TV and the Internet were obliterating speech localism, but in the south, at least where I have been so far, the regional vocabulary and pronunciation is localized, and when things are said at speed, I can't understand the conversation. So far, no one has taken affront at my asking them to repeat things for me or talk slower. Maybe I have to listen faster !!
Visit back again !
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