I believe it. I know some people from podunk towns, and what's acceptable to them is NOT acceptable in normal society. The people who used to live next door were from a small town down South. One day they invited us for a BBQ. First of all, their backyard and deck looked like something out of Sanford & Son. Then, a little boy of about 3 pooped his pants. His mother yelled, "Well if you're gonna sh*t in your pants then you're going to sit in it!" See, she was busy drinking and on FB. When she finally went to clean him up, she just took all of his clothes off in full view of everyone, got the garden hose and sprayed the poop off of him - into the grass that other kids were running around in. Last time I went over there.

Therapy for food-based mental illnesses is more helpful than following a fad diet. Yes, even Paleo is a fad. It's no different than Adkins, the cabbage soup diet, or the South Beach diet. Unless you have a medical issue, eliminating entire food groups doesn't tend to work in the long run. Get to the root of the issues or you're going to fall back into old patterns. Weight loss is just as mentally challenging as it is physically challenging, and if you're looking for motivation in a book written by someone who's profiting off the diet industry, chances are, you're setting yourself up for failure. What happened in your childhood that triggered your issues with food? Deal with that before deciding to never eat beans again.

Update on mail package that is late. I filed a complaint yesterday because package had not moved in days according to the scan history on the USPS website. Today I get notification that it is out for delivery today. They said weather was the reason for the delay. Bullshit. It has been sitting in the hub of my very southern, warm, sunny city for 4 days. I go to check the scan history, and it is completely changed. Says it just arrived in my city yesterday. Complete bullshit. Good thing I took a screen shot of the scan history before I filed a complaint. I sent that to them and ask why it was changed after the complaint was filed. Haven't heard back.

I live in the midwest; in a state that's a weird hodgepodge of north and south. The large northern cities are multicultural, and full of people from all walks of life. The smaller southern towns... let's just say my coworker's son didn't know that black people were real until he was 11 years old, and he saw a black family, while visiting a zoo in our state's capital. He truly didn't know that other races existed. He thought that white people played poc on TV, and more importantly, his idiot, racist parents didn't teach him otherwise. And you bet your ass my coworker loudly told this story at work, because she thinks it's funny. Any black people who move to their small town aren't made to feel welcome. This ugly shit is why trump is in the White House. People who deny that this ugly shit happens, like the OP who claims the south just loves it's blacks, is why trump is in the White House. Total, absolute willful ignorance.

In the deep south, they still have segregated proms. People protest if the confederacy isn't represented at a veteran's day parade. People use the N word regularly and without apology. People may bring a casserole when someone's house burns down, but if that same black someone wants to date their daughter, you can forget it. I live in the deep south, it is about as racist as you can get.

In the deep south, we are neighbor helping neighbor. White guy goes into black church and kills 9 people, and the members of the church forgive him. Black people heard about a white family with disabled father and no money, and they banded together to get food and presents for them. Hurricane blows away a house and the people are welcomed into another household. White friend is alcoholic and his mainstay in getting sober is black. I know of all these incidents personally. That is not surface politeness, that is true caring. It starts with you. Stop griping about things and help someone. The world might look different to you if you do.

What a year 2018 was! I took trips to Hawaii, Mexico, Southern California, Yosemite, New Jersey and Minnesota. I learned to surf, I climbed Half Dome, kayaked and SUPed, and ran a half marathon. I stopped my volunteer dance class (after 10 years in a row!), and I buried my grandmother. I went to Burning Man, and helped run a mediation dojo. I got my aerial yoga certification, and started teaching regular classes. I was in my first musical, and even got lead a number. So very, very many changes, and firsts, and things crossed off my bucket list. I spent a ton of money, but had so many experiences. What a crazy year!

The politeness in the deep south is surface only. Racism is rampant and profound. Don't even give me that BS about "we all get along". (MIssissippi resident.)

Oh good grief. I used to live in the deep south, and it was ground zero for people bitching about the war on Christmas.

Oh, honey... bless your heart. With love, a reformed Southerner from Louisiana.