Stranger ins Strange Land

The project I’m on right now has me up in the Garden State. For those of you that don’t know your state mottos, that means I’m getting an introduction to New Jersey. I say introduction because I’ve never been here before. To be honest, the closest I’ve been to “New England” is Stubenville, Ohio.

It’s funny too, although it might not be funny to my friends and family back home. I was in line at A&P today. The lady at the checkout asked me if I had one of their cards. I didn’t of course since we don’t have A&Ps in the Nashville area. I told her this and jokingly asked her if they would take my Kroger card. We got to talking about the weather and the fact that it’s nicer here than it back home. I said that it’s probably not that often someone comes north for the good weather. We both shared a laugh and I left.

I’m saying all this so you’ll know why I was so amused when watching ER last week. They have a new RN, who is from Georgia. Of course everyone else makes fun of him saying “ya’ll” (or “y’all”, whatever). It makes me wonder if I’m getting any of the same treatment at my customer’s office. I know that I don’t really have much of an accent when I speak, but I have the vocabulary. I say “ya’ll” (or “y’all”, whatever), and “reckon”. I haven’t heard anyone talking about the way talk yet. But I wouldn’t be surprised.

So now as I get ready to head to the airport to return to Nashville, I have to say thank you to all the folks I’v encountered up here. Like I said it’s been my first trip to this part of the country. I have to say the courtesy and politeness of the people have completely changed my opinion of them as they have not met the stereotypes at all. So goodbye New Jersey. I hope I get to come back soon.

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