Southern Hospitality
This week, I got my first taste of Southern hospitality. I flew from New York to New Orleans on Sunday landing around 10pm that evening. I then took a Lyft from the airport to my hotel. My driver had a heavy southern accent and grew up outside the city. She talked my ear off but she was friendly and polite. She opened up to me about how she started driving Lyft 2 weeks ago because her mother died and wanted to keep her mind occupied. She gave me a mini tour of the city as we passed landmarks and sent me a few recommendations to my phone.
The next day, I took a morning walk around the city with my AirPods in listening to some jazz. The first person I passed greeted me, “Good morning.” That caught me off guard and I awkwardly replied good morning. I then took off my AirPods and most people I passed by greeted me. This would be unusual in New York.
These are just two examples but many of the locals I interacted with in Nola are just as kind. It’s like they treat everyone as a guest in their home.