A lady from out West has been assigned to the Deep South in her job. She doesn’t like it. She says we are a different country.

I thanked her for saying that, which was not the response she expected.

She’s nice, so I didn’t say to her what I usually tell Yankees who criticize the South:

“Keep in mind that WE didn’t fight a war to keep YOU.”

She also said I should stop calling myself old. She was being nice. Here is my reply:

“In the Youth Culture outside my Southern Nation, old is terrible. But we Southerners get a feeling that we were part of a long, long tradition, a nation of the South, from our older people.”

“Your older people are the World War II generation, the one that calls itself The Greatest Generation. They make young people feel like outsiders. You didn’t Sacrifice, you didn’t Suffer like they did.”

“Our old people told us about the family, the South, and made us part of it. Believe it or not, when I say I am old, I am bragging. I am now part of those who are carrying the tradition and I earned it.”

“I don’t want to be young. By my years and my loyalty, I earned the right to call myself one of the Old Southerners. Young people respond to it very, very well.”