Things ‘Round Here 7/28/2024

By: Jennifer Richardson Holt

In perusing social media recently, I stumbled upon a refreshing little anecdote amongst the rubble that is current American society. It was one of those lists describing the qualities of a certain area and how if one is familiar with all the traits on the list then they can be certain they are from said area.  I read through the list and was pleased to find a few things that were not the typical.  I thought, in a bit of a different type of blog,  I would share with you some of these traits and just how true they actually are. I will attempt not to bore you with the aspects that I have covered before.  But today we travel down the road that lets you know for certain that you are from Alabama. I find it pleasing to know how my fellow Alabamians (and probably a few other Southerners) will smile and nod at many of these. It is possible I find it even more pleasing to think of readers that are not from Alabama or the South and attempt to visualize their collective raised brows at the intrigue of it all.

The list started at a very realistic and appropriate place. It says those from this state will know the mixture of joy and heartbreak that comes from Iron Bowl Saturday. If you don’t know, this state has two major universities. There is Auburn University and the University of Alabama. The Iron Bowl is the Saturday after Thanksgiving when these twi teams play each other. When you are born here, you choose a side. Now, if by some happenstance your family is from elsewhere and already has allegiances to another school this is fine. However, we do ask these allegiances be based in long standing tradition not just some flippant disinterest in football that amounts to you just being from a state and attempting to pull for one of said state’s teams. No, you must come into things with already vested interest. However, even then, you can cheer for your somewhere else school, but, at the end of the day, you are here now, and you still must choose a side. I say that as if it were a matter of life and death. I would like to say that it isn’t but, it is. Should it be, in the grand scheme of things? No, I would say not.  But here we are.  And here it is. 

Another mention on this list of Alabama-ness was one that is very significant as far as I am concerned to those outside of the South. Now, the next bit of information will be utter obviousness to those born and raised in these parts but for the few that read that are not from here we need to address the glory that is Barbecue. This list just said that a true Alabamian would know the importance of good barbecue. While this is wholeheartedly true, it seems a tad vague as “good” barbecue is entirely subjective. I mean my heavens states divide themselves along the lines of which type of barbecue sauce they prefer.  I personally feel it may be more important for the non-southerners to know what barbecue is not. Because something is cooked on a grill does not make it barbecue. If someone is grilling hamburgers and hotdogs, while they are delicious and I love them dearly, they are not barbecue. Barbecue is meat that is cooked low and slow over smoke of various woods (or, in my opinion the best of all smoke fuels, pecan shells).  It is a labor of love to make pork shoulder that very nearly disintegrates and ribs on which the meat falls off the bone if you look at it too hard.  It is an art to create such meat masterpieces. Luckily, I am fortunate enough to married to a man that is one such artist. I hope you can all control your envy as I tell you he can make pulled pork that I (someone who isn’t super keen on pork) is more than happy to grab from a plastic bag from the fridge and eat cold.  It’s that good. Now, that, my dear readers, is barbecue.

One of my favorite notes from this list was that a true Alabamian could easily tell the difference between a soybean field and a cotton field just driving by. I can, without a shadow of a doubt, do this and I only noticed that I had this capability recently. I would attempt to explain to someone how to do it, but I realize that my tips would be so agriculturally based that if you didn’t have that constant surrounding of fields of one crop or another, I wouldn’t be particularly helpful at all.  On a side note, I am extremely happy to see that the field less than a mile from my house is currently full of blooming cotton so, come this fall I will get to take the achingly southern cotton field pictures of my daughter of which I am so terribly fond. I am already planning what outfit would serve best for her for such purposes. I daresay that isn’t standard fare for most parts of the world except here.

I guess the most endearing trait on the list of what it is to be an Alabamian was the extreme focus on the importance of southern hospitality. We are friendly. We are welcoming.  We will even overlook it if you have poor taste in football teams and even at our own home stadium, if you are pulling for the other guys, we will happily invite you over to eat at our tailgate. I have seen the bitterest of rivals have quite the time on a fall Saturday just reveling together despite their differences.  You see, I know the South, especially some of the deepest parts such as Alabama, has certain negative stereotypes.  I suppose most places do. But I urge you, if you haven’t been here. Come and visit. Watch a football game and eat some barbecue.  While you may not be from here. You will certainly be glad you came.