Damn Yankees

Apparently, I am a southerner. Though I do not have a drawl, know what homney is or drink Jack Daniels like water, I am a southerner. At a recent dinner with an out-of-town co-worker, he explained that just because West Virginia succeeded from Virginia, that did not make us (my WV colleagues) northerners. We, however, believe differently.

First off, I typically tell folks that I cannot be a southerner because technically, I am from Pittsburgh. However, the majority of my life has been spent in Wheeling, W.Va. -- and by majority, I mean all but the first three years I have been on this earth and the four spent in college (in PA of course).

Also, I have no southern accent. I do not say "y'all" or anything of the sort. If you want to accuse me of having any accent, I will resort back to my 'Burgh connections. Occasionally when speaking fast (which as those who know me is really all of the time), I will say dahn instead of down and have referred to Bologna as jumbo. When I started college, there was one other West Virginian in the freshman class. She was from dahn south, way past the Mason Dixon (oh, another reason I am not southern, I am at least 30 miles above that line). She sounded just so sweet with her drawl. I was constantly asked why I did not speak like her. Funny, isn't it. You try and pride yourself on speaking clearly and in a manner understandable to all, but yet I was obviously the freak for not representing.

But let me get back on track. My co-worker is not the only one who believes this, though. A recent CMT show touted the sexiest southern country singers and listed John Corbett (if you can actually call him a singer). Though older than me, he lived in the same neighborhood as me (which is only 40 minutes outside of Pittsburgh), went to the same high school as me, and never used a southern accent in any speech I have heard him give until he was invited to perform at Jamboree in the Hills this past summer. If you have ever seen him in interviews or on TV or in the movies, he is not a country boy.

If you ask anyone I work with, really anyone who lives in the Upper Ohio Valley, we are northerners. Heck, you do not even see rebel flags flying until you are on top of the Mason Dixon line. Again, I do not see my self as country folk. Though at times I can be friendly, I do not pride myself on southern hospitality. I am proud to see myself as a northerner, hell, I am a damn Yankee (and not of the George Steinbrenner kind).