Monday, January 9, 2012

What's the deal with Louisiana folk?

This post comes at an appropriate time. Today is the day everyone who bleads purple and gold has been waiting for. The day LSU claims another championship victory. Cocky? Eh. Confident.



And even though this post has nothing to do with the game tonight (more on that tomorrow) it has to do with the sudden obsession with Louisiana folk.

You know you're from Louisiana when...
The crawfish mounds in your front yard have over taken the grass.
You greet people with "Howzyamomma'an'dem?" and hear back "Dey fine!"
Every so often, you have waterfront property. When giving directions you use words like "uptown," "downtown," "backatown," "riverside," "lakeside," "other side of the bayou" or "other side of the levee."
When you refer to a geographical location "way up North," you are referring to places like Shreveport, Little Rock or Memphis, "where it gets real cold."
You've ever had Community Coffee.
You can pronounce Tchoupitoulas but can't spell it.
You don't worry when you see ships riding higher in the river than the top of your house.
You judge a po-boy by the number of napkins used.
The waitress at your local sandwich shop tells you a fried oyster po-boy "dressed" is healthier than a Caesar salad.
You can eat Popeye's, Haydel's and Zapp's for lunch and wash it down with Barq's and several Abitas, without losing it all on your stoop.
The four seasons in your year are: crawfish, shrimp, crab, and King Cake.
You "wrench" your hands in the sink with an onion bar to get the crawfish smell off.
You don't learn until high school that Mardi Gras is not a national holiday.
You believe that purple, green and gold look good together.
Your last name isn't pronounced the way it's spelled.
You know what a nutria rat is but you still pick it to represent your baseball team.
You have spent a summer afternoon on the Lake Pontchartrain seawall catching blue crabs.
You describe a color as "K & B Purple."
You like your rice and politics dirty.
You pronounce the largest city in the state as "Nawlins."
You know those big roaches can fly, but you're able to sleep at night anyway.
You assume everyone has mosquito swarms in their backyard.
ou realize the rainforest is less humid than Louisiana.
You learn that a seat belt makes a pretty good branding iron...
You discover that you can get a sunburn through your car window...
When out of town, you stop and ask someone where there is a drive-through Daiquiri place, and they look at you like you have three heads.
You have flood insurance.
Your burial plot is six feet over rather than six feet under.
You consider a Bloody Mary a light breakfast.
You push little old ladies out of the way to catch Mardi Gras throws.
You leave a parade with footprints on the top of your hands.
You have a parade ladder in your shed.
Your first sentence was "Throw me something mistah" and your first drink was from a go-cup.
You worry about a deceased family member returning in spring floods.
You reply to anything and everything about life here with "Only in Nahlins".
You have a monogrammed go-cup.
You get on a bus marked "Cemeteries" and don’t think twice.
You shake out your shoes before putting them on.
Your sunglasses fog up when you step outside.
No matter where else you go in the world, you are always disappointed in the food.
You get up in the morning and start cooking a pot of rice before you give any thought to what you'll fix for dinner.
You ask, "How dey running?" and "Are dey fat?" when you're inquiring about seafood quality. When a hurricane is imminent
When it starts to rain, you cover your beer instead of your head.
You call tomato sauce "red gravy."
You eat sno-balls instead of throwing them.
Your house payment is less than your air conditioning bill.
Your grandparents are called "Maw Maw" and "Paw Paw."
You fall asleep to the soothing sounds of four box fans.
No one eats healthy. Fried Batter is actually a menu item in some restaurants.
Now, a lot of these don't pertain to those of us, 'from way up north where it gets cold', but some of them do. As as someone who is married to man in which all of these apply, I can relate. Now the sudden, or maybe it's not, fascination with those of us from the boot shaped state. When did it start? Has it always been there, I've just not been observant enough to realize? Whatever the case, let us reflect on some of the things that have caught my eye recently.

These guys...



Willie owns my heart. Toothless and all, it broke my heart when his daddy shot him. And goodness, his own mama took out the bullet. Now that's deep rooted swamp family love.

Then there are two new shows coming on CMT that makes me just real proud to be from Louisiana- and more importantly, Shreveport.

BAYOU BILLIONAIRE
MY BIG REDNECK VACATION

Nothing against the families that participated, really, but how often do you grill snake? Does it taste like chicken? Do you leave the skin on and season it with a little Tony's? These are questions that keep me up at night. Okay, they really don't. What does keep me up at night is the blasted TV that wasn't turned off when my life partner fell asleep. Nothing aggrevates me more than waking up at 2AM and Sports Center is still yaking the background like them women on the view.

Then I subjected myself to watching this train wreck.


It was bad. Like, really bad. Ungrateful children, crying brothers. A horse that's acts like Mr. Ed. A mom who, well, was nothing like my mom or my stepmom.

But more recently, as in last night, I came across them gem of a show.

Cajun Pawn Stars
As I watched, I wondered where they were from. I mean, when I hear cajun I automatically think of somewhere south of Alexandria. WRONG. These cats, are from Alexandria. Cajun? I didn't really think so. But who am I to pass judgement on. I'm married to a cajun so does that make me a 'fake cajun'? Or cajun by association? I have no idea. I'm not sure when the lines blurred. You know? That imaginary line that use to seperate the north part of the state from the south? Right smack dab at Aleck?

That's all my pondering for today. You look good folks of Louisiana.



Ayeeee!
Holly

1 comment:

  1. We watched that last night too. Marshall was asking me where they were and I told him I thought it was Alexandria, actually I said "Aleck". lol When they started talking all Cajun-like I second guessed myself and had to google it. Who knew?? Sons of Guns is another one we watch and its in Baton Rouge. I was wondering a few weeks ago what the deal was with all these shows being in LA. We must really be some interesting folks!!

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