How the other half lives

Cultural differences of the Deep and Dirty South 

I didn’t think I would get much of a culture shock when I travelled the States, but I am very glad I did. Even at the most frustrating times. Yes, we speak the same language, yes, we know the same television shows, but yes, I really did get lost in translation. Whether it was because the people I met are unrepresentative of the mass, or because it was so similar in places that the contrasts were stark when they appeared, the United States of America has divided my thoughts on certain topics. Whatever it was, here’s my two cents.

Religion

I was on the proverbial Bible Belt of the States, so it is no surprise when you scratch at the surface of a Georgian you get a splinter from their crucifix. 

Georgians are quite conservative. While religion is not at the forefront of their activities, conversations and opinions, it is quite clearly the undercurrent of their pool of thoughts. It is very rare for unmarried couples to live with each other, and if they do, oh boy, their families and friends will have something to say about it. The morals underpinning their sense of right and wrong are strong. Their openness about sex, sexuality, non-status quo topics is much like a bad mussel: advised not to eat it but you can pry it open with a knife with a high risk of cutting yourself and feeling quite ill.  Best to leave these types to the side of your plate.

And speaking of plates…Food

As anyone who knows me can attest, I love my food. I love eating it, I love making it. I come from a huge culinary family and having travelled solidly for 12+ months, I can say 90% unbiasedly that Sydney has the best produce in the world. But I was really surprised to observe the stereotype of package American food come to life at my three meals a day. Almost everything is a packet mix: corn bread mix, bread mix, flavoured drink mix, cake mix. Everything is quick cook, convenient packed, more flavoursome, more seasoned. I found it rare to eat anything not covered in plastic with instructions “heat on high for five minutes.” The States is a densely populated, vast region and time is of the essence to serve so many people. If they have home delivered and drive through pharmacy items, then eating BBQ flavoured chicken wings from a freezer bag is not that strange.

So what is the flavour of a flavour drink made with other natural flavour?

Gun laws

Australia has been gun free* for almost two decades, understandably the States’ gun use is the biggest culture shock a city girl (who had never seen a handgun besides on US crime shows) could have. For a city girl to visit the Deep South, this is probably the biggest extreme a city girl could get on the States’ gun laws.

Almost everyone has multiple weapons, they take their gun to parties, driving to the supermarket, they accidentally leave it on their parents’ mantlepiece when picking up their children’s Christmas presents. Its written in their Constitution and its their right to bear arms wherever and whenever. It’s not only gun laws – they can carry a blade up to 6 inches long if the clip is visible on their belt/pockets. Where you can’t buy a Stanley knife under the age of 18 years old in Australia, it’s interesting.

With Obama enforcing new gun laws in 2010, Americans are stocking up their guns and ammo before the new non-retrospective legislation comes into effect. Ammo is hard to get and expensive to buy when you do find it.

Lucky for me, I was informed about guns and their usage by an experienced guns aficionado. Education on how to use them is the key. Knowledge, not awe, of what guns are designed to do is essential. I became much less fearful of guns after my first shooting lesson. I was also lucky not to meet the man who could not bear to be without his guns that he even swims with them.  My nerves would have gone through the roof to observe his affection towards guns. [Of course, this does not mean I did not cower near the wall in the shooting range as the big pops and bangs rattled me.]

What I noticed about gun laws:

1. Guns, a method of protection, is tied with property rights.

Discussing comparable gun laws at a party (all quotes are verbatim from Southerners):

“You can’t kill someone if they break into your home? But it’s your home! You have a right to protect it.”

[For me, this seems to be extreme measures. Take my 46” plasma, I do not want to be spending more money than I spent on the TV to clean the blood splattered over my walls when I shoot you to protect my material possessions. Oh, and I also don’t want to kill someone.]

2. Gun laws and mindset similar to Australia would not cut it in the USA.

“Naw, because there are too many people living in the woods who don’t use guns for crimes or shoot ups.”

[How would a 45 mm glock benefit a woodsman? Getting rid of these guns would be sensible, people wanting to keep these semi-automatic guns really shows that there is still a fascination about these weapons.]

“It’s entrenched in our Constitution. Too many people have been using guns for many years. And I’m not comfortable with our government having more gun power than the common man.”

[Fair enough, a country founded upon a revolution against those in power will have that as their mindset.]

But as any seasoned traveller knows, these differences are what makes the world go round and what keeps us exploring past our own backyard.

*semi-automatic rifles and pump action shotguns are prohibited from civilian possession. Strict registration of guns and the context around these laws are correlated with Australians’ views on gun usage.