The New Southern Belle

One of my friends from out of state was in town for six weeks for a school/training program, and I made the two hour drive to visit a few times within those six weeks.  Last night was the last night out before the school was over, and a few of us went out for drinks.  Of course everyone in the U.S. likes to make fun of the south, particularly AL and MS, and the conversation eventually steered towards stereotypical southern girls.  My friend was appalled that I:

• have never ridden a 4-wheeler (so what's the big deal?  I just don't see that as something I would like to do when given the chance.  Sure, it'd probably be fun & I'm down for trying new things, but it's just that riding a 4-wheeler isn't at the top of my Bucket List.)
• had never been hunting OR dated a guy who liked hunting (Um, sorry?  Not really justifying this one.  I'd rather not, thank you.)
• do not like fishing, and have only been fishing once in my lifetime (and that will also be the last time I go fishing:  I was 9 and we were in a huge cow pasture with cow dung everywhere, fishing at this little pond.  While I was the first person to catch a fish, it was a minnow and had to be thrown back.  Not to mention I left the pond with malaria, as mosquitoes love to feed on me.  NEVER again will I go fishing.)
• have never been to a Nascar race, what with me living near the Talladega Super Speedway.  (Yeah, never have, never will.)
• don't listen to country music.  (Apparently my friend is an avid Kenny Chesney fan and was astounded that I only had ONE Kenny Chesney song on my ipod.  And then he was more shocked to learn that I listen to rock/alternative/metal, and would rather crowd surf at a concert than sing sing-a-long songs with 5000 other country fans.  Not that I've ever been crowd surfing at a concert, mind you, but head banging is much more appealing to me than swaying.)

The Kenny Chesney thing is what was the most hilarious to me.  I feigned like I only knew a few songs (when of course I knew more), and was shown that, "I have more Kenny Chesney songs on my ipod than ANYONE!"

We asked the waitress about all of the above-mentioned points, and of course she had done all of them:

1. "You've NEVER ridden a 4-wheeler?! Are you from AL?"
2. "I've never been hunting before, but I have dated a few guys who like to hunt."
3. "I take my kids fishing all the time!"
4. "You live an hour from Talladega and have never been to a NASCAR race?!"
5. "My favorite male country artist is Garth Brooks.  I also like Zac Brown, but he's in a band, so that's not really an artist..."

I mean, this is hot:

 

But isn't this hotter?

Needless to say, it was a pretty entertaining evening.

So I'd rather go skydiving and white water rafting.  I'd rather see TOOL and Deftones and Alice in Chains than Kenny Chesney or Zac Brown Band or Jason Aldean.  I would rather read than fish.  I consider working out at the gym more fun than getting a sunburn from watching cars race in a circle all day long.  I'd rather go zip lining than watch my dinner die before my eyes.  And I still find time to be a great mom and keep my GPA up.


 I guess I'm just a new wave of Southern Belle.  But I don't mind; I think I'm pretty freaking cool.