David

David is a coworker and friend of Jaron’s.  He was born and raised in Alabama, and has taught us a thing or two about being Southern. 

1.  He insists that there is absolutely nothing wrong with overalls.  I have yet to see him wear them, but I have a feeling that it has something to do with his wife, Hilary. I don’t blame her.  (David has mentioned getting Jaron a pair, but thankfully, I don’t think his Miami roots will allow himself to step into them).

2.  David is a living example of the love that people here have for SEC football.  SEC football is what the men here talk about 98% of the time.  Last week we all went to dinner and Hilary, David’s wife, mentioned how sick and tired she is of hearing about the most recent football scandal.  Everyone, including the men, agreed - which then turned into a 25 minute conversation about said football scandal.

3.  David has a baby.  Not a human baby, but a car baby.  He bought a 1980 Jeep to fix up and it has become his project.  I’m not generalizing this to the whole state of Alabama, but many guys here have an old Jeep to play with.  I guess they use the Jeeps to go off-roading and drive up all the mountains here – except there are no mountains here.  When I asked Jaron for an explanation, he said, “It’s kind of like Hot Wheels for adults”.  Ahhh, riiiight.

4.  David introduced me to my all-time favorite Southern quote:  “He was more scared than a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.”

I am really having a lot of fun learning about the cultural differences here in the South; but David, keep the overalls far, far away.  I’m not ready for those just yet.