Dorothy? Is That You?

Southerners are peculiar people.

I was, for the most part, raised in Texas. Most people don't consider that the true South. But my mother, aunt, and many other influential-in-my-life family members were raised in Mississippi. To this day I still don't pronounce the middle "iss." So, I don't wear white after Labor Day and before Easter. And if something good happens, I cook. If something bad happens, I cook. And I don't wear shoes if I can help it.

My relatives are very southern as well. This makes for quite a bit of entertainment in general. So tonight, we had some wild weather, and as the tornado sirens are going off in my backyard, and I'm trying to get three dogs into a very small bathroom, the phone rings. It's a cousin that's now living in Florida. This is the message I hear:

"Hey ya'll it's Darnell. I was just watching the tv and just wanted to let you know that ya'll are havin' some tornadoes where ya'll are. Are ya'll watching it? I hope ya'll are okay."

Just cracked me up! And, as I'm now watching the television news coverage of the aftermath, I can't help but wonder why the news stations pick the seemingly-least-articulate of all Texans to go on television and talk about what happened. No wonder other states make fun of us.