[MICoastieMom]

Originally Posted by Debrajean

My dad was from the south and mom was from Michigan and it always drove mom CRAZY the way the neighbors were so "nosy" in Arkansas. People down there of course call it being FRIENDLY, and they feel like people in Michigan are cold and uncaring.

Like we had a family member from Texas area come visit us at our house in Arkansas, and stayed a couple days and left. THe day he left, our neighbor came over and asked who was at our house. He didn't know him, and hadn't recognized his car.

Mom was mortified and told him it was none of his blankety business. Dad felt like he was being "neighborhood watch" -ful and thought it was rather kind of him. LOL

I live in Michigan now. I'm not really in to others in my beezwax, but I do get the intentions behind the nosiness.

This story really tickled me. Most of my family lives in Ann Arbor. For a time I was living and working in Columbus, Ohio. I drove up when my sister's MIL died to attend the funeral. Not knowing which funeral home she was laid out at, I went to the in-laws home as my sister and her husband were staying with the dad because he was frail. Everyone had gone to the funeral except my other sister, who did not drive, and therefore had no car in the driveway. She had agreed to stay behind and watch the baby. I had no sooner got into the house than the phone rang. It was my sister telling me to come down to the funeral home as soon as I was unpacked.

I remarked that that her timing was incredible because I had barely arrived. This was nearly 30 years ago before personal cell phones even existed. The neighbor had noticed me pulling in and had called the funeral home and asked to speak to my sister to inform her that there was a car parked in the drive with out-of-state plates. If she thought I was breaking in, why didn't she just call the police?

It came across more like her having decided who my sister could and couldn't have at the house and since I didn't fit the mold, I needed special permission to be there. When I finally met her at the wake, she really tried to grill me, as I recall, she had a southern accent.

[DubbleT]

Originally Posted by Debrajean

My dad was from the south and mom was from Michigan and it always drove mom CRAZY the way the neighbors were so "nosy" in Tennessee. People down there of course call it being FRIENDLY, and they feel like people in Michigan are cold and uncaring.

DD, is that you?
After twenty years of "hiding" from the neighbors I thought I was just old and crotchety. I am so relieved to hear that I am just a typical Michigander. LOL!

[lilbear]

Nope, we like to keep to ourselves, don't we?

From my experience, it seems people in the south just want to know what everybody else is up to so that they can criticize their actions behind their backs. Talking like they know more and are better than them, now that they've been nosy and know about their situation and whatever. I don't trust anybody with my personal choices or opinions down here in the south because I don't know who they'll talk to next and how they might distort my story OR criticize it saying how wrong I am to the other person.