I live in the Atlanta area, and I've come to really appreciate all that the state of Georgia has to offer. Maybe this is because I love to travel so much--or because I have respect for the country life, and a fascination with all things "suth'n". Regardless, I know that we hold many prejudices against places that are just one step removed.
Atlantans don't give much regard to southern Georgians, Georgians poke fun at Alabamians, and Southerns join in full voice to scoff at the West Coast. It happens everywhere--it's just good old-fashioned regional pride, mixed with characterizations of others, and a hearty dose of #1 foam-finger waving.
When I lived in Minnesota, we'd drive through Iowa with our noses plugged. When my aunt lived in Texas, she'd drive around the state of Oklahoma to go north. South Floridians feel that all the northern and panhandle Floridians are a bunch of rednecks. I lived in Upstate New York, and everyone there would have voted to secede from New York City if they could. Likewise, NYC thinks it's a state unto itself.
But our debates and gesticulations are not contained only to where we live, but to the color of our skin, how we act, how much money we make, what political party we belong to, and what we think of God.
Often our opinions are as devoid of substance as whether we were born on the west or the east side of a single state (Massachusetts), and sometimes our opinions have great merit. What's important to debate is not our origins or experience, but our ideas in the light of truth. Then we can cheer with silly abandon for the things that don't matter--like our favorite sports team, or the North vs. the South.
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