Growing up in the South. As I get older I realize it's definitely different. Here are 10 things we know all too well!

1. College football on Saturdays

What's the NFL? The rivalries are pretty intense here in the South. The obvious Auburn vs. Alabama. There's also Clemson vs. USC, Florida State vs. Florida. LSU vs. literally every other team. Ever brought a friend over on game day, ya know, just to eat and talk about life and what not? And she ends up hearing your dad yell at the TV (in his scary, mad, man voice), your mama talking junk about someone's kid who plays for the other team, and your brother, having a mental breakdown. Yep, war eagle, folks.

2. Manners are a must

Now, I know this may seem like common sense, and I know to say yes ma'am, no ma'am, please and thank you - all that good stuff. But has it ever happened where you're arguing with your mama and you just quietly say, "Okay.." or, "..Got it" and go to walk away and she goes, "Yes ma'am?". And you turn around and the woman is standing there with the look on her face (I know you know what I'm talking about), waiting for you to say yes ma'am. You just lost an argument and now you gotta say yes ma'am. that's kind of coming to a mutual agreement that your mother was right and you were wrong and you've been defeated, my friend.

3. You'll be a productive part of society, one way or another

Throughout my childhood, I've had an age-appropriate list of things expected of me as I got older. I would do my homework when I got home from school, then do whatever chores I had. Sometimes it was helping clean up after dinner, sometimes it was as simple as sweeping and mopping the kitchen floor. Now, I know some of yall are reading this like, "Wow, I couldn't even IMAGINE having to do a chore every, SINGLE, day", while some people are relating so hard right now. It may sound strict or whatever, but I'm actually glad I was made to do that when I was younger, because now I know 18 and 19-year-old men (who are just a few years away from the age they're supposed to be the leader of their family) who don't even know how to mow the freaking lawn. Having chores when I was younger instilled a good work ethic in me. I'm older now -17, graduated high school a year early so I could have a gap year before I start college. All my siblings are extremely athletically inclined and are always busy. While I'm bad at everything, I was still let know I won't just sit around the house all day. I was made to get a job and help pay for the things I have, like car insurance. Learning to work for what I want and learning to take responsibility for my actions at a younger age will help me in my adult life.

4. Come to find out, our food is a little weird according to the rest of the United States

With my dad being in the army my entire life, I've lived all over. With that, comes different people with different life experiences, religions, political views, and apparently foods too. Foods that are everyday foods to us, (okay, maybe not every day, but we definitely know it when we see it) are wack to them. Grits, for example. I grew up with grits. Although I don't know what they actually are, I know they're probably just some kind of wheat or oats, nothing too strange. I know I eat grits and eggs mixed together, but that's all I got. You'd be surprised how many people aren't familiar with grits.I imagine grits to be the southern equivalent to the British food crumpets (ex. "Crumpets and tea"). What the heck is a crumpet??? And again, with biscuits and gravy, come on guys, you're killing me. Who hasn't had biscuits and gravy??? Now, I will admit the meat in the South is a little wild (see what I did there? Wild? Animals are wild? I love myself). Personally, on a weekly basis, my family eats chicken or beef. That's pretty normal for the U.S., But sometimes we venture out. When I lived I Louisiana, we ate crawfish and gator. That is so good if you haven't tried it. Speaking of Louisiana, on to my next point.

5. Louisiana may as well be its own country

Oh, LA, how I loved you. Home of the Breaux. Saying I got culture shocked when I moved there, is an understatement. I mean, I can't even remember what I thought it would be when I moved there because that's how different it was from anything I've ever seen. The boys wear cowboy boots with khaki shorts to church. The girls wear bows to school until they've graduated (because of the strict uniform policies in many places, the bows allowed us to “express ourselves” since everything was so boring). Everything is bedazzled in the shape of a fleur de lis. Everyone wears camo, even if you don't hunt, somehow some way, you own something camo print.

At school, every day for lunch they had gumbo (I still couldn't tell you what's in gumbo but I don't like my food mixed so it was a no for me), and then they had a regular food-like pizza or a cheeseburger, as an alternate choice. When we first came into town, there wasn't anywhere else to eat but this little wooden shack and they fed us gator and I was so impressed. It is so good. We lived in a normal neighborhood, nothing special. Oh, except when I was swinging on my swing set and a CRAB crawled out from the dirt??? Okay, okay. It wasn't a crab but it was a crawfish (I was 12, as far as I knew a crab just appeared in my backyard, from the mud). We lived hours from the water, I was shocked. That happens quite often, crawfish appearing in your backyard.

Apart from all that, Louisianians are truly some of the kindest people I've had the pleasure of living with. They made me feel so at home. I was so sad to leave because it felt like Alabama, and where my dad was getting stationed next was not Alabama in the least bit.

6. Norts and XXL tees

The internet likes to dawg on us for it but I promise I don't give a crap. It's cute and it's comfortable and that's all I really need out of an outfit that I'm not going to church or on a date in. Every girl has those 2-3 big tees shirt+gym shorts combinations that just work. Those are for when your friend texts you and says, “Are we dressing cute or homeless?” And y'all decide y'all are gonna dress cute. That just means your shirt doesn't have a bleach stain and your gym shorts aren't faded and from 4 years ago. Your tee shirt costs $30 ($40, if it's a long sleeve) instead of the tee shirt you got from your orthodontist’s office for “free” when you got those $5,000 braces taken off.

7. You may cuss, But you don't dare say GD

I get it. You might stump your toe and drop an F (F as in fricken frick, of course) bomb. Or maybe the algebra homework has you completely bent and you quietly say to yourself, “What the hell?”. You wouldn't want to be caught cussing in front of your mama (or anyone who knows your mama), but you definitely don't wanna say GD in front of your mama. Not because you're scared of your mom (OK, I'm scared of my mom) but because you're scared of God, and it's just totally uncalled for. Same with that swearing to God, it turns heads when you say it.

8. No snow on Christmas

Isn't it tragic? All the girls up North get to take cute Instagram pics of them playing in the snow, or wearing their monogrammed beanies, with gloves and boot socks to match. It gets cold in the South but not cold enough. I mean, if I'm gonna freeze my butt off for a month or two, I'd at least like some snow since I'm gonna be cold anyway.

9. Southern slang

The term “It’ll buff out”. It means it will all eventually work itself out. “Bein' ugly”. If my mom tells me to quit bein' ugly, that means to stop insulting my brother, because God doesn't like ugly. “That dog won't hunt”. If I say to you, “Hey, you know what? I think Auburn has a chance of beating Bama this year, you know we got that new Stidham boy and all”. We're both thinking, “Yeah right, that dog won't hunt.”, because we both know it'll probably take more than one good ball player to get the W against Alabama. "As all get out". This means more than expected. "That ball hit her in the face hard as all get out. I'm surprised it didn't break her nose".

10. Is it even yours if it's not monogrammed?

We monogram close to everything. Literally, anything can be monogrammed. Shoes, makeup bags, cups, hats, pencils, dog collars, you name it.

11. You've probably heard rednecks argue about whether ord or Chevy is "better"

I don't know what makes one better or worse, but boys love talking about it.

Yeah, living in the South automatically puts us on the short end of the social stick, but I'm quite alright with that.