Like Waller, I have been a witness to the tradition of Southern hospitality. While often idealized to extremes on television and in popular culture, Southern hospitality is a custom that lives up to its reputation. The best example I could find of this came around Thanksgiving. Two of my friends at Tech are from outside the US (Japan and Korea). Like most out-of-staters they are usually left at Tech with nothing to do and no family to celebrate with because the break is too short to fly home for. It must be very hard to be away from one's family during such a family-oriented holiday.
However, the custom of Southern hospitality was there to give them a hand. Another one of my friends who lives about 30 minutes from Atlanta invited these two out of state friends to Thanksgiving with his family. They shared in all the family traditions and even the activities around his lake house. This had to mean a lot to my friends and my southern friend took them in as part of their family that weekend.
This aspect of the South truly represents the best aspects of American culture. I too noticed the friendliness of the people around me when I first arrived at Tech. The whole social openness is infectious and has made me a more social and kind person as well.
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