Hospitality... in review

*** Disclaimer: These are my explanations and examples. Feel free to add your own 10 cents. ***

Southern Hospitality:  Charm with a southern drawl or twang. Lots of smiles and nicknames like "Hun", "Darlin", "Sugar", etc.  Slower pace. Offered tea or lemonade when you arrive (and there is NO such thing as unsweetened tea). You can strike up a conversation in the grocery store with a stranger and be acting like best friends by the time you're done checking out and you may never see the person again. Everybody nods to strangers on the street and in some places it's a tip of the hat. Gentlemanly ways are still taught and people are always there to lend a helping hand and regularly go out of their way to do it. Can be passive aggressive if someone wants their way and feels the need, e.g. the art of telling someone to go to hell with a smile and sometimes without the receiving individual even knowing you're telling them to go to hell. 


Mid-Western Friendliness:  There's a wholesome-ness. The Girl-Next-Door and the All-American-Boy archetypes. And again, The Art of being a Gentleman is also still taught and you can still start up a conversation in the grocery store. Just generally friendly. People are not mean really.

Pacific-Northwester Laid-back(ness): Nothing seems to stress these people out. Things are no big deal, clothes are no big deal. Things are functional and not stick-up-your butt. I'm pretty sure people still wave and nod but there just isn't much if any elitism.  (I haven't lived in this area so please take my opinion with a grain of salt above and beyond the fact that it's just my opinion)

Alaskan Accommodation: I'm still learning about the extent of the accommodating nature but from what I've seen people here definitely go out of their way. If you look stranded in a boat or in a car, no one passes you by. There's an honor system with things like locking doors to homes and cars (I still haven't quite gotten the hang of this one). Part of this is out of necessity. If it's winter, you wouldn't want to be stranded and you wouldn't want it to be a friend or family member stranded if someone could easily just pull over and ask if you need something.  Almost every patient I have asks how I like it here so far and offered suggestions for housing or entertainment or even recommended scheduling trips out of town, etc. People recommend places to get certain things and aren't much for the "figure it out on your own" rule. It's refreshing after spending time in places with  very different mentalities at one point or another.