Last Saturday night I met a guy at a grill out. This guy was 100% Carolinian. He was born in Asheville, has lived in Charlotte most of his life. He had as thick a southern accent as I’ve ever heard inside the Charlotte-metro area. We talked for a couple of hours as part of a larger group on various topics ranging from the Panthers draft, to different types of bar-be-que, to the differences between New York and North Carolina, to the best areas of the city to live. The latter two subjects were specifically about giving advice to a friend of mine from New York who will be moving to Charlotte this summer. When it was time for this guy to leave he turned to my friend from New York and gave him this parting advice in reference to me:
“Listen to this man. He’s a true southerner.” [then turns to me] “It’s been an honor talking with a native who really knows his North Carolina.”
So a life-long tar heel with a thick southern accent called me a true southerner, and a native who really knows my North Carolina. Wow, that was an epiphany.
