Southern Hospitality

It may be that you get a different crowd at the one of the largest art shows in America, but all in all everyone I ran into in at the St. James Court Art show in Louisville, Kentucky represented the stereotypical southern image of politeness in gentility. And please I'm not canonizing these people, but many of us could learn something from them.

Let me start with the hucksters that were working the crowd near us. These folks were trying get prospects for their gutter magician, a system for keeping leaves out of the rain gutters. The approach to the passing customers was to ask them if they had trees in their yard. These people were nice enough and I am sure that my irritation level with them came from the constant repetition that the passer by didn't hear. Believe it or not a common response was, "I don't but thanks for asking." Thanks for asking? I think in Chicago you could get arrested for asking the question, for sure you could get shot. Time after time these folks got a polite and respectful response, for what I perceive as a question that could be ignored or even receive a response of none of your business or don't bother me. The whole approach is the equivalent of a telemarketing call at dinner time, but to these folks it was unthinkable to just hang up.

Waitresses, desk clerks and other service people may be expected to be polite, but these folks put politeness and respect on a level that's hard to duplicate. I didn't hear any crude language and please remember I was less than a mile for University of Louisville and they just lost a football game. I would test my mettle as to cursing and crude language as my Badgers, Cubs and Packer's all lost this weekend. When compared to my new southern friends, I'm afraid my language was a little more unacceptable than "darn".

The ladies seem to regard the event as one that required a modicum of proper dress and their mates and escorts responded appropriately. It seems that team shirts and nylon NASCAR jacket can be replaced for certain occasions. It's not that we didn't see this type of attire, it's just that it wasn't the predominate style of attire for those over twenty-five.

The crowds were tremendous, stressing the wide walkways to the maximum, but people were polite and gracious. I will never know how someone can be walking down a sidewalk jammed with people can suddenly just stop without regard to anyone around them, but I observe this happening all of the time. While many times this results in hard feelings and short remarks, these art lovers not only seemed to understand how a piece they not consider worth stopping to appreciate might be appealing to someone else.

There were 750 artists displaying at this show. There were innumerable little stands that were hi jacking the crowd from the legitimate vendors, by using front yards and alley's to hawk beverages, sandwiches and non-art. The street musicians were scattered throughout the venue adding even more flavor to this visual stew. The experience was not even diminished by the extreme heat.

Tobacco is no longer king in Louisville, UPS is, but the dignity and charm of this city is infectious. Frankly, I can't wait to go back and give my new friends a big hug and a howdy.