Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2005 | ||
Bad Links? | Southerners naturally tell stories
By RONDA RICH If you sit long enough next to someone on a plane, it is the inevitable question. It will be asked, not necessarily out of true curiosity, but because it fills the empty space that drifts quietly across the clouds as you fly toward your destination. I had just learned that the gentleman to my right was a partner in an international accounting firm so it was natural for him to follow with, So, what do you do? I wanted to reply that I piece together a living from words that I scatter hither and yon. And while that is true, I smiled and replied instead, Im a storyteller. He wasnt expecting that answer. I feel quite certain it is the only time he has had that question answered with that. His head snapped back in surprise, his eyes widened and he chuckled. A storyteller? I laughed and said, Thats right. I winked conspiratorially. The same thing I used to get spanked for when I was a little girl, I now get paid for! Ironic, isnt it? He still thought I was pulling his leg until I dug a business card from my purse and handed it to him. Somehow seeing it in print, Southern Storyteller, convinced him. So, what do you tell stories about? I shrugged. Anything that catches my fancy. I winked again. I suppose this little conversation will become a story of some kind, some day. And, so it has. It is part of our Southern sensibilities, that of being good at the art of storytelling. I have noticed that our women tend to be particularly good at it. I was having lunch one day with my friend, Barbara Dooley. Now, theres a super-sized storyteller for you. She had me in stitches as she told the simplest story of making a late-night run to the grocery store to buy a watermelon. In all honesty, the main elements of the story were not much at all but in Barbaras capable storytelling hands, they became a masterpiece of hilarity. I hung on every word. She finished the story with her trademark flourish of crossing her arms across her chest and punctuating the end of the story with an exaggerated nod of her head. I just told someone the other day that Southern women are great flirts because were good storytellers, I commented. Barbara looked puzzled. What do you mean? You can be a good storyteller and not be a good flirt but you cant be a good flirt unless youre a good storyteller. Think about it. So much of our charm lies in the stories we tell and those stories lie at the center of our flirtations. Barbara began to nod slowly then it hit her fully. Youre right! Youre absolutely right. Southerners were born to tell stories. It was passed down through generations from the Celtics n the Scotch-Irish, Scots and Irish, who originally settled the Southeast (at the beginning of the Civil War 75 percent of the South was Celtic). When those people, most of them poor and destitute, came to America, they brought with them their lyrical gift of storytelling in a form that sounded like poetry as it slipped effortlessly from their lips. Im lucky. I make a living from my storytelling. But every Southerner I know, who is a good storyteller, makes something much more important than mere dollars. They make friends because they make the most unremarkable events come alive in a way that can never be forgotten. |
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