Recently, I was invited to speak on behalf of the National Auctioneers Association in Boston. It was the New England Auctioneers Association. As I prepared for the weekend event, the thought entered my mind, “how would these New Englanders welcome a southerner. I had never visited the Boston area and was coming with a few preconceived notions. As a southerner, we pride ourselves on being gentil (or at least we think we are). Maybe even a little more patient than the folks in cities like Boston who apply the horn a little more often than we do down south. In fact, if you visit my hometown and are from the northeast, you would probably begin to ask yourself, “why does every car driver wave at me”. It’s the truth, we wave at strangers driving in the opposite direction. I guess its just a kind gesture of recognition or maybe not wanting to be perceived as stuck up.
So, Elizabeth and I landed at Logan airport. I made my way to National Car Rental. The red head behind the desk was seated very close to the corner of her kiosk next to the competition. I asked “Is this National?” She replied, “you see the green don’t you?”. I said to myself, “oh boy, my preconceived notions are coming true”. So we got into our little bitty compact, and I mean compact vehicle that would probably fit into the bed of my Duramax, and began to drive. We entered the first tunnel that was probably 5 lanes wide and found ourselves in the wrong lane. I thought to myself, these people will never let me into the right lane, but lo and behold, they did. I even got a smile and a wave.
We visited the Kennedy Museum that day and enjoyed raw oysters at Union Oyster Bar. The shucker (shucka) was amazing. We had a great conversation. I even caught myself saying “Lob sta” and “butta” . But don’t ask for saltines with your Oysters….. they don’t eat’em that way.
We made that first night to our destination and I reviewed my Power Point for the presentation I would be giving the next day. I was more anxious about my accent than I was about the content. The next day, I was greeted by one of the leaders, Nichole Pirro. We had never met, but quickly we made friendship. Then I ran into Sara Adams who originally invited me. She too made for quick friendship. I told Elizabeth, I really like these guys. Then Michael Chambers, who I competed against in the International Auctioneer Championship a fews years back came in a greeted me. Then I began to feel right at home!
I gave my two hour presentation and felt warmly received. In fact I think we all had fun! Granted, I had to translate a few of my words, all in all, I thought it went great. We all had auctioneering in common, but on a human level, I realized that territorial prejudices probably exist because of the lack of communication. Don’t get me wrong…I’m not saying I was prejudice against New Englanders, but I didn’t expect such a friendly group. A few of us enjoyed a late afternoon dinner at a pub in Salem, Massachusetts. It was a great way to end a weekend with new friends. The great thing is, Elizabeth and I have new friends and we love New England. Now don’t get me wrong, I still think they talk a little funny, but heck, one of the people in my presentation used the word “hick” in referring to my southern dialect.
In this world of tribalism as the political pundits call it, our trip reinforced in my heart that we are one great bid country filled with unique and good people. We are Americans. The only thing that separates us is a few miles and a few rivers. Accents and heck, even political views should not keep us from finding value in each other.
