Southern Hospitality

The people here in Lubbock are some of the kindest I have ever met. I am not sure if it's because we live in the bible belt and everyone is Christian, or there is something in the water, everyone is just incredibly kind. I am used to Houston where for the most part, people are nice. It's how it is in the South. People are just nice. I hear it all the time from people who visit, "Wow, Texan's are just so nice!" It really is true. But Lubbock is something special.

On Wednesday I left the mall and completely spaced where I parked. I wandered around for twenty minutes looking for the van when I finally decided it was stolen. I was calling Jeff to whine that I couldn't find it, when this couple in a big SUV pulled up. "Did you lose your car!? Don't worry, we'll help you. What's it look like?" I was so embarrassed I wanted to crawl under the stroller, but they were very insistant so I gave them a description. Ten minutes later, after I was sure they'd probably just given up and gone home, I saw them pull down the aisle I was still wandering in. They were laughing, "Does your license plate cover say "Hot Lips" on it? We found it!" They directed me to my stellar parking spot and wished me a Merry Christmas.

That was just at the mall. After looking through the fridge I decided we were having Papa Murphy's for dinner. As I was walking in the store with the baby carrier this man ran over and opened the door for me. I set Twistan on the bench to get in line, and he was mobbed by three people waiting for their pizzas. They tickled his feet and made faces til he was laughing. The lady in front of me said, "Oh! I believe you came in before I did!" and insisted that I go in front of her. When I left I had two pizzas, a liter of soda and the baby carrier. I could've gotten the door, but someone else ran over and got it for me. As I was walking to my car another lady ran over and grabbed my pizzas and helped me load them up. On the way home I realized I needed some key ingredients for mine and Brittany's cookie exchange, so I stopped at the store. On the way in, the bell ringer saw me carrying the carrier and ran inside and got me a cart. I asked a random stranger where the cheese was (it's conveniently across the store from the dairy section) and she was happy to tell me. The lines were soooo long to check out, but that didn't matter. Everyone enjoyed the time they had to chat in line with complete strangers, play with my baby, and wish each other a Merry Christmas. My bagger remembered me and asked me how things were going as he took my things to the car.

That is how it is here. All day, every day. I love it.