There’s still plenty of people in the US who are helpful to total strangers – mostly in the deep South. “Southern Hospitality” is really a thing. Though admittedly, I suspect that the ratio is getting worse at an alarming rate.
Don’t matter to me if you are a ruffian. I’d still help you out if I saw you in trouble. Of course, if you’re in trouble with the law, you’re on your own.
Nope, totally untrue– I was born and raised in the Deep South, and it’s not a black thing or a white thing, it’s a non-asshole thing. In other words, we will treat you with kindness and welcome you in… until you act like a jerk to us;; then we’re reeeeeeeeally vindictive. It’s very similar to Irish hospitality in its way, and that’s not surprising.
Southern Hospitality is just a mask. I’ve been in the South for a bit, and I can tell you that even if we’re all nice up front, we’ll talk about you behind your back once you leave. And if you’re much more familiar than “total stranger”, you might not get treated quite so kindly.
Well, the whole point was that they’re helpful to total strangers. Doesn’t mean there’s not a fair amount of cattiness otherwise. Y’ever been to a family reunion down South? Everybody brings a file to sharpen their claws before dinner! “They’ll love you to pieces” isn’t just a cute colloquialism.
Let’s just put it this way: If you break down on the side of the road in the South, people will stop to help you and they won’t do it because you have a fancy car, look like they’ll get a piece of tail out of it, or for payment. Mom and dad on the way to their daughter’s place will stop; a redneck in a pickup will stop, and so will a tired woman on her way home from a 10-hour shift at a hospital if you look worn down enough. But if you act like a piece of trash or like you’re entitled to whatever help they give out of charity, they’ll leave you stranded with your tire off or your engine dismantled… and you’d be *amazed* just how long it’ll be before anyone else stops to help; word spreads. Southern hospitality can be way, way more honest in both the good things and in the very, very bad things than selfish me-first entitlement from anywhere at all, and that includes the South– call it not-quite-instant-Karma and you’re pretty close to the truth. And of COURSE we talk about you– we talk about EVERYBODY.
@matt w: Were you there? Did you see what happened first-hand? If not, all you’ve got to go on is a video that doesn’t show anything, and a whole lot of he-said-she-said. Sure, what happened is tragic, but it’s certainly not typical. If you’re just gonna bring up an isolated incident looking to start an argument, then don’t bring it up.
We’re talking about people helping people every day. Events that go completely unnoticed because the people who do them don’t brag about them. We’re talking about Uncle Darryl stopping on the side of the road on his way home from work at 4 in the morning because some girl broke down, so he gets her a hotel room and then goes back the next day and pays to get her car fixed. He doesn’t tell you about it because it wasn’t a big thing to him. She can’t tell you because she never thought to get his name.
I can say, from personal experience, family experiences, and friend’s experience, that ‘the South’ as in Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee, that depending on how mixed vs. homogeneous the demographics of an area are will greatly impact how’re you’re treated as a minority.
There’s always going to be some underlying racism or degree of discrimination, but if you’re eloquent and at least moderately affluent, then you’re politely tolerated if occasionally subjected to subtle attempts at exploitation. If you’re missing either of those, and even worse, both? Yeah, Southern Hospitality is also Selective Hospitality.
I wouldn’t brag about that. Most desk clerks I’ve met are pretty mundane compared to the rest of the employees. Now, if you said you were Field Commander…
I suspect Cousin Larry was first. That Calvin strip is originally from 3/24/1993, and there were only 6 episodes of Perfect Strangers after that, and 7 seasons before it.
“The condition might have been related to the spinal meningitis he suffered as a child. His friend and early agent Forrest J Ackerman has asserted an alternative, that Beaumont suffered simultaneously from Alzheimer’s disease and Pick’s disease.”
And my first thought was, ‘an alternative’ implies ‘either/or’, but what about ‘and’? Just because it was likely Alzheimer’s and Pick’s, it could still be related to the meningitis. It’s the most extreme case of rapid aging I’ve ever heard of.
Not sure why he drank Bromo, but he always had a bottle with him. Maybe he was always nauseous from having a perpetual headache. Or maybe it was because the ads for Bromo-Seltzer claimed it cured headaches. Or maybe his butter had already slipped off his noodle, and he just thought it was a good idea at the time.
Oddly enough, his excessive use of Bromo-Seltzer probably accelerated his brain disease, since bromides chronically impair the membrane of neurons, leading to neurotoxicity. Ironic that Bromo-Seltzer contained acetaminophen as a pain reliever, but the sodium bromide could actually cause headaches, especially in high doses. Meaning that in addition to Pick’s Disease (dementia) and Alzheimer’s, he probably also suffered from Bromism, but in the 1960s not much was known about it. Doses of 0.5 to 1 gram per day of bromide can lead to bromism. And if my math is right, a single teaspoon of Bromo-Seltzer contained roughly 0.33 grams. So taking one teaspoon once in a blue moon wouldn’t hurt you (sodium bromide stays in the body for 9-12 days). Taking it several times a day every day? Yeah… not good.
His brain basically fell apart. It didn’t exactly disintegrate like Dana’s, the insane superintelligent gerbil, but essentially it turned to mush.
UCLA doctors couldn’t do anything for him. “There’s absolutely no treatment for this disease. It’s permanent and it’s terminal. He’ll probably live from six months to three years with it. He’ll decline and get to where he can’t stand up. He won’t feel any pain. In fact, he won’t even know this is happening.”
His son Christopher said that when his father died at 38, he looked 95, “and was, in fact, ninety-five by every calendar except the one on your watch.”
Of course, Phil seems to have chilled out a fair bit, assuming he is the Dane. But then dinosaur hunting makes a very good outlet for all sorts of things.
I”m shipping her with Tip or Jonah, for some weird reason. At the very least, I wonder if Tip’s mojo could calm her down, and what effect that would have.
If she has Canada goose powers, I’d watch my step on that flight deck. (Their primary ‘power’ in my neighborhood is covering every lawn and sidewalk with thumb sized turds.)
As a monkey I can only stand in awe of the amazing poo-flinging potential of such a being.
No idea WHO irradiated the goose, but obviously they were attempting to trigger a biologically mediated double fusion of O-18, through Fe-56 to Au-197.
See “Pate de Fois Gras” by Isaac Asimov for details of the one known successful mutation of this type.
“pâté de foie gras”: accents are needed to distinguish “pâte” (paste/pasta) from “pâté”. But most people will only say “foie gras” because “pâté” is sooo proletarian, not chic at all. But no need to nitpick yourself, many of us actually do not know how to spell, foie and fois are almost (to any under 60/pedantic person anyway) homophones.
“Pâte” means “pastry” or “pasta”. It has to do with things that are made from dough. “Pâté” means “paste”.
Most people only say “foie gras” because it is the generic term for any liver product from specially fattened geese or ducks (“foie gras” literally means “fatty liver”). “Pâté de foie gras” is a patented name that refers to a very specific pâté that by French law has to be at least 80% liver, and is therefore very expensive. Mousse or purée de foie gras can be as little as 55% liver. And if you really have a craving for foie gras, but you want to be extra frugal about it, you can make a fairly convincing (convincing to anyone who isn’t French) imitation pâté using chicken liver.
Not really surprising. I mean, there’s got to be a number of them that were directly involved in his training. GG here looks like she might have been another cadet. I hate to say, she appears considerably more competent than Red Knight.
Poor Goose Girl, I heard that when she attempted to use her powers for financial gain, she lost her Aunt Bernice to street crime and learned a painful lesson about responsibility.
I’m just personnel on this ship of frost.
Just to tell true north, I have paid a cost.
When I come by, all the others say,
Just another goof, the AG-I way.
Just some super powers from a painful bite.
Radiation force doesn’t make it right.
You may feel that I should go astray.
But that wouldn’t be the AG-I way.
I am just a girl, right about your age.
Can’t even go on a good rampage.
And now I’m stuck in this hideaway.
No one gives a shuck I’m AG-I way.
Now, guys, it’s bad, you may well deduce
How this road begins with some mutant goose.
My sacrifice makes me rue the day
When I was picked for AG-I way.
That’s because the damn things are (in my admittedly biased opinion, anyway) the closest relatives to dinosaurs around. They can be freakin’ VICIOUS. They bite and shriek and chase small children into ponds and won’t let them out just because the innocent little darlings just wanted to see their goslings! **hides beneath couch** Um. Not that I have any childhood goose-related traumas or anything. Y’all let me know when she’s gone, okay?
a very useful power given the setting .
Going mental shouldn’t be a Canadian citizenship requirement.
For some reason, I read radioactive *Canadian* goose. My apologies.
You’re good–it says “Canada goose” in panel three. (Unless you’re apologizing for assuming that all Branta canadensis are Canadian in nationality.)
It’s all that pressure to not be part of the United States. Makes ’em do strange things, like being helpful to total strangers.
There’s still plenty of people in the US who are helpful to total strangers – mostly in the deep South. “Southern Hospitality” is really a thing. Though admittedly, I suspect that the ratio is getting worse at an alarming rate.
It’s probably pretty telling that I’m immediately suspicious of strangers who don’t treat me like a potential ruffian.
Don’t matter to me if you are a ruffian. I’d still help you out if I saw you in trouble. Of course, if you’re in trouble with the law, you’re on your own.
I encountered a fair amount of Northern Hospitality and Southern Efficiency while in DC a couple of weeks ago….
“Southern Hospitality” is only a thing if you’re white enough, though.
I know plenty of non-white people who are a lot more hospitable than a lot of white people, and vice versa. Race really has nothing to do with it.
Nope, totally untrue– I was born and raised in the Deep South, and it’s not a black thing or a white thing, it’s a non-asshole thing. In other words, we will treat you with kindness and welcome you in… until you act like a jerk to us;; then we’re reeeeeeeeally vindictive. It’s very similar to Irish hospitality in its way, and that’s not surprising.
Southern Hospitality is just a mask. I’ve been in the South for a bit, and I can tell you that even if we’re all nice up front, we’ll talk about you behind your back once you leave. And if you’re much more familiar than “total stranger”, you might not get treated quite so kindly.
Well, the whole point was that they’re helpful to total strangers. Doesn’t mean there’s not a fair amount of cattiness otherwise. Y’ever been to a family reunion down South? Everybody brings a file to sharpen their claws before dinner! “They’ll love you to pieces” isn’t just a cute colloquialism.
Let’s just put it this way: If you break down on the side of the road in the South, people will stop to help you and they won’t do it because you have a fancy car, look like they’ll get a piece of tail out of it, or for payment. Mom and dad on the way to their daughter’s place will stop; a redneck in a pickup will stop, and so will a tired woman on her way home from a 10-hour shift at a hospital if you look worn down enough. But if you act like a piece of trash or like you’re entitled to whatever help they give out of charity, they’ll leave you stranded with your tire off or your engine dismantled… and you’d be *amazed* just how long it’ll be before anyone else stops to help; word spreads. Southern hospitality can be way, way more honest in both the good things and in the very, very bad things than selfish me-first entitlement from anywhere at all, and that includes the South– call it not-quite-instant-Karma and you’re pretty close to the truth. And of COURSE we talk about you– we talk about EVERYBODY.
That doesn’t seem to have been Jonathan Ferrell’s experience.
@matt w: Were you there? Did you see what happened first-hand? If not, all you’ve got to go on is a video that doesn’t show anything, and a whole lot of he-said-she-said. Sure, what happened is tragic, but it’s certainly not typical. If you’re just gonna bring up an isolated incident looking to start an argument, then don’t bring it up.
We’re talking about people helping people every day. Events that go completely unnoticed because the people who do them don’t brag about them. We’re talking about Uncle Darryl stopping on the side of the road on his way home from work at 4 in the morning because some girl broke down, so he gets her a hotel room and then goes back the next day and pays to get her car fixed. He doesn’t tell you about it because it wasn’t a big thing to him. She can’t tell you because she never thought to get his name.
I can say, from personal experience, family experiences, and friend’s experience, that ‘the South’ as in Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee, that depending on how mixed vs. homogeneous the demographics of an area are will greatly impact how’re you’re treated as a minority.
There’s always going to be some underlying racism or degree of discrimination, but if you’re eloquent and at least moderately affluent, then you’re politely tolerated if occasionally subjected to subtle attempts at exploitation. If you’re missing either of those, and even worse, both? Yeah, Southern Hospitality is also Selective Hospitality.
I can discern true north also. I have a harder time with magnetic north. I thought that was a bird thing.
Probably didn’t fit in the speech bubble.
Looks like Jonah’s about to learn you don’t get in the face of an angry goose.
If being mental is a super power then I am the desk clerk at the Legion of Superheroes headquarters
If being mental is a super power then I am the desk.
I wouldn’t brag about that. Most desk clerks I’ve met are pretty mundane compared to the rest of the employees. Now, if you said you were Field Commander…
My point exactly
Oh, how silly of me. So you’re saying you’re not mental? I just assumed that we were all mad here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZ3CLPaoGSA We are. “You’d be surprised to find out what turns out to be salvation” seems to be the theme of Shaenon’s work…
Her weakness: Grey Goose Vodka & LaBlatt Blue Beer. And maybe reading Kate Beaton’s childrens tales.
I just found my new bumper sticker mantra.
She also has to chug a whole bottle of Pepto Bismol daily.
Wasn’t that what Calvin’s teacher, Miss Wormwood, often did? Well, maybe not the whole bottle, but she did drink it straight from the bottle.
(That was Maalox.)
( http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2013/03/27 )
Yes! That’s the one I was thinking of. Thank you.
Oog… I guess I haven’t read through that series very recently.
I don’t know who was first, but Cousin Larry of “Perfect Strangers” also chugalugged Maalox…
I suspect Cousin Larry was first. That Calvin strip is originally from 3/24/1993, and there were only 6 episodes of Perfect Strangers after that, and 7 seasons before it.
The late Charles Beaumont did that, too. Turned out it was a symptom of why he is the *late* Charles Beaumont.
“The condition might have been related to the spinal meningitis he suffered as a child. His friend and early agent Forrest J Ackerman has asserted an alternative, that Beaumont suffered simultaneously from Alzheimer’s disease and Pick’s disease.”
And my first thought was, ‘an alternative’ implies ‘either/or’, but what about ‘and’? Just because it was likely Alzheimer’s and Pick’s, it could still be related to the meningitis. It’s the most extreme case of rapid aging I’ve ever heard of.
I dunno…an article on him, years ago, described Beaumont’s illness as “stomach cancer,” but it could’ve easily been something else.
Not sure why he drank Bromo, but he always had a bottle with him. Maybe he was always nauseous from having a perpetual headache. Or maybe it was because the ads for Bromo-Seltzer claimed it cured headaches. Or maybe his butter had already slipped off his noodle, and he just thought it was a good idea at the time.
Oddly enough, his excessive use of Bromo-Seltzer probably accelerated his brain disease, since bromides chronically impair the membrane of neurons, leading to neurotoxicity. Ironic that Bromo-Seltzer contained acetaminophen as a pain reliever, but the sodium bromide could actually cause headaches, especially in high doses. Meaning that in addition to Pick’s Disease (dementia) and Alzheimer’s, he probably also suffered from Bromism, but in the 1960s not much was known about it. Doses of 0.5 to 1 gram per day of bromide can lead to bromism. And if my math is right, a single teaspoon of Bromo-Seltzer contained roughly 0.33 grams. So taking one teaspoon once in a blue moon wouldn’t hurt you (sodium bromide stays in the body for 9-12 days). Taking it several times a day every day? Yeah… not good.
His brain basically fell apart. It didn’t exactly disintegrate like Dana’s, the insane superintelligent gerbil, but essentially it turned to mush.
UCLA doctors couldn’t do anything for him. “There’s absolutely no treatment for this disease. It’s permanent and it’s terminal. He’ll probably live from six months to three years with it. He’ll decline and get to where he can’t stand up. He won’t feel any pain. In fact, he won’t even know this is happening.”
His son Christopher said that when his father died at 38, he looked 95, “and was, in fact, ninety-five by every calendar except the one on your watch.”
Firstly, Goose Girl’s origin story sounds like something that came out of a game of ‘Super Munchkin’.
Secondly, I’m shipping Goose Girl with the Macaw-lady who hates hats, and no-one can stop me.
Goose Girl, Macaw Lady, Phil, …
Bird-people tend to be a little… high-strung ’round here, don’t they.
also Goose Girl/Macaw Lady’s ship name is Birds Of A Feather don’t @ meOf course, Phil seems to have chilled out a fair bit, assuming he is the Dane. But then dinosaur hunting makes a very good outlet for all sorts of things.
Phil doesn’t look much like the Dane, but Artie doesn’t usually look like a gerbil…
What would make you think Phil is the Dane? Did I miss something?
As far as I recall, the only real evidence was that he left a black feather behind when he disappeared.
I”m shipping her with Tip or Jonah, for some weird reason. At the very least, I wonder if Tip’s mojo could calm her down, and what effect that would have.
Well, we already KNOW that chicks dig him…..
Except bird-chicks.
AAGGGGGHHHH ABOMINATION SHE WILL BE THE END OF US ALL!!!!!
Why do I suddenly want to re-watch SCTV?
Good thing Tip sold his hats!
This.^
If she has Canada goose powers, I’d watch my step on that flight deck. (Their primary ‘power’ in my neighborhood is covering every lawn and sidewalk with thumb sized turds.)
As a monkey I can only stand in awe of the amazing poo-flinging potential of such a being.
I’ve seen a driveby Canadain Goose flock all poop at the same time, it ain’t pretty
My question is: who irradiated the goose?
No idea WHO irradiated the goose, but obviously they were attempting to trigger a biologically mediated double fusion of O-18, through Fe-56 to Au-197.
See “Pate de Fois Gras” by Isaac Asimov for details of the one known successful mutation of this type.
“Pate de Foie Gras” that is. grumble, grumble, durned French don’t know how to spell, grumble, grumble.
“pâté de foie gras”: accents are needed to distinguish “pâte” (paste/pasta) from “pâté”. But most people will only say “foie gras” because “pâté” is sooo proletarian, not chic at all. But no need to nitpick yourself, many of us actually do not know how to spell, foie and fois are almost (to any under 60/pedantic person anyway) homophones.
“Pâte” means “pastry” or “pasta”. It has to do with things that are made from dough. “Pâté” means “paste”.
Most people only say “foie gras” because it is the generic term for any liver product from specially fattened geese or ducks (“foie gras” literally means “fatty liver”). “Pâté de foie gras” is a patented name that refers to a very specific pâté that by French law has to be at least 80% liver, and is therefore very expensive. Mousse or purée de foie gras can be as little as 55% liver. And if you really have a craving for foie gras, but you want to be extra frugal about it, you can make a fairly convincing (convincing to anyone who isn’t French) imitation pâté using chicken liver.
Chris and Marcie?
That would’ve been my first guess. In fact, that’s probably the only guess.
Nick knows an awful lot of these AG-Is for a guy who didn’t stay past his training.
He didn’t know Shelby.
Not really surprising. I mean, there’s got to be a number of them that were directly involved in his training. GG here looks like she might have been another cadet. I hate to say, she appears considerably more competent than Red Knight.
Really? He didn’t really seem incompetent, just a bit trigger-happy. And they just found him abrasive, of course.
Anybody who works transport tends to know their clientele pretty thoroughly, especially the frequent fliers. **coughbazing!cough**
Poor Goose Girl, I heard that when she attempted to use her powers for financial gain, she lost her Aunt Bernice to street crime and learned a painful lesson about responsibility.
Aunt Bernice? She’s related to Duckman? That might EXPLAIN A FEW THINGS…
Damn it you guys, you debut her 51 weeks before Halloween??
Gives you plenty of time to work on your costume.
Spider Goose!
Spider Goose!
Does whatever a goose does loose!
Flaps her wings
In the sky
Watch her go
Don’t know why
Look out, here flies the Spider Goose
I’m just personnel on this ship of frost.
Just to tell true north, I have paid a cost.
When I come by, all the others say,
Just another goof, the AG-I way.
Just some super powers from a painful bite.
Radiation force doesn’t make it right.
You may feel that I should go astray.
But that wouldn’t be the AG-I way.
I am just a girl, right about your age.
Can’t even go on a good rampage.
And now I’m stuck in this hideaway.
No one gives a shuck I’m AG-I way.
Now, guys, it’s bad, you may well deduce
How this road begins with some mutant goose.
My sacrifice makes me rue the day
When I was picked for AG-I way.
—from “Lost Highway,” Hank Williams.
At least she’s not a spruce goose, although she does have a screw loose
She could only fly, once.
Now geese, geese actually do go “skreeonk”.
That’s because the damn things are (in my admittedly biased opinion, anyway) the closest relatives to dinosaurs around. They can be freakin’ VICIOUS. They bite and shriek and chase small children into ponds and won’t let them out just because the innocent little darlings just wanted to see their goslings! **hides beneath couch** Um. Not that I have any childhood goose-related traumas or anything. Y’all let me know when she’s gone, okay?
Oh, she’s as harmless as a piano.
Of course, one doesn’t want to be on the receiving end of a piano either.
…as many a Tiny Toons character found out. **insert peculiarly musical crash here**
Indeed. Well… pianos, anvils, safes… a wide assortment of heavy objects.
Looks like somebody has some experience with geese. Yes, they re loud and aggressive – quick, give her some grain to quiet her down!
Better to give her some grain than a deep pan and a good slow oven (unless, of course, you’re Unity.)
I don’t think Unity has the patience to wait for the pan and slow oven. Kinda like kids who eat the cookie dough before it’s baked.
Most important question: does she have teeth on her tongue?
Goose Girl’s body language and demeanor indicates an intimate understanding of how interactions with Canada geese usually go.