[Shelley]

My German friend, Heiko, has just definitely declared that Fussball (soccer) is the most popular sport. My other German friends would say the same thing. Heiko gets up in the middle of the night or early in the morning to watch play-off games. Of course he has to drink beer while watching regardless of the hour of the day… Oh yeah – he prefers American beers!!!

User Detail :  

Name : Shelley, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 44, City : Charlotte, State : NC, Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Shelley]

As a manager and a Southerner myself, I can see many issues in your post that I can respond to. I could go on and on, and this WILL be long, but I will keep it to a minimum… Managers/supervisors must take an “even ground” when there are conflicts between workers. While you may think you are being ignored, I can assure you that you are not. A good manager listens to all sides and makes changes in a way that does not hurt the self-esteem of any employee. If you make a mistake at the work place, your supervisor and co-workers assume that it is due to lack of training therefore giving you the benefit of the doubt. Do not expect background/management decisions to be discussed with you, especially if you are a new, entry-level employee. In the South, as it should be everywhere, combativeness in the work place is perceived as bad for morale as well as productivity. While “debates” may have been acceptable in Vermont, they are definitely frowned upon down here. There is an old Southern saying that you catch a lot more flies with honey than with vinegar. The business practices from many northern companies I myself have dealt with would be considered extremely rude here. What dismays me more than anything is when it is my vendor. As a newly transplanted “Yankee”, it is going to take some time for Southerners to build up trust in you and for you to change some aspects of your behavior. Pleasantries are a part of our normal discourse. Changes are to be well thought out and made without undo haste. Many people from the north come down here with uninformed, loudly spoken opinions that are insulting to us. I will give you just two examples that I myself have experienced. About 10 years ago, another soccer mother was ranting and raving about all the things she hated about our area including the polite chit-chat by store employees and the large number of black people. I kept my mouth shut until she kept going on and on about public school busing. I finally informed her that we did not like it any better than she did and that it was a federal mandate imposed on us back in the late sixties to enforce integration of schools. Basically, we had to comply or lose any federal money for education including free lunches for the poor.

User Detail :  

Name : Shelley, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 44, City : Charlotte, State : NC, Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

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