All Georgians Should Know

Just a little something my cousin sent me

 

 

There are some things that all Georgians should know.

Coca Cola is ours, and unless you've had one in a green six-and-a-half ounce bottle,

with a slight crust of ice on top, you don't know what the real thing is

And you might want to try pouring about half a pack of salted peanuts into one sometime.

If it weren't for a Georgian named Crawford Long of Jefferson--- open-heart surgery would hurt like heck.

True Georgians say "ma'am and sir" and call their mothers "mama" and their fathers 'daddy".

They know that "y'all" is perfectly good English and never means just one person.

"Fixin to" is perfectly acceptable, too.

And if y'all don't like the way we talk, Delta (which is also ours) is ready when you are.

Long before the Olympics brought the world's greatest athletes to Atlanta,

we gave the world Ty Cobb, Jackie Robinson, Walt Frazier, Luke Appling, Johnny Mize,

Fran Tarkenton, Bobby Jones, Wyomia Tyus, and Herschel Walker.

If you don't know who these people are, you ought to find out before you go to bed tonight.

Long after the Atlanta Olympics have faded from memory, the greatest tournament in golf

will still be played in Augusta every April, with or without Jessie Jackson's and Martha Burke's approval,

and on autumn Saturdays, 90,000 or so Red-and-Black faithful will gather in Athens for a prayer meeting between the hedges.

No matter how many times the Braves play in the World Series, nothing will match the excitement of that first one.

The Stone Mountain carving is lots bigger than the one on Mt. Rushmore

and the people etched into the side of Stone Mountain deserve the honor.

It wasn't about slavery. Atlanta was called "the city too busy to hate," back in the sixties,

because it really was, and we should be proud of that fact.

In 1864 Sherman burned Atlanta and much of Georgia in his March to the sea.

Crack cocaine is bringing more harm to Atlanta than Sherman ever dreamed of.

We don't grow the most peaches, but we still deserve to be called the " Peach State "

because ours are the sweetest. That includes the Georgia peaches that don't grow on trees.

We do produce the most peanuts, pecans, and poultry.

Elvis wasn't ours, but Otis Redding, James Brown, the Allman Brothers, Johnny Mercer, Joe South,

Ray Charles, Bill Anderson, Brenda Lee, Trisha Yearwood and Alan Jackson are.

So are Sidney Lanier, Joel Chandler Harris, Margaret Mitchell and Alice Walker.

And I still miss Lewis Grizzard every day.

Julia Roberts may be Georgia's prettiest movie star, but Holly Hunter is the most talented. 

Dakota Fanning may one day surpass them both. 

FDR adopted us. His "Little White House" in Warm Springs is exactly as it was the day he died there,

near the end of  World War II. Every Georgian needs to visit Warm Springs.

Roosevelt's New Deal put Georgians to work and turned an entire generation of her people into "yellow Dog" Democrats.

Georgia once had three governors at the same time. Lester Maddox wasn't one of them,

but was elected by the General Assembly without getting a

majority of the popular vote.  He did a good job too, God rest his soul.

Gone With the Wind belongs to us. We own it. Not only is it by one of our own and is about us,

but it's also one of the great novels of all time and an absolute film classic-and we shouldn't apologize for liking it.

WSB means "Welcome South Brother."

She ain't what she used to be, but she's not as bad as the AJC has become. 

The Brown Thrasher, the Cherokee Rose, and the Live Oak are our symbols. 

Proud, decent, honest people are our heritage.

The best barbecue in the world is served at Holcomb's in White Plains, but Open Air in Jackson is real tasty too.

The best seafood is at The Shell House in Savannah.

The best catfish is at Henderson's in Covington. 

The best sausage is at Stripling's in Crisp County.

The best fried chicken in the world is served at Buckner's Restaurant in Jackson. (except for my mama's).

Grits is groceries and sugar doesn't belong in cornbread. 

God intended for iced tea to be served sweet. 

And lastly, Georgia ain't exactly heaven, but it will do until I get there.