One positive side effect of being in Central Texas for 28 years is the Southern Friendliness rubbing off on me. But I’ve put my Yankee spin on it. See, the South is polite and friendly with an ugly undercurrent similar to how Canadians are allegedly nice while they succeed in slipping in a backhanded slight. Here, a favorite version of it here is “Bless your heart!” Translation, “That’s pretty good for you since you’re inferior.”
Anyway, I’m sincere in my niceness to strangers. I often tell them how much I like their hair or clothes as it doesn’t cost anything to do it. I just feel, why not, the world is rough enough. It’s amazing how you receive a “thank you” and smile back, especially from women. Where I’m originally from, the response in the North is, “Piss off you pervert!” or “Are you high or something?”
Tonight, I saw a lady pondering in HEB’s makeup aisle. I figure she was thinking about what works best given the whole season thing for people; I think I’m an Autumn. I told her, “Pick whatever you like. I bet you will look great!” She smiled and said “thank you.” I probably scared her too yet she realized, OK, this guy is harmless and he means it. I’m not strong enough to be involved in human trafficking.
Then at the self-checkout, I found a quarter on the ground! Boom! Being nice does pay! It may not be a lot of money but as Ben Franklin said or receives the credit for this maxim, “A penny in the hand is a dollar in the distance.” The lady’s smile was enough, the coin was the whipped cream on top of a kindness sundae.
I’m not sure I’d define “bless your heart” quite like that. Firstly, most of the time it’s a bit more of a pitying condescension rather than calling out inferiority. But also, it’s not even that something “is pretty good for you” but maybe a bit more “you’re too stupid to realize you’re not doing a good thing.”
Like, “Bless his heart, he doesn’t realize she’s leading him on.” Or, “You thought that was going to work? Bless your heart…”
If you rewrote Star Wars in Southern, the first time Leia sees the Falcon she probably would say “You came in that? Bless your heart!”