Two Crazy Kids

I apologize for the delay in new posts, but I’ve been on vacation and figured that the blog would just have be put on hold. 

On Monday I interviewed two of my very good friends from opposite sides of the spectrum who happen to be dating.  In one corner we have Tommy* from New York (accent and all).  Tommy is the middle child of five, is tall, loud, extremely sociable and outgoing, and an all around great guy.  In the opposite corner we have Laney* from a small town in South Carolina.  Laney is the oldest of three, very blonde, quiet at first but actually full of personality, and is one of the funniest people I have ever met.  One would think the two of them together would be an unlikely match, but they actually work extremely well together.  Their diverse qualities are no doubt due to growing up in such opposite places in the United States but after overcoming stereotypes and initial impressions, Tommy and Laney now make a great team. 

Laney’s first impression of Tommy in English class was that he was really obnoxious since he was loud, always wore “that stupid Yankees hat” and always talked about Yankees/Red Sox baseball.  After getting to know Tommy a little better, she realized he wasn’t obnoxious at all, although apparently he is still loud and opinionated at times.  Similarly, Tommy’s first impression of Laney was that she was really hard to understand (because of her strong accent), “quiet and kind of gave [him] dirty looks [hes] guess[es] cause she didn’t like Yankees fans.”  Surprisingly neither Tommy nor Laney attends church, and both consider themselves liberal democrats.  Not so surprisingly, Tommy would rather live in a metropolitan area and Laney in a small town.  Both love Charleston for its classic southern charm but also slightly more progressive ideals.  Tommy describes it as a “glorified town” that is probably smaller than the area in NY he is from, while Laney believes it to be a pretty big city, especially compared to the small town she grew up in. 

Growing up, both Tommy and Laney played well to their stereotypical roles in their respective states.  Tommy spent the majority of his childhood playing football and lacrosse, drinking with friends on the weekends, and hanging out with his close-knit Irish family.  Laney spent her days cheerleading (or as an “athletic supporter to be politically correct” according to Tommy) for her local high school, watching the Gamecocks (a football team), playing and hunting with her brothers in the woods and drinking with friends when there wasn’t anything else to do (which was often).  Tommy’s favorite drink is whiskey and Laney’s Vodka, although she’s “not aloud to drink it” and both really like beer.  Both agreed that the biggest difference between them was simply their accents.  Laney noted that Tommy was “a little more aggressive” to which Tommy replied saying, she’s “a little more shy.”  Laney would rather hang out with a group of people she knows, rather than going to a random party and trying to meet new people.  Tommy, on the other hand, just wants to have a good time and doesn’t feel the need to know people somewhere to achieve that goal.  

In regard to marriage and relationships, Laney and Tommy actually had differing opinions, although they didn’t see it themselves.  Tommy’s parents were married at the young ages of 24 and 29, and Laney’s at 28 and 36, respectively.  Laney wants to be married by the time she’s 24 or 25 but believes that she would need to date the man for at least a year and live with him for a period of time before she marries.  Tommy hesitated a little longer before answering, “it depends,” and kind of left it at that.  I can only assume that Tommy would want to play up his role of ‘the man of the house’ and have a steady job and income, a proper place to live, and have dated his wife-to-be for a longer period of time than a year to assure that he wouldn’t add to today’s statistic that 50% of all marriages end in divorce.  I think their differing opinions about commitment are cultural differences rather than personal differences.  I know several Southern girls who are my age at Charleston who are either engaged or already married with children.  For that reason, Laney’s response that she wanted to wait until she was 24 or 25 to get married actually surprised me.  I believe Laney’s response to wait until at least her mid-twenties to get married is actually quite a liberal approach to such a traditional concept in the South.  But then again, Laney is pretty awesome, so I guess I shouldn’t be that surprised.

Keep doing what you’re doing you two. 





*These names have been changed for their protection.