In the South, even in the hustle and bustle of the biggest cities, strangers still tend to tell each other "Good morning" or "Good afternoon." Or they'll at least give you a nod instead of just staring at their shoes until the elevator gets to their floor. And sometimes, a conversation actually happens. Salvation South magazine editor Chuck Reece has some thoughts about that.

 

At the doctor's office, complaining is appropriate...even encouraged.

At the doctor's office, complaining is appropriate...even encouraged.

Credit: Adobe Stock

TRANSCRIPT:

Chuck Reece: One of the things I most love about living in the South is that when you pass a stranger, you’ll still likely to get a smile and probably a “good morning” or a “good afternoon.” Sometimes, you’ll even get a question like “How are you this morning?”

This is true even in big Southern cities like Atlanta. When I lived in New York City, I never got that. Ask someone how they are on an elevator in New York City, and you’ll get a look that seems to say, “And where are you hiding your knife?”

But down here, you expect to be asked how you are. Most folks find a standard response, something that works for them. Something they can stick with.

Like “Pretty good.” 

But I can’t ever seem to stick with one response for longer than a month or two. Right now, I’m going with, “Can’t complain.”

This morning, I went to the doctor for my checkup. I walked into the building, and the fellow behind the reception desk asked me how I was doing. 

“Can’t complain,” I said, and suddenly, I thought, "Well, I’m walking into a doctor’s office, where complaints are encouraged, even asked for." So I looked at the guy again and added, “Well, I’m about to go to the doctor, so I better get my complaints ready.”

He said, “They’ll just tell you everything will be OK.” 

Turns out, he was right. All signs point to me living for another year. But I’d be lying if I said I had zero anxiety before a checkup. I mean, they do all the tests. Body temperature. Oxygen saturation. Blood pressure. And they draw three test tubes full of blood from my arm, which will go to a lab where they will be analyzed for all sorts of data. My total cholesterol, my good cholesterol, my bad cholesterol, the ratio of my good cholesterol to my bad cholesterol. My hemoglobin. My ferritin. 

I have no idea what ferritin is. 

I used to worry about such things. Before your doctor used an app to communicate with you and share test results, you just got told to just go home and not worry if you didn’t get a phone call from them. Just assume that no news would be good news. 

That used to drive me nuts. Just call me and tell me I’m OK once you figure out that I am, all right? That’s what my mama would do. 

But one advantage of me edging a little closer to senior-discount eligibility is that you realize how many months if not years of time you’ve wasted  worrying about whether this count or that one would be too high or too low. When the truth is, the result is what it is. And you do whatever that result indicates you ought to do. And that will probably work out OK. And when it does, you’ll forget all about your anxiety.

Until the next checkup rolls around.

And the person behind the desk asks how you are. 

And you will say, “I reckon I can’t complain.”

Come visit us at SalvationSouth.com, and we always try to do our best to remind you how little you have to complain about.

 

Salvation South editor Chuck Reece comments on Southern culture and values in a weekly segment that airs Fridays at 7:45 a.m. during Morning Edition and 4:44 p.m. during All Things Considered on GPB Radio. Salvation South Deluxe is a series of longer Salvation South episodes which tell deeper stories of the Southern experience through the unique voices that live it. You can also find them here at GPB.org/Salvation-South and wherever you get your podcasts.