Gregory M. Ledet

Recently I made a new friend up here in Ohio.  I make friends all the time, but very rarely do I make a friend that I actually want to spend time with.  Most of my friend are what I call “bar friends”.  They’re people that I meet at the bar and the only time I ever see them is… you guessed it… at the bar.  Think of them like Tyler Durden thought about his “single serving friends”.  So for me to make a friend that I actually talk to on the phone or trade emails with is a pretty big thing.  Hell, I try to keep the list of people I consider close friends very small.

Well, when I to decide that I’m going to let someone into that small group, I normally go all out with it, and I think it has a lot to do with the culture of South Louisiana.  We’re just a loving and trusting culture down there.  People here in Ohio aren’t really used to people that will just take them into their families the way we do down south.  I guess it’s all part of that “southern hospitality”.  I can’t just chalk it all up to the culture though.  I’m the kind of person that loves and trusts people from the start.  You don’t have to earn anything from me, but you can very easily destroy that love and trust.  Most people are inherently untrusting of others.  I am the exact opposite.  Shit, I’ve let people I just met borrow my car and sleep on my couch!

Well, only a week or so after meeting, my new friend suffered a loss in her family.  Her grandfather passed away and of course I felt bad for her, having lost both of my grandfathers, one grandmother, and my father already myself.  I told her the same thing that I would have told anyone else in the same position; “If you need anything at all, just let me know”.  I also told her that even if she needed me to go up to where she was (about an hour and a half away), I would do it.  This really shocked her; that I would offer to do such a thing after only knowing her for a week and a half.  I didn’t find that to be that big of a deal until I thought about it for a while.  This is normal for southerners.  We genuinely want to help people out and we want to be there for our friends.

Then there’s the way I am when it comes to my friends.  I will do anything for my friends, no matter how long I’ve known them.  If I let you into that select group, it doesn’t matter if I’ve known you a week or a lifetime, you get the same treatment as everyone else.  And I know I’m not the only person that’s like this.  I think it’s part southerner, part Cajun, because the only other people I know this come from the same place I do.  This kind of treatment is unheard of up here.  Hell, guys I’ve known since I’ve moved here back in 2008 wouldn’t even think about calling me to help them move or something, but back home someone that I’ve known for a month wouldn’t think twice about doing it.  We genuinely love our friends, and I think that while they may love them here, it’s not the same kind of love.

One of the things that I love most about South Louisiana is the people.  We’ll bend over backwards to help out a total stranger.  A few weeks back I was on my way back from Columbus when I witnessed a guy get hit by a car on the side of the interstate.  I pulled over to help out, seeing as I do have medical training and I knew it would be a while before the medics would arrive on scene.  Other than myself, only 2 other people stopped, even though there were multiple people injured.  Hell, we had a hard time just getting people to slow down and drive around the accident scene.  It’s like people up here just don’t give a shit about their fellow human beings.  Back home, that would have been a completely different story.

For those of you that don’t live there, go visit New Orleans and ask a local how to get somewhere or where’s a good restaurant to eat at.  That person will sit there and talk to you as long as it takes.  Go to a place like New York and do the same thing.  You’ll get a cold shoulder.  When I first got here, I was walking down Main Street in Bellefontaine and as I would pass someone, I would ask “how ya doin’” or just say “hello”.  Most of the time I would get a strange look and the person would just keep walking.  Even going into the doughnut shop here is a different experience.  I went there yesterday and when the girl finally walked up to the counter she said “Do you know what you want?”.  Not “How can I help you” or something like that.  After I checked out for my order, there was no “thank you” or “come again”.  It was more like “here’s your receipt, not let me get back to slacking off”.  And that’s all over the place here.

Things are a little different down in Columbus as far as that goes.  I guess the bigger city brings a different type of person out, but in this small hick town everybody’s an asshole.  I can’t wait until this 3 year exile is over and I can get back to my home and the people and places that I love.  Sure, I’m going to miss the friends I’ve made up here.  I wouldn’t completely rule out coming up and visit, but something tells me that those friends would much rather come visit me in New Orleans.

-Greg

P.S. After talking with my wife about this post for a while, we’ve come up with a few more things.  My wife came to Louisiana from Toronto.  She gave me the perspective of someone going down there from up north.  When she first moved there, she felt that people came on a little too strong.  It was like there was no “get to know you” stage.  People want to know everything about you the moment they meet you.  It’s like meeting someone for the first time and they invade your personal space.  Think of it as being verbally groped.  I don’t see it, but then again, I’m one of the “gropers”.  I can kinda see where she’s coming from though.  I’ve been told many times that I come off a bit strong, and that’s even by people from back home.  I can’t imagine how hard I must come on to people up here.

Well, that’s just the way I am, and if I can’t tell that I’m doing something, it’s hard for me to stop doing it.  Also, I don’t see it as a bad thing to trust people from the time you meet them.  Sure, it can come back and bite me in the ass one day, and it already has cost me a lot of money and other stuff because of it.  I still don’t plan on stopping it.  My life is an open book to everyone; you’re reading about it right now.  Even total strangers know things about me that most people would keep secret from their families.  Also, I really don’t have a family.  I haven’t really spoken to my mother since 1998, my father is dead, my brother owes me $35,000 and refuses to pay it (I trusted him when he said he would pay it back), and my extended family doesn’t speak to me either.  My friends are the only family I really have, therefore they get treated like family.

I never thought I’d live to see the day; the day that the New Orleans Saints make it to the Superbowl.  I’ve waited my entire life for this day!  Hell, I’m at a loss for words right now because I’m just completely overcome with joy!

It was a hard game, but the Saints pulled it off in the end.  One thing that pisses me off though is that no one seems to want to give the Saints any credit.  I’m reading article after article on the internet, along with the comments posted on them, and it’s all Saints bashing saying that the numbers don’t lie and that the Vikings should have easily won that game.  I’ve got news for you people, you can’t win a football game when you can’t hold on to the ball!  I’m also tired already of reading about how the Refs blew 3 calls in overtime and that all 3 that were reviewed should have been reversed.  Well, I’ve got more news for you.  Did you bother to see the first 4 quarters of that game?  The ones where the Saints got hit for 88 yards in penalties to the Vikings 32?  Yeah, how they tried to NOT give Reggie Bush the touchdown that was obvious?

What about Joe Buck too?  I was waiting for him to drop to his knees and start praying to Farve.  He could not possibly have been any more unprofessional than he was tonight.  A journalist is supposed to be unbiased and all Mr. Buck did all night was sit there and talk about Farve like he was willing to have his baby.  After the game I switched over to ESPN and the Farve love continued.  No one wants to give the Saints any credit.  I guess that even though we started the season 13-0 means that we really suck.

And people, don’t give me that “the Vikings won on paper” bullshit.  Higher stats /= winning the game.  Sure, most of the time the team with the most yards wins, but once again, the Vikings had 5 turnovers to the Saints 1.  We were better where it counted and the Vikings played like a Pop Warner team!

So, congratulations to the New Orleans Saints and to all the rest of you in Who Dat Nation!  In 2 short weeks we go to Miami!