G.R.I.T.S., or Girls Raised In The South, usually have the patience of saints when it comes to our men. We know they will do stupid things, and we forgive 'em all the time, because we just love 'em like big ole teddy bears anyway, and we like to choose our battles, not nag.
However in return, most southern men, know how far they can go before they'd better stop and think twice, or else they will incur the wrath of a southern woman. It's a frightening transformation to see such a sweet and patient woman, have a home-grown-bonified-hand-to-God-hissy-fit. When she feels the sting of her good will being taken advantage of, watch out. She will retaliate with the wrath of God, and maybe a firearm.
I had just such a fit about a month ago when my boyfriend decided to disappear to Bike Week on me for three days without notice. I was even supposed to meet up with him on one of those days, and was all excited, and he stood me up. I was worried sick about him, and do you know what that scoundrel did when I called his momma worried about his sorry ass? He got mad. And, I got madder.
My momma calls it our "Scarlett O'Hara", when this happens. I remember the few and rare times when she "Pulled A Scarlett" when I was growing up. It was quite frightening, froze us all in our tracks, and left us wide-eyed and wondering what the hell had just happened. It's when we just get so mad that we raise our hand to God, just like Scarlett did in Gone With The Wind, when she was starving to death after the war, and she grabbed a fistful of dirt from her land, held it up to the sky and said "By God, I will never go hungry again!". And we believed that, when Scarlett said it! You knew that that woman was going to survive!
Well needless to say, I got so daggone mad, I raised my hand to God and said "By God, you will never do this to me again!". All kinds of truth started flying outta me, like a tornado coming down, that he was not prepared for. Things that won't register in his mind until years from now. Could I have kept these truths to myself and breathed into a brown paper bag for three days instead? Yes. Would I have him now, if I had handled it differently? Yes. But who wants to be with a man that just up and disappears on you and then doesn't even have the manners to explain himself? No, it's better to be Scarlett, and have nothing left in this world, except my pride, integrity and the will to go on. Amen.