Poor Mississippi. I spent a few years in Arkansas, where their unofficial state motto is "Thank God for Mississippi." Of course, Mississippians refer to a gasoline siphon as an "Arkansas credit card."
That's funny. Gotta remember that one. ;-D
[full disclosure: I'm a native of Alabama, and also spent time living in Arkansas, Mississippi, and - more recently - Georgia]
Both Alabama and Arkansas have used the TGFM motto. I've also heard Georgia called "Alabama with better PR." But at least Alabama didn't produce "Mama June" and "Honey Boo Boo." And remember: "Deliverance" was filmed in Georgia. Also, plug "Ludowici" and "McIntosh County" into Google to be thoroughly amused by the gauntlet that Florida-bound east coasters had to run back in the pre-interstate age. Lots of illegal clip joints, gamed speed traps, gas stations run by local deputies who'd sabotage travelers' cars (back when gas attendants "checking under the hood" was a sacrament). Racism, especially in southwest Georgia, is rampant -- even by textbook "deep south" standards. A town outside Savannah (Tiger Ridge) is famed for its inbreeding.
And people call Alabama, Arkansas, and Mississippi bad??
I always got the heebie-jeebies when traveling through middle Georgia - a weird feeling I never had when in the worst parts of Alabama, Mississippi or Arkansas. There's something about it I can't put my finger on. Luckily I never had run-ins personally, but it wasn't small-town cops nor State Patrol one had to watch out for ... it was the deputies. Georgia is nasty that way. The incident referred above near Augusta, sad to say, doesn't surprise me. Georgia truly is a wasteland.
