This is such a true saying, that I decided that it is worth sharing despite being off topic for this blog. Tucked into The American Conservative's Rod Dreher's latest piece was this gem that jumped out at me:

"Southerners have an advanced capacity to put up with a lot for the sake of keeping social harmony. It can and does lead to all kinds of dysfunction — oh yes indeed it does! — but it also works magic in keeping messy people together. The bonds of family and community cannot be stretched infinitely, of course, but they can be stretched a lot farther than people think."

This is true. We southerners, particularly of a certain age, know how to overlook some things for the greater good. It's not always for the ultimate best, as Dreher points out. However, I would argue that more often than not, it is.

As the south becomes more and more populated with people whose roots are planted elsewhere, this is becoming less true, but it's still mostly true. For now at least, which I think is a very good thing.