It is, I believe, a distinct and unique trait of the South the way we carry on long conversations with people we are passing in the loaf bread section of the grocery store or in the checkout line. In other places where I’ve traveled and shopped, people don’t take up with complete strangers to discuss which fabric softener is best or how mayonnaise has tripled in price in the past handful of years or pontificate on why pimentos are not on the same aisle as the pickles or olives. They should be.