While you are walking around you may expect to hear, “Hello, how are you?” or “What’s up?”
In New Orleans we greet each other a little bit differently.
My dad will answer the phone with “Where y’at?”
My nanny says, “Hey baby! How you doin’?”
My friends and I say, “Hey y’all!”
My friends’ parents say, “How’s ya mom an ‘em?”
The old woman at the checkout says, “Hey dawl.”
My neighbors say to each other, “Hey Mike! I saw your sister and em while I was making
groceries! Her kids are such dawlins, growing up to be such pretty ladies!”
The warm welcomes that people will find around New Orleans, whether it be from a stranger or
a friend, are the more unique and warmer than anywhere else.
Molly, age 15