A Southern Gesture of Warmth and Generosity
Hey Everyone:
Greetings to all of you! I hope March is treating you right. For those of you who celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, did you get your fill of corned beef and green beer?
How about that time change? Did you survive that grueling leap into Daylight Savings Time? I have to admit that I did not spring forward happily into the new time. That lonely lost hour hit me hard. I felt like I was late all day. I was late for my tea. I was late for my walk. I was late for my reading. I was late for everything.
Now, anyone who knows me also knows that I absolutely abhor being late. It makes me cranky, crabby, and just plain irritable. So, in an effort to avoid any kind of contact with the day, I found myself huddled at the kitchen counter, stirring some sugar into my tea. It was then my phone dinged a happy little ding, alerting me to a text. Honestly, I wasn’t in the mood for happy, but I sighed and picked it up anyway.
It was from my neighbor. DO Y’ALL MIND IF I COME OVER?
I blinked a few times and sent back my response. SURE, BUT I’M REALLY CRABBY TODAY.
OH, BLESS YOUR HEART. I’LL BE RIGHT THERE.
Well, no stopping it now. It only took a minute and the doorbell rang. I opened the door and in swooped my sweet southern neighbor, eyes sparkling and grinning a wide grin. “I have something for you I thought you might like,” she said in that charming southern drawl. “Banana puddin’. That’s what I brought. Do you care to try some right now?”
What choice did I have?
“Of course, I’d love to try some!” Here’s what I was really thinking: Where I come from, we put bananas on cereal and on peanut butter toast, or we dip them in chocolate and eat them off a stick. In a pudding? Not so much. But I was game to try.
She dished up a bowl of Pepperidge Farms Chessman Cookies piled high with ripe, sweet banana slices, covered by a silky-smooth, luscious custard with a few more cookies on top. I took one bite and I felt like the heavens opened up. A smile spread across my face and all I wanted to do was gobble up the entire pan. I was so happy!
“Good, huh?” My neighbor smiled. “I thought you’d like it. But this isn’t my own recipe. I got it from someone else. But oh, my Lord, as soon as I tried it, I felt like I was sinning and needed confession!”
I laughed so hard. Of course, she would say something like that in her sweet southern voice.
“It really is special,” I responded as I continued to spoon bite after bite.
And yes, banana pudding really is something special here in the South. It’s deeply rooted in culinary tradition and heritage. This cultural icon has become a symbol of simplicity and hospitality. Here in Tennessee where hospitality is considered a virtue, offering banana pudding to guests is a gesture of warmth and generosity.
What a gift I had received! That banana pudding made my day. I was no longer late. I was no longer crabby. I was exactly where I needed to be to enjoy such gift.
So how does this story take us to the marketing side of things? Well, I think it’s a great story of marketing. It’s a reminder to me to listen to the market and to know where the market is. The people I help come from all kinds of places and all kinds of traditions. At the end of the day, they all have something to teach ME. I should pay attention to those wonderful lessons. Well…we all should.
Let’s go out and find those traditions. Let’s dig deep into culture and heritage. With a little luck, I’m sure we can all find our own version of banana pudding.
As always, I’m here to help. Contact me at mary@truevoicemarketingsolutions.com, and let’s set some time to cook up success for you.
Here’s to Banana Pudding!
Mary Vosika
Owner | Director
True Voice Marketing Solutions
P.S. If you need help contact me at mary@truevoicemarketingsolutions.com.
P.P.S. If you want a killer recipe for Banana Pudding done the way it’s done in the South, I’ve got one. Contact me at mary@truevoicemarketingsolutions.com.