A common interest in road rallies was enough to be practically adopted by kind Southern strangers I recently met in Rogers, Arkansas.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to travel on business in the southern part of the country, first to Rogers, Arkansas, then to San Antonio, Texas, to Roanoke, Virginia, the mountains of West Virginia and finally, Greensboro, North Carolina. We were able to experience true southern hospitality from everyone we encountered and it made me realize how lucky we are to have this culture of kindness still alive and well in this day and age. In Rogers, Arkansas, I was practically “adopted” by complete strangers only because we had a common interest of classic cars and road rallies. Everywhere we went, from restaurants to just folks on the street, we were treated with respect and politeness. It reminded me once again to follow the adage my mother tried so hard to instill in everyone she met, “Be Kind to Someone Today.” And as we heard over and over while in the South, “Ya’ll have a good week now!”