Quote:
Originally posted by 33girl:
My (totally random) take on the situation...
A good friend of Mr. 33's moved to New Orleans a few years ago. He is originally from one of the more exclusive communities in the Western PA area, so it's not like he just crawled out of the backwoods. But he said the Society, capital "S" scene down there absolutely blew him away - he didn't believe the layers upon layers of social strata and the importance of being an "old" family. While LSU isn't in NO, I would bet a lot of women from NO go there. The Greek system is probably very connected to the social scene and there is a lot of importance on being in the "right" sorority.
Just my guess. 
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I am from Podunk, Alabama.
Your comments remind me so much of my hometown. The social ranking was complicated (and pretty stupid). For instance, the Mayor is not originally from there, and the reason he was elected was that the "lower classes" voted him in. Naturally, he is not welcome in many gentle households. However, a judge who has connections back into antiquity
is one of the gentry. The rankings within the "upper crust" change pretty much everyday and it is really hard to explain to someone not familiar with it.
There are "good" GLOs that the children from "good" families are supposed to join. Kappa Kappa Gamma and Sigma Nu (I think) are the big ones. Also, if you don't attend Alabama or Auburn, no one gives a damn (unless it is a private school - but that doesn't happen much because when these children are running the family business they are going to need to be able to communicate with the less educated). The only reason I went out for rush here was because they didn't have a Kappa chapter here. I know that is horrible, but I didn't want to be pressured (both my grandmother and aunt were Kappas) into pledging them.
Also, (and this is really crazy) if members of one family want the members of another family to "owe" them, then they will make sure that their son or daughter gets into their GLO. That ties them together and forms some sort of alliance.
And this is in a small town with only 15,000 people. There are maybe 5-10 top families. I can only imagine what it must have been like in New Orleans - they are a lot more rooted in tradition.
Allie
