Ironic, because my experience of living in the south is that the fake niceties are deeply ingrained in the culture. Classic fun example: “bless your heart” basically means “fuck you”.

The weirdest thing is "fuck you" doesn't mean "fuck you" at all! I learned the hard way when I started to unzip :(

We are kind, but not nice. I generally find the west coast is nice, but not kind. Everyone in the south knows what bless your heart means, so it’s not really a veiled insult.