Gabe just equated Madison, Wisconsin with 'the East Coast'. Another California centricist* enters my life. What shall I do? Blog, I suppose.
He followed up his statement by saying, "You should be happy I equated Madison with the East Coast" - as though 'the midwest' is an insult.
Don't knock it 'til you've tried it.
PEOPLE - THERE IS A LOT OF LAND BETWEEN CALIFORNIA AND BOSTON. GET IT INTO YOUR HEADS. AND SEE THE WORLD, FOR GOD'S SAKE. STOP MAKING ASSUMPTIONS. YOU'RE PISSING ME OFF.
(Comments, Stacey?)
* again, not a word
Thursday, August 05, 2004
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
I'm with Gabe. Anything from Idaho beyond is "back East".
I just googled this very problem. Many many many sites say that the FOLLOWING LIST OF STATES MAKES UP THE MIDWEST (even the Nat'l Resources Conservation Service thinks so):
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
Nebraska
North Dakota
Ohio
South Dakota
Wisconsin
I'M GETTING ANGRY. Stacey, call in the reinforcements!
Madison, Wisconsin is in absolutely no @#*$@#& way part of the East Coast. Nor is Minnesota. Or Ohio. As Annie so eloquently pointed out, people on the East Coast are rude. And need to chain their plants to their houses so they aren't stolen. People in the Midwest are nice. Bus drivers say a cheery 'hello!' when you get on the bus and wait if you are late. Random people on the street nod and smile. There is lots of corn.
As J.Po well knows, I am severely annoyed by arrogant Californians (and coasties in general) who seem to think that there is nothing unique or interesting about the Midwest. If they would get their heads out of their asses and actually go somewhere not on a coast, they would realize that there are liberal and cosmopolitan places in the Midwest. Just as there are plenty of conservative and isolated places in California. And Oregon. And hell, New York.
Part of the reason I moved away from California is that I realized that for all its 'cosmopolitanness,' Bay Area people seemed to think that because they had 'everything' they never had to go anywhere else. Well, you don't have everything (thunderstorms, anyone?), and in being so high and mighty about where you live, you're really missing out on the diversity this country has to offer. But that's your loss, I guess.
I personally enjoy living in a progressive, friendly and affordable city that is frequenly rated as one of the best places to live in the whole @*#$@* country. But where no one ever says that it's the 'best' or makes derogatory comments about other places. It's all of the good parts of the Bay Area, with all of the arrogance weeded out (by winter, I'm guessing).
Note that I never said the Midwest was superior, only that it's not _inferior_. I'm fine with people living wherever they want to, but also think that a lot of people in California assume that they wouldn't want to live anywhere else without ever trying it (as Joanne noted). I personally lived in the Bay Area (both in SF and on the peninsula) for five years, so I think I can make a pretty solid comparison between the two places. In my years there, I encountered such situations as:
1. A woman asking me if the flight I'd taken from Minneapolis to San Francisco was "only on Tuesdays." (Try six times a day or so...)
2. Multiple people asking me or my friends if we were going 'back East' for the holidays or asking what it was like growing up on the East Coast. (The only coast in Minnesota is along Lake Superior, thank you very much.)
3. A native Californian telling me that she didn't know which states bordered California but she didn't think that was a big deal. (And this was a graduate student...)
4. Endless derogatory references to the 'fly-over states.'
5. Someone telling me flat-out that he saw absolutely no reason to ever, ever, ever go somewhere that wasn't on a coast, as there was nothing worthwhile in between - even though he had never to the Midwest or the South.
6. And, most recently, Stanford Magazine claiming that the Stanford Shopping Center had the first Bloomingdale's west of Chicago. (Actually, it was at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota.)
However, when telling people in Wisconsin that I moved to Madison from California, I have never, ever had anyone utter anything derogatory. In fact, people just seem curious and interested to know what it's like to live there. I can't speak for the attitudes of people in states bordering on CA, though...
I guess the big point is that in general, I found Californians to be extremely dismissive of the Midwest based not on any personal experience with the region(because why would you ever go there?), but on broad stereotypes. I at least tried living in another part of the country (and have visited all but 10 states) before deciding to return to the place I like best.
And, in closing, I will note that things are even worse for folks who live in the South - the one part of the country that seems to have an even worse image than the Midwest. I give a shout-out to Hannah for teaching me that I was treating her home region the same crappy way that Californians treat mine.
Wonderful and informative web site. I used information from that site its great. Pregnancy and saunas Enforcing their patents Paris nicky hilton photos auto battery delphi battery watering systems removing coolant from 1991 volkswagen cabriolet convertible 208 battery canon charger Jvc digital camcorder 25x zoom http://www.craps-basic-strategy.info/Palm-vx-battery.html Accutane sauter les boutons cheap conference calling Mueller toyota Protonix drug interactions http://www.computerbatteries9.info/Toshibanotebookbatteryoutletcarlsbad.html Losing weight with liquid diet slashdot diabetes contact lens usb battery pack military draft enhancing security at home
Post a Comment