--- In [email protected], Sal Sunshine <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > On Jul 7, 2005, at 1:32 AM, TurquoiseB wrote: > > > Although this is condescending and oh-so-superior, there > > is an element of truth in it. For me, brought up on the > > two coasts and internationally, my first forays into the > > American midwest were pretty shocking. I kept running > > into people who had never been more than 200 miles from > > the place where they were born, > > And the exact same thing is true of those on the coasts, at > least the East, as I found out on *my* first foray into western > Massachusetts and Vermont, which lasted 4 years, a lot longer > than your foray, I would guess. There was incredible regionalism > and ignorance about anything outside of New England.
And? My only point was that the American midwest has regionalism and ignorance that is *different* from that found in other places in the US, not that those things didn't exist in other places. > It was like the world didn't exist for them if > it wasn't something they had grown up with. That's an *American* syndrome, not a regional one. The shocking statistic about America is that the people who repeat ad infinitum the old meme, "America has the best standard of living in the world," have, on the whole, never seen another one. Last I checked, the percentage of Americans owning a passport was just over 7%. These days, as I hear, you need a passport to visit Mexico and Canada. Not to get into those countries, but to get back into America. > And lots of bigotry as > well. In fact, I would say that New England is probably the most > bigoted place in the country, outside of some places in the deep > South. Your experience was your experience. There is *certainly* a great deal of close-mindedness and social pressure to conform in New England, although I personally never encoun- tered outright bigotry. My only point, to reiterate, is that the different regions have their own individual weird- nesses. As someone who didn't grow up there but who spent four years working there, I found the weirdnesses of the midwest very weird indeed. Someone brought up there would probably find other areas just as weird. > > I remember a conversation I overheard between > > some girls at a bar in Madison, Wisconsin, in which 3 > > of the girls were teasing the fourth because she was > > "dating a foreigner." The boyfriend in question was > > from Illinois. Go figure. > > Baloney. You are as entitled to your choice in luncheon meats as you are your opinions ahout the different regions of America. But the conversation took place just as I related it. Unc To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
