--- In [email protected], "Jeff Fischer" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > --- In [email protected], TurquoiseB <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: > > 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. > > Reminded me of the bar scene in Fargo...
You don't know the half of it, where the overheard conversation went from there... :-) Yeah, accents is part of it, but I'm used to different accents from having traveled so much. I guess it was just the "little things" about the Midwest that I found odd compared to where I'd lived before. Foods like "cheese curds." :-) And, to be honest, the "big things," meaning the obesity. I started working in the Midwest just after a long stay in France, and the difference was pretty astounding. The French, whether it is due to genes or diet or a lot of walking or (more likely) all three, are a pretty slim, trim people. Then bam! I'm in the Midwest, sur- rounded by people who have a hard time fitting through a normal-sized doorway. One insurance company I worked for had needle dispensers in all of the toilet stalls. Not for druggies, but because so many of their employ- ees were diabetic as a result of a largely carb diet. It was a real visual shock coming from France, and before that, from Southern California, with its over- the-top "gotta be slim" body consciousness. Being taken to a steak joint and watching people eat steaks that were (no exaggeration) three inches thick and the size of an old LP record album was an eye-opener, as was seeing them supplement the steak with piles of mashed potatoes and corn-on-the-cob. Then again, when Winter rolled around, I began to get an idea of why people ate as much as they did. There were many things I liked about the Midwest, but it's just not one of those places I would ever live willingly (largely because of the Winters). I suspect that one could come to love it, but I never managed to. 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/
