Do you ever catch flack because of the state you live in?

Arkansas, love it or leave it!

@johnpowell I might be pushing her out soon.. haha. Lets say the ending of the movie Bruno hasn’t helped much.

I live in Ohio and this happens all the time. Especially from my friend from Chicago. I know it isn’t the greatest but it’s nice enough and I don’t hate it here.

Sounds like just plain rudeness to me. A little good humor and teasing is fine, but I agree “love it or leave it”.

I’m from Queensland, Australia. And we (the rest of Australia) make fun of Tasmania (the little bit off the bottom of Aus) for being inbred and backwards. It is just one of those things that develop in any country really. I guess this information doesn’t really help? haha

I live in Kentucky. The oh so witty banter never ends. Now if you’ll excuse me, the cows need milking and I have to go drink some moonshine.

I get crap about Kansas. People are scared of tornadoes, and say why would you live there! I’m not scared of the weather at all. I’m more scared of the Bible Thumpers, Meth Heads and racists!
Dorthy and Toto jokes get old too…

I live in Ohio. We have state stores (liquor stores to the rest of you) in most grocery stores. You would drink a lot if you lived in Ohio =). I like it. Weather changes daily so lots of variety. Rampant inbreeding in many parts of the Amish country and southern parts of the state. Job flight. What more could you ask for?

@majorrich We have a very large Amish community here. We are actually going out to the small town, Yoder, for dinner tonight. There is tons of inbreeding in their community. I’ve heard tell of babies being born with severe birth defects and being left to die. I don’t know that this is true, I doubt it personally. Another community of Amish very close to here has a lot of little people in it. Seeing a horse and buggy hitched up at Walmart or a tractor driving down Main Street is very common. It makes a lot of people mad because they don’t pay property taxes like everyone else.

I live in Pennsylvania…no one says much. Though when I mention Pittsburgh they always have something to say, usually about how we talk like freaking hicks.

There is a very high incidence of Downs syndrome in our Amish communities. I don’t know about letting them die either. Just the jokes about family trees that resemble telephone poles and such. The Mennonite community (the ones at Wal-Mart) we call plain people, don’t get quite the ribbing the hard-core Amish do. They drive Cars and stuff. I believe the old order hard core Amish is either evolving or dieing out.

@deni I always get the “Do you know my [cousin/brother/friend] Johnny who lives in Philadelphia?” when I tell people I live in Pittsburgh….

I’ve not heard that “talks like freaking hicks” thing—probably because grew up in Kentucky where people do talk like hicks =)

@grumpyfish do people really ask you if you know their friends in philadelphia? WHY! lol.

and yes, i have to agree. i don’t think the majority of people here talk like hicks. BUT some people really take the whole pittsburghese thing to the max…i think it’s annoying.

New Jersey? Fuggedaboutit!

@deni that’s mostly the folks in California who have no idea that there’s a good 6 hour drive from Pgh to Philly =)

My mom’s family all have the Yinzer accent (except my aunt who lives in Greensberg who has the Dutch accent for no apparent reason)—so I never realized that there was a Pgh accent until I was here in college =)

@grumpyfish Greensburg…as in the Greensburg that is a half hour ish east of pittsburgh?

@majorrich we have so many different Mennonite groups. I can tell them apart by their “head gear”. What cracks me up are the Amish kids on Rumsprinnga. The girls will go in a McDonalds bathroom “plain” and come out looking like regular teenagers. My mom and dad tell stories about Amish kids at the skating rink with an 8 track player hooked up to a battery in their buggies.

@deni yep!

@grumpyfish insanity!!!!!!! that’s where i live!

I get crap all the time about being from New Jersey.. mostly from New Yorkers.

@poofandmook Yeah, those rotten New Yorkers dumping on us and then crowding up our wonderful beaches!

I get crap all the time about being from New York… mostly from New Jerseyans.

(By the way, NYers are allowed to pick on NJ, but if you do? We’ll kick your ass. They’re our little sibling to pick on. Back off.)

@MacBean Can’t we make peace and all jump on Staten Island?

@janbb: hahahaha YES.

BLECH Staten Island!

I live in Texas. I get crap all the time because so many non-Texans are jealous.

Except in England – everyone there was thrilled and wanted to know if I knew J.R.

I have never gotten anything negative about being from Pennsylvania. I’m from the Philadelphia area, and we’re pretty much awesome at least we’re better than NJ

@casheroo Now you too??

I’m from Maine and I go to school in CT (just over 200 miles away) and I get soooo many “well why do you need mittens? Isn’t CT winter like your summer?” questions or “moose run your state” statements. Everyone tries their claim to Maine with the “my family vacations in wells” as well.

First of all stop being ignorant, and second Wells is like the second exit in Maine.. barely even over the border. For the record no my neighbor isn’t a moose, I’ve never even seen a moose and I’ve been in the state for 8 years. And I can’t be cold anymore? WTF?! This is why I avoid ignorant people.. Sorry if I sound angry, I just get these questions everyday

I live in Wyoming. People don’t even know what Wyoming is. Plus, I live in Laramie. “Is that where that gay kid was killed?” Sigh

@Les – Well, if you have ever met anyone in the Air Force, they know precisely where both Wyoming and Montana are. They usually preface the state name with the term “Godforsaken,” which is a synonym for both Cheyenne and Great Falls.

@Darwin – This is very true. Really, though. Wyoming isn’t all that bad. It is beautiful here.

She seems to be homesick. Then, no place is good enough. It’s probably nothing wrong with Arkansas itself. It’s just not home.

@Les – Yes, Wyoming can be beautiful, but apparently life on the base in the winter involves a lot of cabin fever.

OTOH, I had a friend who was a park ranger at Yellowstone in Wyoming who loved spending the winters in the middle of nowhere, wearing snowshoes and digging the door out of the snow. His wife wasn’t quite as fond of cabin fever as he was,

In Pennsylvania, there are three distinct areas, Philadelphia on one end, Pittsburgh on the other and everything in between.

I am from the Philadelphia area. Outsiders are fine with that, but Philadelphians have something of an inferiority complex, tending to get defensive in comparisons to New York and Boston. And for the record, native Philadelphian W C Fields did not write “Better here than Philadelphia” on his tombstone.

@Darwin – Yeah, the winters are very long and lonely. But then again, I’ve been to Antarctica twice, so I must be a glutton for loneliness and cold.

@Les – I have a friend who has been to Antarctica 17 times. He likes it a lot.

I don’t really get people that give me shit for living in North Carolina it’s pretty awesome how could you hate it but the only negative thing I hear is how we drive like psychopaths and when my accent comes out in conversations sometimes I get made fun of.

Well, I have a problem with homophobia no matter where I go so I would remain vocal if I moved to Arkansas (which I’d never do, btw). She has a right to her opinion and you have the right to yours. Just because it’s your home, doesn’t mean that her criticism isn’t right on point and just because it’s now her new home doesn’t mean she should paint everyone in Arkansas with the same brush. That being said, you put ‘friend’ in quotation marks as if her expressing criticism about the people where you live automatically disqualifies her from being your friend. Yet, you have not informed us as to whether or not she’s right in thinking that many people in Arkansas are homophobic. What do you think? Are they? Then why should she ignore it like everyone else does.

I live in NY. I love it here. I hear we’re arrogant and bold and don’t waste time on pretense. I’m okay by that description.

This thread is hilarious, When I told my parents I was moving to Memphis they said, “oh nooo. You’re gonna hate it. It will be worse than Raleigh.” Meanwhile, they discovered they love it here when they visit. Lots more to do then they expected. Although now that I am coning up on 4 years we are starting to run out of things to do, and getting the feeling we would happily move.

Pretty much everywhere I have lived has sparked some people to say something negative, except for Washington D.C., I’ve never heard anything negative about DC. I would say the worst thing there is the traffic.

When I live in the south, there is always more than one person who asks how I can live there. Living in Memphis usually sparks criticism of the violent crime rate here in the city over and above the fact that it is southern. Having lived in NY, many talk about New Yorkers being rude and unfriendly. I lived in FL, and people talk about not having the change of seasons and that people are plastic. I lived in Michigan during my college years, and not many had much negative to say except that the weather sucked and the auto industry was going to screw itself.

Some of the things I mentioned above I agree with. EXCEPT, the Florida comment about the weather, I loved warm sunny weather all year, it changes your life. And, New Yorkers I find to be friendly and very social. The south does seem to be behind the times in several ways. Forget about the political stuff, I am annoyed that there is very few restaurants that have al fresco eating, and very few places to gather, walk, and run into or meet friends. The city planning SUCKS. I have never seen such poor attention to infastructure in my life (I am referring to Memphis and the surrounding metropolitan area). People in Memphis might be ok with it, because they simply don’t know any better. Not to mention the racism and lack of diversity here, and it is impossible to find a decent Italian restaurant.

If you have only lived in one place your whole life, you might not know what you are missing.

But, also, the truth is there are nice people everywhere, and that is one of the most important things as you move from place to place.

Everywhere I have lived I have found good things to remember and bad things to forget. Generally, I follow those guidelines and thus have a positive view of everywhere I have lived, except some aspects of cold weather. I really don’t like cold weather.

Now that we have the Internet and online shopping it really doesn’t matter what isn’t found where I am currently living. I can send off for it.

Also, don’t take any comments on your city personally.

I try not to say negative things about the city I live in, because the people who live there do seem to take it personally. I complain to friends who live outside of my current city and fluther.

Living in Florida. From New York.

Nothing more to say.

@JLeslie said”“I lived in Michigan during my college years, and not many had much negative to say except that the weather sucked and the auto industry was going to screw itself.”
The weather doesn’t always suck, sometimes it’s great, just wait a few minutes, it’ll change.
But I would agree, the auto industry screwed itself.

@Wilma. I loved Michigan! Has some of the nicest people in the country, great senses of humor, down to earth, I could go on. I got sucked in initially because I visited MSU campus in the summer and thought it was wonderful. Still when I go up to catch a football game I am taken by how beautiful the campus is, I brought my parents-in-law this past September because I love to share the experience up there; they loved it.

Coming from the east coast with my Nissan Stanza back in the late 80’s, I had never met people so loyal to American cars. I quickly realized how out of touch Michigan is with the rest of the country when it comes to cars. And, the state is so unionized they don’t really understand what it is like in the rest of the country on that front either (of course I am overgeneralizing).

I would gladly move up there again, as long as I can plan at least 3 long weekends to the palm trees during January, February, and March.

@JLeslie I agree with all that you said. :)

Puh leeeease, I am from the Cheesehead State. Could be worse, I could be a FIB see #5

@Darwin: ”[...] so many non-Texans are jealous.” el oh mother-effin’ el! Are all Texans that delusional? ;)

@casheroo: Philadelphians are pretty much awesome! But ugly! (I <3 you.)

@Les: I’m pretty sure I experienced the apocalypse while driving through Wyoming. I’m never setting foot in that state again. XD

@Simone_De_Beauvoir: “I hear we’re arrogant and bold and don’t waste time on pretense. I’m okay by that description.” Absolutely! Whenever anybody complains that we act like we’re better than everyone else, I put on an innocently confused look and say something like, ‘Well… we are. We’re just being honest!’ :D

Glad I asked this question. The responses are amazing

@MacBean—yeah exactly… my partner took me to a Joshua Radin concert and he lives in NYC but used to live in L.A. and people there knew NYC was better…people in NYC know this too…and so he’s playing a song and talking about this…and he goes it’s nothing personal ”....cause it is” (better, he meant)

Please excuse my ignorance, (I am Australian not American) but why do people from New Jersey get paid out all the time? Is it something to do with the place or the people? I hear people make reference to it frequently in plays/T.V. shows/movies etc. What’s the go?

@Courtybean paid out?

@casheroo paid out means to make fun of. I guess its australia

@FishGutsDale Thanks, I’d never heard that term.

@Courtybean It’s made fun of because it’s the butthole of the universe. Also, a portal to robot hell.

@Caheroo- Sorry I didn’t realise this was only an Aussie term. Lol. Thanks @FishGutsDale, you’re a gem my dear!

@Casheroo- what I want to know is WHY is it considered the butthole of the universe? Having never been to New Jersey, I have no idea why! Robot hell ey?!- Sounds… interesting! lol.

You’ve actually inspired me to post a question on here relating to slang words and peoples misunderstanding/misinterpretation of them. A friend of ours is Canadian and her bf lives over in Aus with us. She comes over every couple of months to visit. She got very confused once when we kept saying things like “I’m tired-as!” or “It’s windy-as!” or “I’m hungry-as!”
She kept saying ”As what? I don’t get what the as is for?!” We just used to laugh and say “You know… us AS!” She still ,to this day, doesn’t understand! lol

@Courtybean No probs! haha When i went to Canada and America there were sooo many things that i said that drew blank looks from them, and we don’t even think twice…Like Oi, to get attention. They were like whats oi? I said try it out next time it works! hahah

Hahahahaha! Check out my new post Dale!! x

Now I don’t feel so bad living in Ohio! I’ll just print out this list and have plenty to laugh about! Then continue drinking because I live in Ohio.

I live in West Fucking Virginia. I win. :P

Well, I’ll share my bottle with you then. What part of the state? central for me.

Eastern panhandle, here.

Heck at least you aren’t so far down in the hollar that they have to pipe in sunshine. (That was one of my father’s comments about extremely rural parts of Kentucky where he grew up.

@Courtybean New Jersey is a very crafty state. We put this godawful motorway down the center of the state and put all our industrial sites and factories along it. Then, we located all our beautiful beaches, mountains, cute towns and nice restaurants away from that motorway.

This way, all of those stupid people from other states who are just driving through New Jersey get a terrible impression of it and don’t stay and pollute our beautiful assets!

What exit do you live at?

@Courtybean New Jersey has a lot of industry that you ride past on the major highways through the state, so if you are from out of state just driving through up to New York City or down to Washington D.C. you pass through some smelly cities (maybe they have been cleaned up now, I have not been through in many years). One city that comes to mind is Elizabeth, NJ. Smoke stacks and smell, probably the only place that competes is Gary, Indiana. It also has Atlantic CIty which attracted some seedy people back in the day. The accent there in it’s extreme is mocked quite often, you can find this accent in parts of NY and Philly also. Kind of grew out of a lower class Italian background—think Sopranos. Many of our large pharmaceutical companies have head quarters there, and other very profitable industries so there are many areas that have great affluence and a highly educated population, but what is usually portrayed is the less educated, lacking class, too much make-up, and women with big hair.

BUT, New Jersey’s official nickname is the Garden State, because it does have some very beautiful areas. I think it was given the name because people would leave New York City and drive there to go to the country or the shore (by the way people from Jersey call the beach the shore).

People in NJ do not go to the beach. We go down the shore. We have no beach. We just have shore. :)

@poofandmook Are you talking to me? That is what I wrote, the shore.

@JLeslie: I’m just emphasizing/elaborating your point. The wording “down the shore” is just as important as remembering it’s not the “beach”. if you want to make it out of Jersey with your dignity intact. >.>

@poofandmook Ah.

@MacBean – See what I mean? You’re jealous. :-)

Ah… it all makes sense now! Thanks @JLeslie & @janbb- Lurve to you both!

@poofandmook I have never made it out of New Jersey with my dignity intact!

@Darwin: You have no idea how much I hate most of this country once you get further south or west than PA. It’s almost pathological. I can’t even joke about it. And I hate Texas, Wyoming and Idaho the worst.

@MacBean You are cracking me up.

@pinkparaluies I know what your friend says irritates you, but do youo think there is any truth to the statement How no one is cultured and everyone is homophobic.?

@MacBean lol. I understand the Texas hate, I’ve been many times. But what’s up with Wyoming? What did it do to you? (and Idaho for that matter)

@MacBean – I would say the same about Pennsylvania, but I do like Lebanon Balogna and a good cheese steak. However, I do have male friends who have reason to greatly dislike the City of Brotherly Love.

Besides, what did those other places ever do to you? It’s not like they are invading Pennsylvania, or even practicing their own version of “Californication.”

@Darwin I totally gasped when I saw that about PA. blasphemy

@casheroo – What, you don’t like cheese steak or Lebanon Balogna?

@casheroo & @Darwin: I lived in Idaho for six weeks and had to leave or I was seriously going to kill myself. I was so desperately miserable. I hated it so much. I really could do without the whole west coast.

As for Wyoming, I mentioned further up in this thread that I’m fairly certain I experienced the apocalypse while passing through it, and now I’d drive hundreds of miles out of my way to avoid ever being there again. hahaha It was terrifying.

@MacBean Where do you live?

@JLeslie, @MacBean Is in NY

That is too stereotypical LMAO!! NYC?

@JLeslie: No, I’m upstate, near Albany. (And I actually find that city folks are often nicer than those of us up here. Go figure.)

Since when is Idaho on a coast of any sort? I mean, since the dinosaurs died out and the epicontinental sea dried up?

@Darwin I always wondered why there was a Navy base in Idaho. Maybe an unseen sea?

Sssshhhhhhhh!!! The base is involved in research and development of methods to make ships and subs operate more quietly. So keep it down!

Besides, it’s only fair. Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania all have inland bases, too. And my dad used to be stationed with the Navy in Kansas many decades ago.

@Darwin PA’s old navy base goes right onto the Delaware. We even get dolphins. It’s weird to think of that as “inland”. Is there another one in PA that I’m forgetting?

Well, Willow Grove doesn’t really need water access since it is a Naval air base, and it looks pretty land-locked to me. But it is going to be closed (or has been already) and everybody has to move to New Jersey, to Fort Dix.

I was surprised we have a navy base here in Memphis, seems the Mississippi counts – duh.

@MacBean I know what you mean, I find New Yorkers (the city) to be quite friendly and helpful. Actually I have seen articles and shows on TV about how New Yorkers will try to return money to someone who has dropped some, and other “friendly and honest acts” that people generally do not associate with NYC.

Oh, I forgot about Willow Grove. I used to drive by it all the time. I always associated with the Blue Angels air show and that’s about it. I do think they already shut it down, I’m not positive though.

@Darwin: I suppose, to me, the “west coast” is the Pacific time zone. Which includes part of Idaho. The part I lived in.

I think Idaho might be surprised to discover it was a West Coast state, especially considering that it isn’t even on the coast.

East coast/ West coast. Try living in the Midwest. No one gets more flack than we do. besides the south :P

And Texas.

Let’s face it – every part of the U.S. just plain sucks!

No, only Georgia, according to the University of Florida cheer:

“Why does the Saint Mary’s River flow north?”
“Because Georgia sucks!”

@janbb I’ve never heard of anyone bitch about Sedona. :)

The biggest problem with Sedona is that it is located in Arizona, so all the costly Arizona taxes pertain. And on top of that, you have to pay $5.00 if you lose your library card, and if you have a time-share there and want to use the library you have to leave a $50 deposit, of which you eventually get only $45 back.

So there!

@Darwin but do you know anyone that plays jazz bagpipes in Sedona?

…..damn you. I bet you do!

And I’m not talking. They want their privacy.

I recall an old joke about why Kansas is so windy; because Texas Blows and Oklahoma Sucks. Sorry guys Sleepy and had to giggle.

@Darwin But doesn’t Arizona have no income tax?

On the contrary, Arizona has a state income tax, and vehicle registration is based on Blue Book value, with the lowest (when I lived there) starting at $200. You can read about Arizona taxes here and here.

@Darwin I must have confused it Nevada, I think Nevada has no income tax? One of those states down that direction.

@JLeslie Pretty sure it’s Nevada because of all the filthy lucre they get from gambling.

@janbb Makes sense.

I have lived in two states with no income tax, FL, and TN (well TN has a dividend/interest tax, which I think is awful) and once you get used to it, it is annoying to pay income tax again, except I have to say after living in TN the states I have paid more taxes do seem to have better school and better infastructure. You do see some of the money make a difference in heavily taxed areas. I have to honestly say I have never met people who HATE taxes more than the people here in my corner of TN. No wonder they don’t trust politicians, it is so awful here, and they think every part of government is like Memphis. By the way our sales tax is 9.25% and they tax all food. So regressive.

@JLeslie I am one of those rare people who believe in paying taxes and getting services for them. I agree that an income tax is much fairer than regressive taxes.

(And by the way, we used to go to Sacks Lodge for “folk dance weekends” when I was a kid.)

@janbb I was there in the mid to late 70’s. I stayed right above the guy who taught the dancing.

@JLeslie We probably missed each other by about 10 years,

Arizona was the first state I ever lived in where the schools had no supplies. The students had to buy and bring everything they needed to use in class. They must be using the income tax money for something else.

@Darwin I’ve only recently heard of schools that make you buy all the supplies. I’d never heard of that before! And now, having teacher friends..I’m shocked at how many supplies they have to buy for the students. I do wonder were the property taxes or whatever it is that is paid to the township go to.

I know Delaware doesn’t have a tax on goods. Lots of people go there for liquor.

WOW! In Wisconsin they have fliers at all the major stores for the supplies needed for each grade at each school. I never knew any public school actually provided supplies!

ugh, that were should be where!