# Are all Californians this clueless? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 8, 2003, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-californians-this-clueless/193828 "2003-08-08T14:22:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![SkeptiJess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@SkeptiJess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkeptiJess)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2003, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-californians-this-clueless/193828/41 "2003-08-11T10:50:37Z")
Well, to drag this back to the OP – I wouldn’t say she was freaked out, really. Nor clueless or ignorant or hypocritical. She was sent to do a fluff piece on a fair. She wrote her observations, one of which was to be somewhat startled by the realization that people were eating hamburgers while looking at cows. It seemed kind of odd to her and a little creepy. Well, ok. Then she got over it – the next day she was eating a steak sandwich. Weren’t you ever marginally creeped out by some little thing? And you brooded about it a minute and then moved on? Same thing, and no big deal. And, as has been said, there _are_ farms in California. Lots of them. I’m from California and I spent my teenage years on a farm. California is a large state and it’s full of all different kinds of people. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2003, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-californians-this-clueless/193828/42 "2003-08-11T13:39:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by chique \* > \*\*The fact that the correspondent wussed out after four snacks either means that she’s a lightweight or that she didn’t spend nearly enough hours at the fair. State fairs take training! And energy! And pacing! You can’t just show up one day and think you know what you’re doing - it takes practice! \*\* HA! She couldn’t handle the Minnesota State Fair! Three fried cheese curds and a taste of the hotdish competition and she’d be bolting for the portajohnnies, ya betcha… ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2003, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-californians-this-clueless/193828/43 "2003-08-11T14:05:30Z")
Indiana: The most Republican State in the Union. California: Well… Of course, if those Californians wise up and elect a Arnie like they should, we’ll be a snidgeon more inclined to accept them. He is still a movie star, though. Damned democrats, causin all that ruckus over slavery and such. ---
**Author:** ![Spiff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiff/32/9852_2.png) [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2003, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-californians-this-clueless/193828/44 "2003-08-11T19:25:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dogface \* > \*\*She’s supposed to be becoming a REPORTER, not some fluff-job for an infocandy show, right? \*\* **Dogface** , your ideas about modern-day American journalism are – how should I say this – quaint. Yes, that’s the word. Quaint. Definitely quaint. ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2003, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-californians-this-clueless/193828/45 "2003-08-11T23:52:15Z")
Cali (hehe) in a nutshell: SD - Northern-most suburb of Tijuana. You can catch the commuter train if you like. Some English spoken here. Si? LA - Sunset & Vine. The Valley. Santa Monica duuuuuude. Venice beach, like, for sure. There are rumors that there IS a downtown LA, still unconfirmed. Frisco (as they prefer … hehe) - Chinatown, the wharf. Umm … no need to worry, the whole peninsula will be gone in short order. N. Cali - Redwoods and obscure cults. Remainder of Cali - Deserts, mountains, farms and stuff. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-californians-this-clueless/193828/46 "2003-08-12T00:06:18Z")
ccwaterback: You do realize that I will have to do some great damage to you now, don’t you? 😉 (The added insult of “Frisco” just _really_ did it.) ---
**Author:** ![lezlers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/258eb7/32.png) [@lezlers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lezlers)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-californians-this-clueless/193828/47 "2003-08-12T00:14:47Z")
And we even get DSL up here in the middle of the Redwood Forests! How bout that? ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-californians-this-clueless/193828/48 "2003-08-12T00:25:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by yosemitebabe \* > \*\*It’s even worse than calling soft drinks like Pepsi and 7-Up “pop.” \*\* But it IS pop. Ask anybody from Pittsburgh, they’ll tell you. Geez, they don’t even speak English in Cali. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![deb2world](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@deb2world](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deb2world)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-californians-this-clueless/193828/49 "2003-08-12T01:49:34Z")
You realize the more important question: “Was she blonde?” deb - the natural blonde California native, whose ancestors came to California before it was part of the U.S. so she has all her bases covered - 2world ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-californians-this-clueless/193828/50 "2003-08-12T02:01:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Airman Doors, USAF \* > \*\*But it IS pop. Ask anybody from Pittsburgh, they’ll tell you. Geez, they don’t even speak English in Cali. 😛 \*\* Tsk, **Airman**. It’s _yinz_ don’t even speak English in Cali… Jim (close enough to Pittsburgh to speak the language) ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-californians-this-clueless/193828/51 "2003-08-12T07:43:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Giraffe \* > \*\*Have you actually seen these so-called people? Is it true they preface every sentence by opening their eyes real wide and saying “Well, gollllll-LEE!”? \*\* I don’t know, but when my sister and I asked a guy running a convenience store in Missouri where the nearest espresso stand was located, he replied, “a wHUUuuut”??? ---
**Author:** ![shelbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@shelbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shelbo)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-californians-this-clueless/193828/52 "2003-08-12T17:57:27Z")
I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, went to school in Berkeley, and was indoctrinated in the cult of San Francisco. Never call it “Frisco”, its the (capital C) City. I now live in Los Angeles, and am so sick of the pomposity of the Bay Area (L.A.!? How could you ever live _there_?! The traffic, the smog, the crime, it’s so _fake_!), that I have reverted to calling it Frisco. That’s right **Yosemitebabe** , I said Frisco!! Frisco, Frisco, Frisco!! (If Herb Caen were still alive, I might have second thoughts, but he’s not.) Frisco!! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![SisterCoyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@SisterCoyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SisterCoyote)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-californians-this-clueless/193828/53 "2003-08-12T19:53:20Z")
Shelbo - Yo’babe is not the only one who’s going to have to hurt you now, and I too am a City to L.A. transplant. Except I cannot WAIT to be able to afford to live in the City again. Also, that stuff with the bubbles but no alcohol in it IS pop, thank you very much. ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-californians-this-clueless/193828/54 "2003-08-13T00:26:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SisterCoyote \* > \*\*Also, that stuff with the bubbles but no alcohol in it IS pop, thank you very much. \*\* Pop? You mean sodie? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-californians-this-clueless/193828/55 "2003-08-13T00:46:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by shelbo \* > (L.A.!? How could you ever live _there_?! The traffic, the smog, the crime, it’s so _fake_!) I’m sad to say that I’m a pompous City dweller that has, indeed, said those very things about L.A. Please refute them with cites so that I may be better educated. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-californians-this-clueless/193828/56 "2003-08-13T02:15:02Z")
Ah…NoCal (Evil) v. SoCal (Care Less)…I love these interstate spats… ---
**Author:** ![UncaStuart](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncastuart/32/404_2.png) [@UncaStuart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncaStuart)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-californians-this-clueless/193828/57 "2003-08-13T02:51:35Z")
My great great grandfather showed up in Frisco in 1848 (slightly ahead of the curve, heh) as a joiner’s apprentice. His granddaughter, my grandmother, would bristle at the sound of “Frisco,” but I think that was probably an embarrassed reaction by her and others to the Barbary Coast and all the fun and decadent things about San Francisco history that reflected poorly on it being the Paris of the West (having forgot about Montmartre, I guess). However, the raucous Frisco-ness of all that appealed to Sam Clemens, Ambrose Bierce, et al, so it can’t be all bad. Still, around my 83-year-old mother, I will only call it the City to accommodate her sensibilities. But still, aint nothing wrong with calling it Frisco, sez I. Besides, Herb Caen was a Sacramento boy. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-all-californians-this-clueless/193828.md?page=2)