# Are Vermonters considered to be "dumb" like Mainers? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 18, 2011, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-vermonters-considered-to-be-dumb-like-mainers/568103 "2011-01-18T19:06:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-vermonters-considered-to-be-dumb-like-mainers/568103/21 "2011-01-19T05:48:22Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Stranger: Excuse me, does this road go to Portland? > > Mainer: Nope, stays right here. > > Stranger: Can I take this road to Portland? > > Mainer: Ayup, you can, but they got plenty of roads in Portland already. > > [http://www.islandportpress.com/bert50.htm](http://www.islandportpress.com/bert50.htm) - Bert and I > > And I agree with the other posters, there isn’t any stereotype of Mainiacs as being dumb other than sort of a generic rural vs city thing. But Boston folk would say the same thing about people in western Mass. Thank you! I gotta buy me that recording! Roddy ---
**Author:** ![AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-vermonters-considered-to-be-dumb-like-mainers/568103/22 "2011-01-19T09:57:13Z")
> [@](#): > > ou could split the population into two distinct groups: hippies And not just college student hippies. My girlfriend’s family is from VT. They are EXTREMELY lefty…Like straight out of a 1960’s commune! earth crunchy granola, Super feminist, Wiccan and Mama is a lesbian (and I swear to god before I met them I thought that the Wiccan lesbian leftie was something made up by the religious right) Heck the girl came out at 15, thought that was totally and completely normal and was all freaked out when she fell in love with a boy. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-vermonters-considered-to-be-dumb-like-mainers/568103/23 "2011-01-19T13:06:12Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > Uhhhh…those are pretty much the same thing. Nah. While 20something college kids can be hippies, most weren’t. While everyone over the age of 35 was a walking stereotypical hippie. Although that’s another thing, I saw very few people between the ages of 30 and 50 on my trip. It was odd. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-vermonters-considered-to-be-dumb-like-mainers/568103/24 "2011-01-19T13:58:15Z")
The Vermonters between 30 and 50 are too busy to be out where tourists can see them. I think they spend all their time making artisan organic goat cheeses to sell to each other. ---
**Author:** ![skdo23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@skdo23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skdo23)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2011, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-vermonters-considered-to-be-dumb-like-mainers/568103/25 "2011-01-23T23:15:03Z")
I grew up in Vermont and still return frequently, as my parents, siblings, etc. still reside there. I would say that just about every stereotype mentioned above is somewhat true in general if applied to a certain geographical era, and small pockets of each stereotype throughout the state. The Burlington area (NW VT, on Lake Champlain) is a college town (so plenty of teaching jobs for ex-hippies) and is also a perfect example of how you can balance quality of life and economic opportunity which, in better economic times, attracted a lot of would-be entrepreneurs. I would say that a stereotypical Burlingtonite (a word I made up) is a white-collar professional, politically liberal, who either came to the area as a hippie to attend college but, after graduation, realized that they needed to sell out and get a real job and a haircut to pay the bills. Northeastern Vermont (aka The Northeast kingdom - it’s a real phrase) is very rural, lots of multigenerational family farms and plenty of the stereotypical New England quaintness to match. This this culture does attract some “back to nature” types from other states as well, but this is much less prevalent than in the Burlington area, so the impact on the native culture is minimal. The Rutland area, where I’m from, located in SW Central VT is a bit different. There is a very strong Italian presence due to the local marble industry. Recently (last 15-20 years, or so) there has been an influx of wannabee yuppie types, mostly people from Boston law, investment, consulting, etc., firms who didn’t make partner or were let go because of their company’s “up or out” policy, etc., and moved to the area with the intention of becoming big fishes in a small pond. These people tend to be politically conservative and seem to go out of the way to emulate the 80’s yuppie stereotype (not realizing that it became pejorative over 20 years ago), i.e. Volvos, Ralph Lauren polo shirts (from outlet stores, of course), etc., and seem to share a collective hatred for anyone who has less, or even worse, more, than them. The rest of Vermont, IMHO, seems to contain mixtures of all of the types I mentioned, but, individually, none of them seem to be concentrated heavily enough in any particular area to define it. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-vermonters-considered-to-be-dumb-like-mainers/568103/26 "2011-01-24T05:06:13Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > I’ll have mayor Buddy Cianci stop by your house and punch you in the nose! You probably already know this, but for our viewers watching from home, Buddy’s not the mayor of Providence any more. According to the [terms of his sentence applicable after his 2007 release from prison](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddy_Cianci#Present), he wouldn’t be allowed to run for mayor again until 2012. And he never did his own punching, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![anu-la1979](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@anu-la1979](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anu-la1979)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-vermonters-considered-to-be-dumb-like-mainers/568103/27 "2011-01-24T05:09:15Z")
shrewd, taciturn and cheap was the historical stereotype about them in MA, I believe. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-vermonters-considered-to-be-dumb-like-mainers/568103/28 "2011-01-25T06:58:59Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > You have your stereotypes mixed up. Rhode Islanders are dumb. > > Tourist: where does this road go? > > Row Dilander: Duh? No, only the ones from Woonsocket, where they park their cars side by each. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-vermonters-considered-to-be-dumb-like-mainers/568103/29 "2011-01-25T15:30:12Z")
> [@skdo23](#): > > … a stereotypical Burlingtonite (a word I made up) [Reverend Jim ON] Burlingtonite or Burlingtonarian? [Reverend Jim OFF] :D;) ---
**Author:** ![KCB615](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ea666f/32.png) [@KCB615](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KCB615)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-vermonters-considered-to-be-dumb-like-mainers/568103/30 "2011-01-25T17:04:45Z")
> [@](#): > > No, only the ones from Woonsocket, where they park their cars side by each. Throw me down the stairs my shoes, you. And of course, said to the neighbor’s kids: “Next time you cut tru my yard you go 'round!” Only 45 miles acrost, but it’s a wicked diffrent place, dependin on where yours from. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-vermonters-considered-to-be-dumb-like-mainers/568103/31 "2011-01-25T18:24:11Z")
From many visits to Vermont where relatives lived… Nouveau hippies, sensitive emo poets, and earth-goddess types, with a very loose sense of time and place. “Meet for lunch at 11:00” means stand around until 11:30 wondering why no one has shown up, and then walk around the local streets to find various distracted members of the party who are “on their way there” window shopping, stopping at the local outdoor market, playing frisbee in the park, etc. Spend the next two hours having people gradually show up non-concurrently to eat, while others finish and leave. When trying to set up the next lunch plans, smile at yourself as the Vermonters writhe and twitch in fear at the use of the term “-o’clock” instead of the temporally imprecise “-ish”, “around then”, or “Wednesday”. ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-vermonters-considered-to-be-dumb-like-mainers/568103/32 "2011-01-25T22:28:39Z")
So checking in at Maddow’s blog today I found this amusing [map](http://pleated-jeans.com/2011/01/24/the-united-states-of-shame-chart/#more-6203) Maine wins the award of dumbest state [QUOTE=pleated-jeans] 19. Maine: dumbest state claim based on lowest average SAT score (1389) > **[2010 SAT Scores by State](https://commonwealthfoundation.org/2010/09/16/2010-sat-scores-by-state/)** > > EDITORS NOTE: Click here for the 2014 SAT Scores by state The College Board has released the results of the 2010 SAT. We prepared a chart of SAT [/QUOTE] Vermont got [QUOTE=pleated-jeans] Vermont: infertility claim based on lowest birth rate of any state (10.6 births per 1,000) (tied with Maine) [/QUOTE] Maine is one of my favorite escapes. A few of my aunts have always lived there one in northern Maine one on the upper coast. I’ve never thought of the people as dumb. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-vermonters-considered-to-be-dumb-like-mainers/568103/33 "2011-01-25T23:02:27Z")
I’ll contribute my thoughts before reading the thread so my opinions aren’t tainted by others. Speaking as someone from Chicago, my personal stereotype of Maine is pretty small, full of fisherman, hole in the wall bars, delicious seafood, and populated by potentially small-minded people who speak with strange accents that drop too many letters. I don’t think of them as stupid, but uneducated… yes. Kinda goes along with all the guys being fishermen and all the women being waitresses or barmaids in said hole in the wall bars. Overall not the best impression, but not bad either. Especially since I love seafood and holes in the wall. My view of Vermont is largely based on the fact that employers and insurance companies are not allowed to drug test employees in that state. So I think of Vermont as a small, awesome, _ **!!EXTRAORDINARILY PROGRESSIVE!!** _ state. If it weren’t for that factoid, I wouldn’t have any opinion of VT at all. ---
**Author:** ![SanDiegoTim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@SanDiegoTim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanDiegoTim)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-vermonters-considered-to-be-dumb-like-mainers/568103/34 "2011-01-26T15:38:48Z")
I don’t know that I would characterize Vermonters as stupid. However, let us not forget who sends Bernie Sanders back to the Senate every six years. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-vermonters-considered-to-be-dumb-like-mainers/568103/35 "2011-01-26T16:27:11Z")
> [@SanDiegoTim](#): > > I don’t know that I would characterize Vermonters as stupid. However, let us not forget who sends Bernie Sanders back to the Senate every six years. He’s actually never been re-elected to the senate. (And are you saying that electing ol’ Bernie is a stupid thing? He’s one of the few passionate senators out there who actually fights for real causes he campaigns about and doesn’t just give lip service to them to get votes, and then panders to lobbyists.) ---
**Author:** ![WreckingCrew](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wreckingcrew/32/4080_2.png) [@WreckingCrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WreckingCrew)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-vermonters-considered-to-be-dumb-like-mainers/568103/36 "2011-01-26T16:38:56Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > You probably already know this, but for our viewers watching from home, Buddy’s not the mayor of Providence any more. According to the [terms of his sentence applicable after his 2007 release from prison](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddy_Cianci#Present), he wouldn’t be allowed to run for mayor again until 2012. > > And he never did his own punching, anyway. Well, perhaps not punching, but as his Wiki pages states: "Cianci was forced by law to resign from office for the first time in 1984 after pleading guilty to assaulting a Bristol, Rhode Island contractor with a lit cigarette, an ashtray and a fireplace log. " ---
**Author:** ![SanDiegoTim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@SanDiegoTim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanDiegoTim)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-vermonters-considered-to-be-dumb-like-mainers/568103/37 "2011-01-26T17:09:58Z")
Bouv, my bad about being re-elected to the Senate, Should have been more specific by including serving in the House. I most certainly agree that he is passionate. Candidly, I actually like the guy because he doesn’t pussy foot around about what he believes. All elected officuals should be as candid and honest as he is. However, he is so far to the left that IMHO he serves no practical purpose. If I were a Vermonter I’d rather have someone who isn’t so marginalized by his radical/socialist views. Long ago I learned to ignore the extremes, both left and right. They make for good sound bitess, but rarely contribute much of value. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-vermonters-considered-to-be-dumb-like-mainers/568103/38 "2011-01-26T17:21:20Z")
> [@SanDiegoTim](#): > > I don’t know that I would characterize Vermonters as stupid. However, let us not forget who sends Bernie Sanders back to the Senate every six years. [moderating] Please keep the political potshots out of GQ. [/moderating] ---
**Author:** ![SanDiegoTim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@SanDiegoTim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanDiegoTim)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-vermonters-considered-to-be-dumb-like-mainers/568103/39 "2011-01-26T17:25:51Z")
Noted. Comment was rendered as somewhat tongue and cheek. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-vermonters-considered-to-be-dumb-like-mainers/568103/40 "2011-01-26T18:11:21Z")
Best info on Maine is John Steinbeck’s _Travels With Charley_. His interactions with people in various states are fascinating. I don’t think he visited Vermont. It’s been awhile since I read Steinbeck. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-vermonters-considered-to-be-dumb-like-mainers/568103.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-vermonters-considered-to-be-dumb-like-mainers/568103.md?page=3)