# My co-worker doesn't believe I'm American **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 2, 2010, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-worker-doesnt-believe-im-american/562635 "2010-12-02T05:40:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-worker-doesnt-believe-im-american/562635/61 "2010-12-03T04:06:45Z")
You know, when I started reading your post I thought ‘kaw-KAW-na’? That’s not how it’s pronounced. It’s “ka-oo-ka-oo-na”.’ Then I saw that it’s a town in Wisconsin. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-worker-doesnt-believe-im-american/562635/62 "2010-12-03T04:29:33Z")
> [@Noone\_Special](#): > > The only reason Mississippi is a state is that Missouri loves company 😛 > [@VunderBob](#): > > You owe me a new keyboard and monitor. Man, you’re _easy_. He owes _me_ fifty pushups and ten laps. Oh, and a Hail Mary. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-worker-doesnt-believe-im-american/562635/63 "2010-12-03T08:00:48Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Oh, and a Hail Mary. That last one may count as cruelty, given who the sinner is 🙂 Count me as another one whose “where are you from?” depends on where I am at the time. I’ve observed that behavior in most people, actually - and the ones who go one smaller than they should are usually newly-arrived (still jetlagged, not really conscious of “I’m in Switzerland, people here may never have heard of Connecticut”). ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-worker-doesnt-believe-im-american/562635/64 "2010-12-03T13:37:35Z")
> [@VunderBob](#): > > And I don’t really believe he’s an Israeli… So, you’re saying you’re not sure **Israel** **is real**? 🙂 > [@Nava](#): > > > [@kaylasdad99](#): > > > > Oh, and a Hail Mary. > > That last one may count as cruelty, given who the sinner is 🙂 Yeah, I have a lousy arm, and I’m really more of a Soccer guy. You’d probably have to give me the ball around the 20 yard line if you want me to have a prayer (heh) of hitting the end zone! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-worker-doesnt-believe-im-american/562635/65 "2010-12-03T14:14:42Z")
> [@Noone\_Special](#): > > So, you’re saying you’re not sure **Israel** **is real**? 🙂 > Yeah, I have a lousy arm, and I’m really more of a Soccer guy. You’d probably have to give me the ball around the 20 yard line if you want me to have a prayer (heh) of hitting the end zone! 😃 HEY! THis is a family forum! Keep it clean, you pervs! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-worker-doesnt-believe-im-american/562635/66 "2010-12-03T17:23:55Z")
> [@amarinth](#): > > She spent the next 20 minutes trying to figure that one out. The idea of being entirely monolingual and not having a home language v. an away language completely weirded the kid out. My father in anglophone and my mother is francophone and when we were little my dad spoke to us only in English and my mom only in French in order to ensure that the kids learned both languages (though both are bilingual…and they speak to each other in English). End result: three kids who speak Franglais as a mother tongue! My little sister didn’t really understand the concepts of “English” and “French”, but rather used the terms “mommy language” and “daddy language”. It would get funny when she assumed that every woman spoke “mommy language” and every man “daddy language” and struggled to understand or accept speaking to a woman in English or to a man in French for a little while. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-worker-doesnt-believe-im-american/562635/67 "2010-12-03T17:43:26Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > My father in anglophone and my mother is francophone and when we were little my dad spoke to us only in English and my mom only in French I know a couple where the husband is French and the wife is Japanese. They’ve developed a pidgin language that I like to call Frapanglish. They are the only two people in the world who can understand it. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-worker-doesnt-believe-im-american/562635/68 "2010-12-03T17:57:53Z")
> [@Noone\_Special](#): > > The only reason Mississippi is a state is that Missouri loves company 😛 [Just for you.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-W0nR4MwoK8)🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Emily\_Litella](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emily_litella/32/3370_2.png) [@Emily\_Litella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emily_Litella)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-worker-doesnt-believe-im-american/562635/69 "2010-12-03T18:22:42Z")
Q: “Where your country?” A: Dude, you’re standing in it. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-worker-doesnt-believe-im-american/562635/70 "2010-12-03T18:25:23Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > I always get “Where are you from?” and I say “Here”. Literally here. See that hospital over there? The one you can see through the library’s front windows? I was born a block from here! Evidently I have insufficient Southern accent (unless I’m drunk, I guess) so they don’t believe me. To shut them up I have to say, “Oh, my mom’s from Pittsburgh”. Where they think I have a hilarious Southern accent. At least you have that option. My mom’s from Bishopville, South Carolina, and my dad was from Eau Claire, South Carolina, or as it is now known, Monitcello Road, Columbia, South Carolina. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-worker-doesnt-believe-im-american/562635/71 "2010-12-03T19:22:36Z")
When last I went to Canada on a business trip, I forgot my passport at home, and only noticed when the lady at the ticket counter asked for my passport. I decided to try a bluff and see how far it would get me, so I started this exchange: - Why do I need a passport? - Because Canada is a different country! - Are you sure? Canada is right next to Minnesota! - It’s still a different country. - No, it’s one of the states. - Listen, you need a passport. - Could you check a map to be sure? I’m positive that Canada is one of the 50 states. At this point she was turning red in the face, so I told her I would go home and get my passport even though it wasn’t really necessary. When I got back to the airport (just barely in time to check in and run through security) I made sure to get in a different line. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-worker-doesnt-believe-im-american/562635/72 "2010-12-04T03:47:45Z")
A passport is not necessary for an American to enter Canada from the USA. Getting back into the USA, however, is another thing. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-worker-doesnt-believe-im-american/562635/73 "2010-12-04T12:29:06Z")
> [@dhkendall](#): > > It reminds me of something my Grade 7 geography teacher once told us. He was filling up his car in Texas, and someone there noticed his Manitoba plates, and asked where Manitoba is. He said it was “north of North Dakota”. The Texan paused for a few moments and then said “there’s **nothing** north of North Dakota!” > > :rolleyes: Is it a bad thing that, while I can think of several cities in Alberta and, of course, Ontario, I can’t come up with anything in either Manitoba or Saskatchewan? I’m not saying that there’s nothing there but that I don’t have any knowledge readily available. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-worker-doesnt-believe-im-american/562635/74 "2010-12-04T15:41:28Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > Is it a bad thing that, while I can think of several cities in Alberta and, of course, Ontario, I can’t come up with anything in either Manitoba or Saskatchewan? I’m not saying that there’s nothing there but that I don’t have any knowledge readily available. Winnipeg, MB. You can remember Winnipeg by thinking of a raffle for pirates. Saskatoon, SK. No one will ever think you’re making up a place called ‘Saskatoon, Saskatchewan’! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-worker-doesnt-believe-im-american/562635/75 "2010-12-04T16:38:11Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I just figure she’s running into [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=545129) again. And, yes, I still don’t get it. Listen to the ([http://mississippienne.livejournal.com/data/phonepost/563.mp3](http://mississippienne.livejournal.com/data/phonepost/563.mp3)) she provided. Oh my god. Will you read\* anything\* to me **Mississippienne**? Faulkner, Heinlein, your grocery list? Where do I subscribe to your podcast, _ **Mississippienne** **reads the weather report** _?. In response to the question in the OP, if you spend any time in Hawai’i you’ll encounter tourists from the mainland US who are convinced that they are in a different country, and constantly say “back in America” or “when we go back to America”. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-worker-doesnt-believe-im-american/562635/76 "2010-12-04T17:53:03Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > Is it a bad thing that, while I can think of several cities in Alberta and, of course, Ontario, I can’t come up with anything in either Manitoba or Saskatchewan? I’m not saying that there’s nothing there but that I don’t have any knowledge readily available. I’m curious about your knowledge of the rest of the country - can you name a city in the rest of the provinces and territories? I assume you know of at least one in British Columbia or Quebec, but what about New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Yukon Territory, Northwest Territories or Nunavut? This isn’t a challenge, really, I just thought it was interesting that you mentioned Alberta rather than one of the other provinces and was wondering whether you did so because you were bracketing Manitoba and Saskatchewan in terms of geography, or is Alberta somehow more well-known to you than the rest of the provinces? ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Onimous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea5d25/32.png) [@Ann\_Onimous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Onimous)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-worker-doesnt-believe-im-american/562635/77 "2010-12-04T18:18:30Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I just figure she’s running into [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=545129) again. And, yes, I still don’t get it. Listen to the ([http://mississippienne.livejournal.com/data/phonepost/563.mp3](http://mississippienne.livejournal.com/data/phonepost/563.mp3)) she provided. She sounds like most everyone I know here in Mississippi. It’s a gorgeous accent. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2010, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-worker-doesnt-believe-im-american/562635/78 "2010-12-05T02:18:45Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > I’m curious about your knowledge of the rest of the country - can you name a city in the rest of the provinces and territories? I assume you know of at least one in British Columbia or Quebec, but what about New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Yukon Territory, Northwest Territories or Nunavut? > > This isn’t a challenge, really, I just thought it was interesting that you mentioned Alberta rather than one of the other provinces and was wondering whether you did so because you were bracketing Manitoba and Saskatchewan in terms of geography, or is Alberta somehow more well-known to you than the rest of the provinces? Bracketing in terms of geography. Plus, I didn’t feel too bad about not being able to come up with anything in any of the territories. Let’s see, top of my head… British Columbia: Vancouver and Victoria Alberta: Calgary and Edmonton (mostly because of the old AAA Pacific Coast League setup) Ontario: Toronto and Ottawa Quebec: Montreal and Quebec City Nova Scotia: Halifax That’s about it. Then again, when I was thinking about this earlier today, I realized that I could have trouble coming up with more than two or three cities for several states. Heck, I’ve been thinking all day and still can’t come up with anything in Idaho besides Boise. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2010, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-worker-doesnt-believe-im-american/562635/79 "2010-12-05T02:57:31Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > Bracketing in terms of geography. Plus, I didn’t feel too bad about not being able to come up with anything in any of the territories. Let’s see, top of my head… > > British Columbia: Vancouver and Victoria > Alberta: Calgary and Edmonton (mostly because of the old AAA Pacific Coast League setup) > Ontario: Toronto and Ottawa > Quebec: Montreal and Quebec City > Nova Scotia: Halifax > > That’s about it. Then again, when I was thinking about this earlier today, I realized that I could have trouble coming up with more than two or three cities for several states. Heck, I’ve been thinking all day and still can’t come up with anything in Idaho besides Boise. The Locsha River – for that alone, I’d trade you P.E.I. for Idaho. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2010, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-worker-doesnt-believe-im-american/562635/80 "2010-12-05T03:44:51Z")
> [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](#): > > Oh my god. Will you read\* anything\* to me **Mississippienne**? Faulkner, Heinlein, your grocery list? Where do I subscribe to your podcast, _ **Mississippienne** **reads the weather report** _?. And you could get Sarah Brightman to accompany you… > [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](#): > > In response to the question in the OP, if you spend any time in Hawai’i you’ll encounter tourists from the mainland US who are convinced that they are in a different country, and constantly say “back in America” or “when we go back to America”. Geographically, they’re not wrong… Hawai’i is not part of the North American plate. Now, if they’d said, “back in the US” or “back in the States”, they’d be wrong. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-worker-doesnt-believe-im-american/562635.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-worker-doesnt-believe-im-american/562635.md?page=5)