Actually the post was more of a response to this jest by scratch1300.
With Corel being based in Toronto, I’d at least assume they would have heard of Michigan, or seen it on maps. (though maybe the’d know more if they were based in Windsor). Unfortunately, they must have gotten the mistaken impression that the Great Lakes have been drained recently.
Buffalo again - it’s NOT a suburb of New York City! You’d be surprised at how many people bring up The City when you mention you’re originally from Buffalo.
“Bet you went to New York City all the time, with all the commuter trains.” (Yeah, you take Metro Rail about 10 km, get off at South Campus. walk down NY 5 for about two or three weeks, take a right, keep walking for another couple of weeks, and hop on the Dyre Avenue train in The Bronx …)
“Did you see the Yankees play much?” (Oh sure, we’d hop in the car every weekend for the eight hour drive to Yankee Stadium.)
“Funny, you don’t talk with an accent …” (I don’t have a Buffalo accent, thank God, and even if I did, most people wouldn’t recognize it as a New York accent. A typical blue collar Buffalonian sounds like someone from the south suburbs of Chicago, only with a cold.)
The few people who realized that Buffalo is on the opposite end of the state as Noo Yawk often think that because so many major cities are located so close by, we frequently visit them. I’ve spent more time in Los Angeles, Albuquerque, Kansas City and El Paso than in Rochester. Sure, it’s 60 miles away, but there’s absolutely no reason to go there. When you’re a kid, you’ll have a field trip at Kodak Park. That’s it. Rochester is nothing like Buffalo – it’s affluent, white collar, and excruiatingly dull. Buffalo’s a corrupt, burly, blue-collar party town where the ever-present bars close at 4:00 AM and the museums rival those on the other end of the Thruway. I’ve only driven through Syracuse and Binghamton, and I’ve never been to Pittsburgh.
Denver - Directions are given with compass points, and Denverites mention the Rockies about as much as Michiganders use their palm for a state map substitute. “The mountains are to the west … go south on Havana until you hit Mississippi, and then head east until you get to Chambers …”
Screw the Yankees. GO BILLS!!!…Well maybe next year :(.
Cheers,
Hodge
I am reminded of a Mad Magazine spoof of Ripleys Believe it or Not. One of the subjects was a resident of New York who could actually find the state of Wyoming on a map of the US, believe it or not!
I get the Denver thing a lot because I work in a call center there. Not only do people think it is in the mountains, they think we are socked in by snow and bitter cold all winter long. Normally we have a pretty moderate tempurature and what little snow does fall melts of within a day or two. Of course this year we HAVE been socked in by snow and bitter cold, but so has everyone else in the midwest!
Good point Elmwood! You know your from Denver when you give directions that involve seeing the mountains on the right, left, in front, etc… Kinda handy since they can be seen over most buildings and always stay to the west of the city!
I was once talking to some Brits and was trying to get them to tell me what was the statue in Piccadilly Square, Eros or Nelson.
They only laughed. I asked 3 times, getting madder.
When I turned to stalk away, they said “You mean Piccadilly Circus.”
So I laughed and rephrased my question, but they laughed again.
So then I did stalk off mad. Do you suppose they know which of our monuments goes with which park? Please!
Boy, I hate it when people who aren’t from here don’t already know where everything is! My goodness, you’d think they weren’t from here or something!
Why, just the other day, somebody who has never been here asked me if a random landmark associated with my area was anywhere near the city where the landmark is commonly known to be! Can you believe that? How dumb are people anyway?
And Hollywood! Well, let me tell you, those Hollywood people don’t know a damn thing! I tell you, if I ever go there, I’m going to march right down Hollywood Boulevard where they all hang out and tell them just how it is! Then I’ll take a walk to the beach.
I submit that parts of the old two-lane route of US 78 between Olive Branch and New Albany runs through some pretty soupy territory.
Not intending cheap shots, just strange:
A terrific born and bred New Yorker, who exclaimed in honest suprise: “you have highways here!” (And running water, and electricity but we house the mules and tractors out back.)
A pal from New Brunswick: driving around in spring, just after planting, she asked why we burned the fields. After mutal puzzlement and crosstalk, turned out she was suprised the ground itself was black. Had to explain it’s the loamy earth that makes this part of the country nature’s own bread basket.
A visting Brit who didn’t realize he couldn’t just pop over to check out Florida and the Rockies. Again, no cheap shots intended. It’s one thing to look at maps and another to realize distances as days of solid driving.
Veb