# You're from ...? I'm sorry **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 16, 2014, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-from-im-sorry/693243 "2014-07-16T01:53:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2014, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-from-im-sorry/693243/41 "2014-07-16T16:53:36Z")
> [@elmwood](#): > > There’s a saying among New Mexicans: “Poor Las Cruces. So far from heaven, so close to El Paso.” During my Las Cruces years, whenever I traveled to ABQ and SF, I’d hear “Cruces isn’t _real_ New Mexico”, “It’s just a well-off suburb of El Paso”, and so on. Las Cruces isn’t as _cute_ as the other cities in New Mexico–especially Santa Fe. I enjoyed it–& La Mesilla. But I’m from Houston, so what do I know? Lots of people who hate Texas lived in one of the smaller communities or one of the larger suburbs. And never figured out how to make it in a Texas city. (Not [Texas City](http://www.texas-city-tx.org/)!) And not only groovy Austin–Fort Worth &\* even Dallas\* are better than the rest of the Metroplex. [Yet another article](http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2013/07/another_day_another_list_says.php) claims that Houston is a great city live in. No it isn’t! They are tearing down too many nice older homes to build crap! Stay away! (Long ago, Austinites decided to stop improving the traffic situation to discourage newcomers. They came anyway & traffic there sucks.) ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2014, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-from-im-sorry/693243/42 "2014-07-16T16:57:32Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Funny implying I was being feminine and that is some how inferior. Classic dope misogyny. You’re absolutely right about that. Really bad judgment on my part. I meant just to make fun of your high-strung, humorless reaction. It’s kind of awesome that you expected him to roll with the punches when you were going to tease him about traitor wines, but got thrown by a friendly jab at ‘the big city.’ Unless you were planning a _gotcha!_ and huffy walk-out from the get-go. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2014, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-from-im-sorry/693243/43 "2014-07-16T17:05:28Z")
No, I didn’t load up my joke until he made his. Instead, I thought I’d just remind him how the vendor/customer power relationship works. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2014, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-from-im-sorry/693243/44 "2014-07-16T18:52:07Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > It’s happened to me. It’s boring and tired and it’s not funny. It’s quite insulting. And if it’s said by someone from New York or San Francisco, or some other place where it’s obvious that he really does think of his claimed city as superior, it makes me want to punch him in the nose. I got this a lot when I lived in a small town about an hour away from Chicago. The general attitude was that anyone not living in the Big City was a yokel lacking in worldliness and cultural refinement. It was insulting, but I sort of understood it. What baffles me is when I get the same smugness from someone who literally lives in the _next town over_, like I’m supposed to feel inferior because their town has two Targets. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2014, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-from-im-sorry/693243/45 "2014-07-16T19:23:19Z")
Yeah, that’s what is so annoying, the joke has been said a thousand times. It can be said in answer to any city. It is so unoriginal and worn. It’s not humor, it’s anti-humor. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2014, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-from-im-sorry/693243/46 "2014-07-16T19:24:07Z")
Lighten the fuck up, it’s just a stupid joke. Good god, I’ve used that joke before – especially when it comes to sports. > [@Lukeinva](#): > > Then there is the contest and the first place winner gets a free week in Philadelphia. > > Second place wins two weeks. What does the loser get, a week in a Turkish prison? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2014, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-from-im-sorry/693243/47 "2014-07-16T19:43:46Z")
I’m from Kentucky, a beautiful state which I love a lot. Yet the hillbilly inbred comments never cease. It annoys me for the state as a whole, but also for all the smart, educated people who are actually from the mountain region. A recent example from author [Silas House](http://www.silashouseblog.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-matter-is-you-dont-know-what-youre.html). ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2014, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-from-im-sorry/693243/48 "2014-07-16T19:49:39Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > My hometown is Flint, MI. That’s all _anyone_ ever says to me upon hearing where I’m from. 😛 Yeh, when I tell people that I am from Detroit they say stuff and I just respond by saying at least I’m not from Flint. 😃 Not really from Detroit, but near enough. I can see 8 mile from my house, the south side of my house. ---
**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:** [July 16, 2014, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-from-im-sorry/693243/49 "2014-07-16T19:51:04Z")
I was born in Indiana. I get this a lot since moving to the northeast. But I agree with them, so it’s all in good fun. Most of my home state is a racist cesspit and had very little to offer me. If someone were to badmouth my current place of residence, though, I might have a bone to pick. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2014, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-from-im-sorry/693243/50 "2014-07-16T19:55:03Z")
> [@Lukeinva](#): > > Then there is the contest and the first place winner gets a free week in Philadelphia. > > Second place wins two weeks. Yeah I’ve heard that often. The worst is, “Oh, across the river from Camden”. If you meet someone from NJ, the correct response is “What exit?” (My wife partly grew up near exit 1.) ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2014, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-from-im-sorry/693243/51 "2014-07-16T19:55:44Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Lighten the fuck up, it’s just a stupid joke. Good god, I’ve used that joke before – especially when it comes to sports… Now you know it’s not funny. It’s the equivalent of asking a tall person “how’s the weather up there?” We’ve all heard it before, strive for originality in your life. ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2014, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-from-im-sorry/693243/52 "2014-07-16T20:14:03Z")
I would never say it to someone I just met. You never know what a person might be sensitive about. Aside from that, I’d be more curious to hear what the supposedly awful town is actually like. If I met someone from Detroit I wouldn’t say, “That sucks - I hear it’s a shithole” - even though I have. Instead I’d genuinely want to know: what’s it like to be from a place like Detroit? What are things like there? And for what it’s worth, I’ve never heard this about my hometown, but I’ve heard it multiple times about my country. It never ceased to amaze me how comfortable complete strangers could be telling me how horrible they thought the US was. I always thought it was incredibly rude. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2014, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-from-im-sorry/693243/53 "2014-07-16T20:24:59Z")
> [@Rodgers01](#): > > "… complete strangers could be telling me how horrible they thought the US was… This actually happened… an Englishman ranting on and on to me about how he disliked the US with his primary complaint being that tips are expected in restaurants. He said he never wanted to return to the US to which I replied as politely as I could, “the waiters and waitresses across America thank you.” ---
**Author:** ![Calatin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/439d5e/32.png) [@Calatin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Calatin)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2014, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-from-im-sorry/693243/54 "2014-07-16T20:29:22Z")
> [@Rodgers01](#): > > And for what it’s worth, I’ve never heard this about my hometown, but I’ve heard it multiple times about my country. It never ceased to amaze me how comfortable complete strangers could be telling me how horrible they thought the US was. I always thought it was incredibly rude. I think the difference, though, is in a quick passing comment of “I’m sorry” versus a detailed list of all the negative things about my home city / country / etc. I’ll brush off the first one with a laugh, because, yeah, just as there are some great things about it, there’re also some crappy things. But, when you start lecturing me about _why_ it’s crappy (especially without firsthand experience?), then we’ll have a problem. ---
**Author:** ![Stuffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2014, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-from-im-sorry/693243/55 "2014-07-16T22:10:37Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > My wife is from Detroit. She gets that a lot. I’m from Detroit and have also lived in Oakland and now Stockton. I hear it, A. LOT. Sometimes I’m sure the person saying it is also looking for evidence of bullet holes or something. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-from-im-sorry/693243/56 "2014-07-17T00:06:38Z")
I think it was on NPR’s “Wait, Wait!” that the hosts were carrying a microphone talking to audience members, when one of them said they were from (some notoriously unpleasant place). The host haltingly answered, “I’m sorry?” (giving the impression that he hadn’t heard them clearly). After they repeated themselves, he politely clarified, “No, I heard you. I’m just… sorry.” FWIW, I’m from West Virginia, so I pay attention to those kind of comments. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-from-im-sorry/693243/57 "2014-07-17T00:12:56Z")
> [@Bad\_News\_Baboon](#): > > I’m from El Paso. I left but it still doesn’t mean I want to hear “sorry”. It might have a lot of negativity to it, but it also has really positive things, too. I actually kind of like El Paso. It’s one of the very few places in the entire state that’s worth a damn (Austin is another example) and certainly the only place in all of West Texas. Sadly, El Paso is not where I grew up. ---
**Author:** ![Stuffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-from-im-sorry/693243/58 "2014-07-17T00:13:52Z")
> [@Stuffy](#): > > I’m from Detroit and have also lived in Oakland and now Stockton. I hear it, A. LOT. Sometimes I’m sure the person saying it is also looking for evidence of bullet holes or something. Of course will stories like [these](http://fox40.com/2014/07/16/bank-robbery-suspects-open-fire-on-officers-lead-cops-on-highway-chase/). :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-from-im-sorry/693243/59 "2014-07-17T00:37:12Z")
I think that people who want to use this joke should find new material. If you feel the need to insult someone upon meeting them for the first time, try this: “Where are you from?” “I grew up in Peoria.” “You’re mother is a whore.” ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-from-im-sorry/693243/60 "2014-07-17T00:39:46Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > I think that people who want to use this joke should find new material. If you feel the need to insult someone upon meeting them for the first time, try this: > “Where are you from?” > “I grew up in Peoria.” > “You’re mother is a whore.” I see you’ve been to Peoria. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-from-im-sorry/693243.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-from-im-sorry/693243.md?page=4)