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!) And not only groovy Austin–Fort Worth &* even Dallas* are better than the rest of the Metroplex.
Yet another article 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.)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.”
