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I'm from Columbus. Believe me, if you were standing in front of me now, I'd have no problem being blunt, and if it wasn't for board rules, I would be more than happy to be so here.
If I were standing in front of you, there would be no reason to be blunt because I would have been speaking in midwestern mode and would never actually have said any of those things to your face.
Just for the record, I thought your breakdown was very interesting, even though I think it is biased and inaccurate. It's not very often that I will read all the way through such a long post on this forum. If anything, it provided some very good insight into stereotypes, at a level that is not often seen.
Ah a typical Internet thread ... someone posts something stupid, people get angry and righteous and attack them for it, and stupid poster attacks back. Ahhhh.
I think it is actually funny how some people in the Northeast think that they are the best in the country. Ignorance is bliss I guess.There is a great country out there and it does not center around the Northeast.
Just for the record, I thought your breakdown was very interesting, even though I think it is biased and inaccurate. It's not very often that I will read all the way through such a long post on this forum. If anything, it provided some very good insight into stereotypes, at a level that is not often seen.
One of my two best friends from Ohio is actually from Michigan-I can communicate naturally with him without putting on any show and there is definitely a big difference between him and the central Ohians. So, I understand that things vary wildly depending on what area you are in, and even within a single area there you can't paint everybody with the same brush. But it does help to have a starting point which you can then adjust as you get to know the person better.
It helps to understand, for example, that if you're talking fast and racing from one spot to another and talking excitedly about hitting this place up tonight, and then going there, and then finishing somewhere else, showing that much energy is not necessarily going to go over so well. It helps to understand that when someone from Ohio doesn't acknowledge everything that you say verbally, it doesn't mean that he doesn't like you. And it especially helps to understand that the act of "breaking" the connection and looking away disinterestedly, which always showed that you were cool and in-tune where I grew up (I never even thought about it because I never saw anything different), means something COMPLETELY different in Ohio (that you are an *sshole). When I first figured that out and stopped doing it, that was a revelation.
What I was trying to cover is the fact that many of the difference are "gut-level" reactions to certain behaviors- it has little to do with actual opinions and the value of the person himself (of course).
Any region has stereotypical type people, your typical NY'er or your typical Midwesterner or your typical Californian, but really, it's more complicated than that. You can get someone who's more direct,but hurts people's feelings. Is that better than being quiet? You can get someone who "appears" more direct and honest, but are throwing daggars at your back. You can have someone who's quiet and demure who swears like a sailor behind closed doors. There are some truths to regional differences for sure, but I don't know much more than that.
Actually these are just notes I've typed from my own personal observations, so that I can go back and forth and be accepted in each format. I just thought I'd put them online for other people to look at.
I am aware that the whole midwest isn't like Columbus and the whole northeast isn't like New Hampshire. My point is that the difference between the two regions is a lot starker than people realize.
I'm actually going to be a little bit nicer, here-- born and raised in the Midwest, live now in the Northeast. I didn't read your post in your entirety, but I actually think a good part of it is accurate. Obviously, some things vary from place to place in the Midwest, or vary based on situation. The sarcasm thing, for example-- Upper Midwesterners can tend to be pretty sarcastic and self-deprecating. Especially younger people. Self-deprecation is seen as "all in good fun", and I think is pretty common in German and Scandinavian cultures that contributed millions of immigrants to the Upper Midwest. It might not, however, be as common in, say....Columbus.
I think you should read up on "high context vs. low context" cultures, if you're really interested in this, and haven't done so already. I discovered this recently; it's basically a linguistic concept, but goes into some of the things that you mention (i.e., in a "low context" culture like the Northeast, certain things in conversation are not implied/inferred, which leads people to be more direct in conversation, social rules are very clearly laid out, and building relationships just for the sake of building the relationship (having somebody to talk to) isn't as important as in a "high context" culture).
One of my two best friends from Ohio is actually from Michigan-I can communicate naturally with him without putting on any show and there is definitely a big difference between him and the central Ohians. So, I understand that things vary wildly depending on what area you are in, and even within a single area there you can't paint everybody with the same brush. But it does help to have a starting point which you can then adjust as you get to know the person better.
It helps to understand, for example, that if you're talking fast and racing from one spot to another and talking excitedly about hitting this place up tonight, and then going there, and then finishing somewhere else, showing that much energy is not necessarily going to go over so well. It helps to understand that when someone from Ohio doesn't acknowledge everything that you say verbally, it doesn't mean that he doesn't like you. And it especially helps to understand that the act of "breaking" the connection and looking away disinterestedly, which always showed that you were cool and in-tune where I grew up (I never even thought about it because I never saw anything different), means something COMPLETELY different in Ohio (that you are an *sshole). When I first figured that out and stopped doing it, that was a revelation.
What I was trying to cover is the fact that many of the difference are "gut-level" reactions to certain behaviors- it has little to do with actual opinions and the value of the person himself (of course).
OK. I am starting to warm up to your theories a little bit. When you say "midwest," I immediately relate to the people I am used to dealing with, which is western/central Michigan. I actually think the people around here lean more towards the "disinterested" demeanor that you are referring to, rather than being overly "fake" interested in everything that a person says. The use of sarcasm here is also more similar to what you describe in the Northeast than what you describe in Columbus.
I am actually not surprised to learn that Ohioans are difficult to communicate with. We dislike that state for a reason.
I think you should read up on "high context vs. low context" cultures, if you're really interested in this, and haven't done so already. I discovered this recently; it's basically a linguistic concept, but goes into some of the things that you mention (i.e., in a "low context" culture like the Northeast, certain things in conversation are not implied/inferred, which leads people to be more direct in conversation, social rules are very clearly laid out, and building relationships just for the sake of building the relationship (having somebody to talk to) isn't as important as in a "high context" culture).
Anyway, I think it's interesting...
Fascinating. Am reading now- it looks like this explains a LOT. Hard-core low context in Northeast versus high-context culture.
"When we say one word, we understand ten, but here you have to say ten to understand one." -A Japanese manager
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