Do You Get Defensive About Being From Nebraska? (Omaha, Lincoln: salons, insurance)

[laserdisque]

I once had a guy in Ohio ask me what part of the state of Omaha I was from. I kept a straight face and told him "Benson".

[skidamarink]

Originally Posted by blueboss

I lived in Nebraska a short while and am still laughing at my own ignorance. I did not know what the black shirts were and saw one of the flags hanging from the neighbors porch on game day. At the time I was a single parent of a small child and was afraid for our safety thinking it was a gang symbol. My boss laughed so hard he cried most of the day. I have since learned that life stops when the Huskers are playing. LOL

Back when I lived in St. Louis, the only Boystown I knew of was the one in Chicago, which is an area with a lot of LGBT folk. When I came to Omaha and kept hearing people talking about Boys Town, I thought it might be Omaha's gay community as well. A friend tried explaining to me that it was founded by a priest for little boys and that's when I got thrown off. Luckily I'm not homophobic, so I didn't jump to any silly conclusions.

[blueboss]

I was out of my comfort zone with no family around and jumped to the wrong conclusion. Growing up in the Ozarks, I did some things they thought were hilarious like use 4 wheel drive in an inch of snow. I also impressed them that I could bait my own fish hook and get the fish off once it was caught. The only thing I hated about Nebraska was the sand burrs, I don't know how many times I impaled my foot with those suckers. I had to learn to wear shoes ALL the time.

[Katiana]

Originally Posted by Flat Water 1867

I'm not the least bit surprised by the stories of geographical ignorance that has been encountered by the people on this thread. Particularly geographical ignorance from people on the East Coast. You could give a typical native New York City resident a blank map of the U.S. and a pencil and they wouldn't be able to correctly fill in more than five states. Ten states, max. Totally geographically illiterate. It's like they've never even GLANCED at a map before. Why would they?!!! They live in the center of the universe: NYC!!! Everything a person could ever want is right there in NYC! No point in being curious about other parts of the country. How could anyone live life anywhre else?!!! I had a friend from Neb. who was a nanny in NYC several years ago, and she would meet New Yorkers who, upon learning where she was from, would refer to Nebraska as being a West Coast state. No, you clueless, self-absorbed, insular fools, almost half of the United States of America is still West of Nebraska!!!! My friend told me that you could tell some New Yorkers that Nebraska is in the Deep South and they wouldn't even bat an eye.

Sorry if this post resonates as bitter. I get very weary of the media and the entertainment industry/Hollywood constantly shoving NYC down our throats as the epicenter of civilization and the standard representation of the American experience. Yes, it's an amazing city. But there are 300 million people living in the U.S. 292 million of us DON'T live in New York City!!!!

I am here to tell you that works both ways. My extended family in Nebraska think all easterners (including me) have horns, are greedy, money-grubbing swine, live in a totally concrete environmnet, etc.

[atf487]

Originally Posted by michgc

This thread caught my eye as I was cruising C-D. As an East Coaster born and bred, I'll add my two cents. Growing up I had never given much thought to the Midwest. Sure I knew it was out there, and of course I knew Nebraska was a state. But beyond that, didn't really think about it.

This.

I could point you guys out on a map, and I don't think people should be insulting you for living there, but really, what is there in Nebraska that we should all be aware about? Why should I hope a plane and go there?

The northeast, due to the population density and history, is conditioned to see large cities as the centers of financial and cultural importance. You can see why we don't know a whole lot about the Midwest, besides Chicago

[Flat Water 1867]

Originally Posted by Katiana

I am here to tell you that works both ways. My extended family in Nebraska think all easterners (including me) have horns, are greedy, money-grubbing swine, live in a totally concrete environmnet, etc.

It's interesting that you quoted my post to make your point. You make a good argument about stereotypes and generalizations of east coast vs. mid-west cultures. You're right--it goes both ways. However, my sole point in my post was the sheer geographical (as in maps) ignorance of native Northeasterners. Their utter inability to find Idaho or Arkansas or Kentucky on a blank map of the continental U.S., their total lack of curiosity as to where cities and states are located in our country. Now, could everyone in Nebraska correctly identify all 48 states on a blank map of the continental U.S.? Of course not. Some would be just as ignorant. But as a whole, I am willing to wager that people in the Great Plains and mid-west are more geographically knowledgeable about the U.S. than their counterparts in NYC of a similar education level. Maybe it's because we in Nebraska have always had to travel great distances to attend certain things and people in Boston and NYC have not. So we've spent more time in our lives using maps. I've always been a map buff; loved to sit and study maps of the U.S. as a kid growing up. So when I encounter people who have no idea what the difference is between Kansas and Indiana, I guess I'm taken aback.

[Katiana]

Well, I'd bet some of my relatives couldn't find Delaware, RI, or other smaller eastern states w/o a lot of effort.

Nebraskans travel a lot, but it's my experience they focus west or southwest, not east.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by Katiana

Well, I'd bet some of my relatives couldn't find Delaware, RI, or other smaller eastern states w/o a lot of effort.

Nebraskans travel a lot, but it's my experience they focus west or southwest, not east.

This is 100% true. I grew up in Kansas City and many people only traveled to Texas, states in the west, or Florida. Few traveled to any city along the east coast.

[Kootr]

Originally Posted by atf487

This.

I could point you guys out on a map, and I don't think people should be insulting you for living there, but really, what is there in Nebraska that we should all be aware about? Why should I hope a plane and go there?

The northeast, due to the population density and history, is conditioned to see large cities as the centers of financial and cultural importance. You can see why we don't know a whole lot about the Midwest, besides Chicago

I just returned from a little road trip, which included driving through part of southwestern Nebraska on I-80. My main home is Dallas, but I also have properties in San Diego, CA, Asheville, NC and Manhattan in NYC...so I've seen many parts of our great country. My main destination for the trip was Colorado Springs and Denver. However, since I have only flown into Omaha and never seen any part of the state by car I decided to take a drive through the southwestern part of Nebraska to see what it was like.

My trip through the southwestern part of Nebraska took me east on I-80 from the Wyoming border near Cheyenne to just beyond Lexington, and then south on Hwy 183 through Holdrege and then into Kansas...so I could pickup I-70 eastbound and then I-35 south back to Dallas.

The first thing I noticed was all the farming and ranching in Nebraska - far more than I had seen in any other state. Also, you can help but notice the size of the farms and ranches - and how far apart the people live from one another. Even when I came upon little towns along the way, they were tiny little spots with a few hundred people living there...and many miles from any source of shopping (grocery, clothing, restaurants, banking, auto repair, home furnishing, building materials, barber and beauty shops, dental, medical treatment, etc., etc.). Obviously the people living in these tiny towns are very self-sufficient and/or don't mind driving a long way for these services they need which aren't nearby. I suspect many of these people don't make it a habit of driving hours round-trip unless they [just] have to.

I guessing most men get a haircut by a family member or someone with a good pair of scissors and some skill. Same goes for the women - I doubt they get their hair professionally done very often. It makes me wonder if people get routine medical checkups and dental cleaning...

I stopped at a few places along the way (Dix, Potter, Brule, Paxton, Maxwell, Brady, Lexington (whew - stinks!), Holdrege, Ragan and Alma). I wanted to get a little flavor of what these places had available for the people living there. There's no way I could ever get a feel for what it would [truly] be like to live in any of these places...

I have learned that 89% of the towns and cities in Nebraska have a population less than 3,000 people, and most have a population less than 1,000. I learned this small town living is also shared by many neighboring states. Many of the places I stopped have fewer than a hundred people living there. Some of these tiny little towns were close to larger towns like Kimball, which has a population of about 2,500. But there's still no reasonable size city anywhere close. The nearest city of any size is Cheyenne, WY, which is 60 miles away. And the nearest city with a population greater than 200K is 120 miles away. And I saw a lot of farmers that don't live anywhere close to even a tiny town, but on their own farm land...many miles from another human being. I guess it's safe to say that these people who elect to live on their own farm land rarely see or talk with anyone for days.

There is little doubt that the people living in these small remote towns don't need much, don't want much, and don't expect much in terms of what medium and large cities offer. There is also little doubt that these people don't need much entertainment to keep them happy. And they certainly don't need a lot of people being around them. Needless to say I am tremendously grateful for the hard work these people do when it comes to using the land for farming and ranching. I have never seen the land used so efficiently when it comes to farming. Amazing!

What I saw of Nebraska is beautiful in its own way. It's not a place you load up the family and look forward to traveling to from very far away for a vacation. But Nebraska is definitely worth seeing, at least once - which is probably what most locals want...take a quick look but don't stop for long...

[skidamarink]

The geographic ignorance is exhibited mostly by generally dumb people and/or people who live in cities or areas that are frequently portrayed and presented in the media (the news, television shows, fine arts, etc.). California and most of the major East Coast cities. I guess you can't blame them. All they know is New York City, Philadelphia, Boston, or where ever they're in and when the media only uses the respective city for a setting, they probably feel little need to know anymore. I just think it's a little hideous that so many East Coasters know so much about the history and lifestyles of Europe, yet they wouldn't know what state is what if you gave them a map of the Midwest with no state names. No one ever said Nebraska is the first stop for a romantic vacation, but at least have the decency to spell the name right and know the capital city.

Maybe if more people knew that Nebraska has much more than cornfields, they would take advantage of the fact that we have the 2nd lowest unemployment rate in the nation and are better off economically than most states at this point in time. Or maybe I shouldn't be complaining. Perhaps their ignorance is what's keeping life stable and a little more secure here.

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