What is the biggest Mis-Conception/stereotype of Wisconsin? (Madison, Waukesha: insurance, house)

[Drover]

To be fair, the ski season in California is a touch longer than in Maine.

[gallon]

Originally Posted by BacktoNE

Our first winter in WI was so mild it was almost laughable. Then we had last winter, not so much laughter. Hopefully this winter, our last in WI, will be more like the first.

You should have been here before all this global warming stuff. Snow drifts up to the eaves. The lakes frozen completely over, we used to drive right out onto the lakes for ice fishing. The temperature really did get to 25 below zero once in awhile. This past winter, Madison only got to 10 below a couple of times. Woolly mammoths trampling all over the place.

[everwinter]

The cheesehead & cold snowy winters concepts will always remain. I move around a lot with work & it seems like every worksite always has one person who loves to kid me. I've learned you have to quickly ask where they're from & fire back with stereotypes. My last two co-workers who loved to stereotype me were from New York & West Virginia so I had lots of fire power.

With the Packers last year playing 2 big playoff games with one in a snowstorm & the other zero degrees didn't help the winter views much. I try to tell people you get used to the winters & it's really not that bad. I always say to southerners how do you deal with the wicked heat? (when I really know, but I want them to think for a moment)

[crazyme4878]

Originally Posted by everwinter

I always say to southerners how do you deal with the wicked heat? (when I really know, but I want them to think for a moment)

I always told naysayers that I would rather be cold then hot; when you are cold, you just put on more layers of clothes--there are only so many you can take off if you are hot ! Well, this was all theory on my part, since I have stayed in the northern regions. Well, now I'm six miles from Mexico and can say for sure that I would rather have the cold than the heat!

[gallon]

Originally Posted by everwinter

With the Packers last year playing 2 big playoff games with one in a snowstorm & the other zero degrees didn't help the winter views much. I try to tell people you get used to the winters & it's really not that bad. I always say to southerners how do you deal with the wicked heat? (when I really know, but I want them to think for a moment)

Just adds to the legend. And by the way, zero degrees is not that cold. And a snowstorm! Heavens! Around here, school children rush outside at recess when it is snowing, they love it so much.

[shannonM]

welcome to WI smell our dairy air

[jjacobeclark]

Originally Posted by JoshB

Our landscape here is so understated just as the rest of the midwest is.

Comments like that are part of the problem. The terrain of Northern Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin is nothing like the flat, treeless, wastelands of Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas and the Dakotas, yet Wisconsin is constantly being lumped in with those other "Midwest" states. 60% of the state of Wisconsin is covered by dense forests. If anything we need to resurrect the Rust Belt identity or else forge a completely separate Great Lakes identity to do us proper justice. To me, Milwaukee is a lot more like Pittsburgh or Cleveland than it is like Des Moines or Omaha.

I personally think the stereotypes people place on Wisconsin are done so out of jealousy. I currently live in Denver, but plan on moving back to Wisconsin this December. Do you know how bad people in Colorado wish they had an identity like people from Wisconsin? We have tailgating, bowling, fish fries, the Packers, camping, funny accents, etc. They have none of that and they can't seem to decide if they want Denver to be like Las Vegas or Miami or LA. Being from Wisconsin is like being from Brooklyn, no matter where you go in the world you can always run into a fellow Wisconsinite. And by extension of simply being from Wisconsin you will have made an instant friend and have plenty to talk about.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by jjacobeclark

Comments like that are part of the problem. The terrain of Northern Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin is nothing like the flat, treeless, wastelands of Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas and the Dakotas . . .

Iowa has its own chunk of unglaciated territory, Kansas has the Flint Hills, and I don't know about North Dakota, but South Dakota has the Black Mountains with elevations as high as 7,000+ feet, which is higher than anything in the Appalachians. Seems like other states are having their own issues living down misconceptions.

[monroek5]

Well I just moved here a few months ago from MI, so I guess I'll give you my personal stereotype of WI. Aside from the typical dairy, cheese, beer, farm, etc. my biggest one would be the drivers. I think WI drivers are horrible. My initial thought about the monitoring of merging onto highways was "oh neat, that's a good idea" and then after driving through the state for a month I realized it wouldn't surprise me if they installed those because no one knew how to merge correctly. And when the cars are merging, they cruise at about 30 mph forcing the cars in the right lane to break in order to let them in. I'd love to see what WI drivers think about MI drivers. I think they would die in our state- we are a bunch of speedy, rushed, fearless drivers...good luck merging onto a highway at 30 mph! =)

[JoshB]

Originally Posted by monroek5

Well I just moved here a few months ago from MI, so I guess I'll give you my personal stereotype of WI. Aside from the typical dairy, cheese, beer, farm, etc. my biggest one would be the drivers. I think WI drivers are horrible. My initial thought about the monitoring of merging onto highways was "oh neat, that's a good idea" and then after driving through the state for a month I realized it wouldn't surprise me if they installed those because no one knew how to merge correctly. And when the cars are merging, they cruise at about 30 mph forcing the cars in the right lane to break in order to let them in. I'd love to see what WI drivers think about MI drivers. I think they would die in our state- we are a bunch of speedy, rushed, fearless drivers...good luck merging onto a highway at 30 mph! =)

I don't think that there is much of a problem with people not merging correctly in our state. What I think is people are driving to fast for conditions. Just because Great Aunt Ida is coming home on the interstate from chruch doing 30 doesn't mean everyone does. I think that people generally know how to drive around here. Some people rush which only makes situations worse.

When you deal with an incompetant(SP?) driver, just take a deep breath and relax. Life's to short to get worked up over slow drivers.