I've lived in a lot of different areas in the US. People in the NE and PNW are more guarded and reticent. People in the Southwest/Midwest are more friendly and talkative. Wearing a cross or being the right color makes a big difference in some places.
These are not categorical statements about everyone in a region, but my life experience says that some US stereotypes have some basis in reality. Local communities have different behavioral norms, and that's fine. We can pretend that they don't exist, but we can also acknowledge them to try and help bridge cultural gaps.
Personally, I wish that people were more accepting of Northeast personalities. But the world wouldn't work if everyone was the same.
And everyone i’ve ever known from wisconsin would at least be considered a mild alcoholic anywhere else.
Stereotypes are what they are, first order approximations.
The sense of humor is my cup of tea: puns.
Dead-pan-really-good-puns. My Norwegian and Swedish friends are as punny as me.
Do you like puns?
Give me a topic for a pun-off
(as you can see from my last name "stave" '*staava*' (I don't know how to phonetically spell it - but based on stave churches...)
---
I used to think I was indecisive... but now I'm just not sure.
Most people’s experience of a region are hugely tourist. Like folks who visit NYC and see Times Square, then draw conclusions about your average New Yorker. Likewise folks who visit Hollywood and make a conclusion about California.
The regional stereotypes I’m familiar with are... stereotypes. They’re true. They just might not be true about any particular individual who lives there. And they’re true because these are largely learned behaviors.
Are they useful? Well, in aggregate they might give you some patience and understanding if you’re going to that region and have to interact with the people. Lots of behaviors you might consider rude might actually be friendly or at least polite there. And while you may not be able to assume an individual from a place matches the stereotype, it’s a pretty safe bet if they match the stereotype they’ve got a connection to the place.
There are some “general regional tendencies” I’ve found but they’re overblown, if a little fun.
In my experience Armenians in the Boston area are very friendly or hostile. But they’re my relatives..and it might just be me. In general Id say people Around Boston are less “outgoing” than the people in NY were I lived for a little while. Though in NY I always felt they were more honest with you. Less friendly than Alabama were one of our offices were. (Bless their hearts). And a co-worker from Minnesota “Minnesota nice” notes that while theyre friendly on the outside not so with personal info. (They’ll give you directions anywhere except to their house ) And in MInnesota when they’re hunting for agates, be afraid.
http://minnesotaconnected.com/events/agate-day-festival-brin...
> People often told me they knew I wasn’t from around there because I smiled so much.
I've always understood jokes like this to be a sort of ironic "it's funny because that's what people say about us even though it's not really true". I am now realizing I might be alone in this.
One thing I remember from urban life in Boston itself in the 70s/80s is that the neighborhood identity was extremely strong. The most fun cities are extremely neighborhood centric but this was extreme: though my city high school had kids from all over the city, it was clear that some of them I could not safely visit at their homes. You could tell from someone's accent where they lived in the city. I can't say if this is still the case.
For those of you who recognize the internal curmudgeon in yourself, move to Boston. Remember: "I LOVE HUMANITY, IT'S PEOPLE I CAN'T STAND"
It's an odd region. Repressed and taciturn by nature, as this sort of article shows. But there's also a strong ethos that people should be free to chart their own course, which stretches back to the nation's birth and eventually overcame the puritanical roots. These days people aren't particularly judgemental, but they are still quite reserved.
John Steinbeck had this to say about getting directions in the area:
>“I seem to be lost, officer. I wonder if you could direct me?”
>“Where is it you want to go?”
>“I’m trying to get to Deer Isle.”
>He looked at me closely, and when he was satisfied that I wasn’t joking he swung on his hips and pointed across a small stretch of open water, and he didn’t bother to speak.
>“Is that it?”
>He nodded from up to down and left his head down.
>“Well, how do I get there?”
>I have always heard that Maine people are rather taciturn, but for this candidate for Mount Rushmore to point twice in an afternoon was to be unbearably talkative. He swung his chin in a small arc in the direction I had been traveling. If the afternoon had not been advancing I would have tried for another word from him even if doomed to failure.
>“Thank you,” I said, and sounded to myself as though I rattled on forever.