cathyvv

There are stereotypes for every state. Can't tell you how often I hear about the NJ turnpike or get imitations of a NJ accent that I have NEVER once heard from a born in NJ person - or anyone else. I just laugh inside and move on.

I tell everyone that all the rumors about how awful NJ is were started by NJ citizens to discourage people from other states from moving to NJ. It's not working, though!

quiltingcandy

I have to laugh at all the stereo-types regarding the South and East Coast, I was working for an insurance company back in 1978 and was sent to Chicago to help handle all the claims for the blizzards. The person running the team was from Missouri and as far as he was concerned I couldn't do anything right. If I was answering the phone taking claims, he wanted me typing letters, if I was at a typewriter, he wanted me in the room matching mail to files. (Luckily other people saw it too and asked me what I did to him to make him act this way to me and I had no idea.) Finally I had my fill and told him to make up his mind what it was that he wanted me to do and I would be more than happy to do it. His response was, "You people from California just think you are so special and I don't think you are!" My response, was I have never considered myself as being from CA, I was born in Kansas, both my parents were from Kansas so as far as I am concerned sir, I am from Kansas. The home office asked me to stay on another 2 weeks and I said no. It turned out he treated everyone that came from the California offices the same as he treated me. It was the first time I discovered CA has a lot of people out there that don't like us, I have now been here 39 years. Not sure why - but it seems to follow us.

JanTx

Following one thought here - the F-bomb one: I live in a small Texas town - about an hour from Houston. A friend who was teaching with me here got a new job in a town on the outskirts of Houston. She sent a boy to the office for dropping the F-bomb in the hallway and was herself reprimanded - told, "Well, Mrs. Z...., you seem to be the only one having a problem with his language." This was in a MIDDLE SCHOOL. Can you believe? She called her husband that afternoon and told him she was quitting. Many of our teachers were going to these Houston outskirt towns to teach for a few years at the end of their careers in order to increase their retirement pay. Your five highest years salaries are averaged for the retirement formula. She decided it simply wasn't worth it. Right now I know of no one who is doing this - it was a trend for a while, but our standards are just different here - maybe more red of neck, but certainly higher standards.

When my son-in-law was in the Marines and living outside Washington DC I visited as often as I could. After supper we often played games of various sorts and there was often another Marine there as well. One evening my very competitive son-in-law lost a game and said the F-word. I burst into tears - people just don't talk that way around me - and left the room. Everyone scattered basically. I finally came out quietly into the living room and he pointed to their dining set - from IKEA - each chair a different color. He told me the problem was the chair he'd been sitting in - it was the black one - said that I was the only one strong enough to sit in that chair and from now on when we played games I would sit there. We got back to our game. They've been married over 10 years now and he has never spoken an ugly word in my presence again - though he jokes once in a while about "the black chair". I did sit there every time we were together until they moved up to a larger dining set.

Not sure what my point is, but things just don't have to be the way they are and those of us left who uphold what is right and respectable just need to keep on keeping on. So there!

ptquilts

I refuse to watch the "reality shows" where you are supposed to get outraged by someone's antics, or look down on them. I enjoy the ones like Lifeguard and State troopers, which do not have despicable characters on them. I enjoy watching the one about the Hutterites in MT. It is interesting to see another way of life, and yet they have so many of the same problems we do.

Nanamoms

I turned in to HBB last night just by accident as nothing else was on except RAW (which I can't stand...talk about fake) I thought maybe the producers had brought out a better story line. Well, it was probably the worse episode EVER. There was so much sexual humor on there that I was more than insulted. I was hoping they would clean up the show and maybe show some "growing" of the characters but not to be!