What is one of the greatest myths about the people of the area you live in?

I lived in New York for a long while in the early 90’s, way way before 9/11. There was a myth – perhaps it still abounds – that people ignore everyone else, keeping their heads and especially eyes down – particularly in the subways. Not to make eye contact, not to greet people, not to look at anyone on the bus… myth. People are nice and friendly there – as they are anywhere.

If you live in the city – even without getting to know people directly – you walk around with your head held high – you greet some people, nod at others. You ask someone for a section of their paper on the long bus ride. Regular stuff.

We don’t still travel in covered wagons. And the person at the C-store taking your gas money is a real live Indian. They only wear traditional regalia at pow wows, tourist traps and special events.

@WestRiverrat Where do you live?

@MyNewtBoobs South Dakota.

We aren’t married to our cousins . . . or siblings . . .

Um, but we do, on good advice, calculate a tooth to tattoo ratio . . .

@Kayak8 KY or WV?

@JLeslie You pretty much made my point . . . LOL (I live in Ohio but family hails from both WV and rural southeastern Ohio, not far from the borders of WV AND KY).

We’re not all happy as clams.

@seazen_ I live in the city and it sure isn’t like that sometimes not the friendliest either, though, I must add. I’m in Boston, not New York. Much smaller, but still the city.

@Kayak8 I’m from WV and I can attest that we don’t marry our cousins either!

That we’re primitive, that we’re all internet scammers, that we’re poor, dishonest, hungry, illiterate, etc.

Hearing these things every day from Americans and people around the world makes me angry beyond belief but it also makes me want to laugh at the ridiculousness of these ideas so much because it’s so far from and unrelated to the reality of my country.

I’m Nigerian.

I am in San Diego.

Most of us live pretty far from the beach.

Unless you are at the coast, it can be really hot in the summer, and it gets colder than you think in the winter.

San Diego is a very conservative town; it votes Republican in just about every election.

There are a lot of very poor people and homeless people here. Not everyone lives in a mansion.

Compared to most other cities its size, there is not a lot of culture here.

Everyone is a tan, tree hugging, whiny liberal hippie feminist with fake tits and an emergency box of botox at home with nothing to do but shop or surf in our spare time or gawk over celebrities that we wish we knew while we get stoned, push drugs, practice our bisexuality or accept our initiation as a Crip.

Oh, and nobody here calls it “Cali”. Just you people who think we do. :)

“5,000,000 people but 10 last names.”

Dat we all tawk like dis ‘n’ got uncas wit’ funny nicknames like Freddy Fingahs who’re numbah runnahs ‘n’ stuff like dat. Huh? Whatsamatta wit’ you people ovah heah?

Still. If people ever visited for longer than a trip to Grimaldi’s, they’d learn that Brooklyn is now overrun with youngish, pre-suburban, upper middle class families in many, many parts and barely anyone under 40 has an accent like Tony Soprano these days, including the natives.

I think Brownsville and East New York are among the last places in the borough that haven’t encountered gentrification, aside from the Hassidic enclaves. Yes, even “Do-or-die Bed-Stuy” has succumbed.

@BarnacleBill I have never heard that one.

We all smoke pot, love yoga and enjoy the great outdoors immensely.

We all love country music, consider cow tipping and sodomizing sheep to comprise a perfect Friday night’s entertainment..

We have a horribly polluted city, and all of us use words like “yinz” in place of “you” and “dahntahn” instead of “downtown”. Not all of us do..

Apparently in Québec, we don’t know what the toilet is, we’re all lumberjacks, eat raw onions and kill moose constantly. I’m also pretty sure people here don’t love beer anymore than any other place.

As for the hockey obsession…I can’t argue with that. But just look at Ireland and Scotland with their soccer, or football if you will, we pale in comparison.

I’m usually too busy eating bacon and smoking in church to really try and debunk all the Québec myths though.

We’re not cultured. We’re close-minded and uneducated.

Believe it or not, people in rural Illinois travel to big cities, have access to good education and books, and open our mind and hearts to others. Well, most of us do. ;)

@jonsblond Now answer this question as if you live in the place you used to live in, Las Vegas.

@chyna Haha. Everyone lives and works in a casino or you are Mormon.

@jonsblond I stayed in Las Vegas for a month, and have revisited often. Unfortunately, it fits the stereotype really well in my opinion.

We don’t wear shoes, we have primitive beliefs, we are racists, we are inbred, we are uneducated, etc.

@dxs I lived there from the age of 6 to 16. Most of my schooling was there. This was in the late 70s, early 80s. My best friend was/is Mormon. Nicest and most generous family I have ever met. I’m Facebook friends with many old friends from that area now. They are all very well educated, well to do and Republican. Go figure.

@jonsblond What? Most of them aren’t strippers with breast implants?~

@chyna No. But you and I both know one that dates women like that. ;)

Yes we do. Or, rather, I did.

@jonsblond Didn’t mormons found that general area of the U.S.? I remember going to Utah in the time I spent over on that side of the country and saw that really big mormon church (or whatever the mormons call their place of worship). It supposedly “glows” in the mornings and is really well lit up at night. Know what I’m talking about?

@naivete Haha, do you live in Boulder too?

I think people think that this town consists of hippies who just smoke weed all day. Yes there are more hippies here than most places, but most people are completely normal, don’t smoke pot all day, and are just generally pleasant, positive forward-thinking individuals with open minds. Its great.

@naivete Hah! I was born in Boulder but I don’t think the hippies can afford to live there any more

I know all Canadians are not so polite!!

@Joker94 PIXBURGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My favorite Pittsburghese term is “jagoff” I think its so funny

@faye But the way they say sorry is great. As are their bathrooms, well… All the bathrooms I’ve been in, in Canada that is. Which I guess is pretty limited, but still. Best gas station bathroom I’ve ever been in was in Canada. Just sayin’.

And ye shall judge the people by the quality of their public toilets… ha ha
Then the worst society by far is in Gary, Indiana.

@Blueroses Judging peeps by their cans?

You kick ass. :) (can’t wait till you see mine :D)

@Symbeline you can show me your can anytime you want. That was an open-ended invitation XD

They’re all sweet, corn-fed farm girls…most likely blonde.

@linguaphile That would be Wisconsin or Minnesota? Am I close? Nebraska? Or are you not in the states? Welcome to Fluther. =)

@dxs There is a large population of Mormons in Vegas. I believe they make up 12% of the population of southern Nevada. They came from Salt Lake City in the late 1800s I believe. I think the temple you are speaking of is in Salt Lake City, but I could be wrong. I don’t know much about the religion. I just remember having to say a prayer before meals when I ate at my friend’s house and we couldn’t drink soda. They were such happy people. almost sickenly. lol

@jonsblond – right on! You missed Iowa though… not everyone here is blonde, Scandinavian, or sweet, but I have yet to find someone here who doesn’t like fresh picked corn straight from the fields.
I’ve never thought about this but…the cans up in the Minnesota/Wisconsin/Iowa area are really, really clean. I’ve lived in 8 regions of the USA and can vouch for the cans here being consistently and extremely clean. Wonder why…

@linguaphile Anyone who doesn’t like fresh picked corn straight from the fields is nuts. I can’t wait for the season! I live on a farm in western Illinois. (and I’m blonde and sweet) lol

@deni @Blueroses
Nope! I don’t live in Boulder. I live in Vancouver, British Columbia.

People also (sometimes) assume we’re all super rich and drive fancy cars… It depends on how much you know about Vancouver.

Our local butcher Ivor Sharpone, it’s rumoured he trades in the flesh torn from gypsy virgins. All under the counter, cloak & dagger stuff. Personally I prefer his sausages, but that’s just me.

Guys – this is a GQ – and some of the others posted by Daloon sorry Wunday have been brilliant – yet jellies have been too lazy to click on GQ and GA??? Come on show some lurve – people work hard at writing questions and answers. Lately I’ve seen threads with 100 posts and almost no GA’s or GQ’s. Now I could care less about the score – but lurve shows you care and appreciate it. Come on… the guy’s asked over 1200 (mostly fantastic) questions.

Did we ever figure out where @BarnacleBill lives?

@naivete

You might enjoy this song -

With the mountainous ridges surrounding us, my city is
A fortress sitting on the shores of the Pacific
To the North is the wilderness; it’s glorious influence
Is seeping into our pores, and making foreigners envious
It’s like the party never ends for the Vancouverites
Young bucks at the bar get scarred by cougar bites
And the attitude is usually: “Just do what you like”
Go out bruisin’ with your crew at night and get bruised in a fight
Or just get high all the time until you ruin your life
But it’s all good; that’s how the West Coast rides
We’ve got raves in the woods on some techno vibes
And when we get stressed out, we just step outside
‘Cause at night, you can see the ski hill from the highway
And ride past a cedar mill on the sky train
It’s a city of industry with a bohemian mind-state
And that’s why we get it live on a Friday

@crisw That’s brilliant! Thanks!

This is Québec Spartaaa!!

@seazen_ I lived in NY for almost 10 years and the majority of the people there were rude jerks; especially when I became pregnant. I was 8 months pregnant before anyone ever offered me a seat on the train or bus. They would stare at me or avoid eye contact, but none would offer me a seat. I even knew one guy that was totally proud of how much of a jerk he was.

@Ajulutsikael Wow, when I am in NY I always get up for the pregnant women, and I was raised by people who were raised in the Bronx. That is dissappointing you had such a bad experience. I find New Yorkers to be very understanding of people’s disabilities and when they need extra accomodations.

@JLeslie I don’t know if it had to do with the fact that I looked real young. I was 21 at the time but I looked like I was 16, so I wondered if people saw me as a teen mom and figured that I was young enough to stand on my two feet regardless of the situation.

Amazingly when I was offered seats, it was always men that offered. Women refused to acknowledge me.

@Ajulutsikael Typically when I get up for a woman, if a man is nearby he quickly gets up so I can keep my seat. He is an ass for not getting up first to begin with, but at least he came around in the end.

@Ajulutsikael I do think it is getting worse and worse because people have their heads in their phones and ipods, and are less aware of people around them.

@Ajulutsikael Maybe they didn’t want to offer you the seat because they were afraid you WEREN’T pregnant. Many fat women get angry when someone offers them a seat thinking they are pregnant.

@Ajulutsikael Also, NY is a place with people from many countries. Maybe in their culture it is NOT rude to not give up your seat for a pregnant woman. So maybe they are really not being rude to you.

@Ajulutsikael For example, many Japanese men will let a door slam in a woman’s face rather than hold it open for her. Holding doors open for women just isn’t a feature of their culture.

@sugabelly I’m thin, and when I was pregnant I was obviously pregnant. I was 8 months along and totally obvious. My co workers said from behind they would’ve never guessed I was pregnant. The problem is that one time there was a woman that got on after I did, (I had to go on two trains, the first had 15 stops the other 4. It was about a 45minutes commute) she was also pregnant. I was on the train for 4 stops before she got on. She was a tall blonde woman, looked like a model, the minute she got on all these guys stood up to give her a seat. She declined because she was about to leave the next stop. After she left, I still wasn’t offered a seat. Normally I wouldn’t have cared, it’s just I wasn’t allowed to sit down at my job. So I was on my feet for 10 hours.