On 6/23/00 2:53 PM, Paul G. Grothaus [mailto:pgrothaus@hibiotech.com]
wrote:
>If you think most people in different countries have wild stereotypes about
>each other you would be amazed at the ideas that most Mainland Americans
>(both US and Canada) have about Hawaii. They come here expecting to see
>grass shacks, women in grass skirts, etc. But the ones that make me just
>shake my head are those who do not even realize that we are one of the 50
>states. When I travel on the Mainland I inevitably hear the following
>questions:
>
> How do you like visiting America?
> Do you need a visa to visit the states?
> You speak English so well, do you use it in Hawaii?
>etc., ad nauseum.
>
>I've heard these questions from people ranging from blue collar workers to
>highly educated PhD scientists, Federal Government Bureaucrats and even one
>Southeastern US CONGRESSMAN!!! Pathetic. The geographic and cultural
>stupidity of the average American is truly staggering.
>
Truly. And truly scary.
Another example: People living in the states of Iowa/Ohio/Idaho (such as
myself; I live in Iowa) can report a similar lack of knowledge among
people NOT living in those states (but not NEARLY so embarassing as
yours! SHEESH! ;-) These three state names seem to confuse heck out
of people.
I used to do computer tech support for a living and people would often
ask where the (515) area code they had called is located. I'd say "Iowa"
and they'd go, "Oh, the potato state".
Uh...nope. That state is a BIT further west....
Try corn.....among MANY other agricultural things (and a town called
"Newton" that showed up in Apple's Newton TV ads....)
That reminds me...elsewhere in this thread was a mention of the musical
"Oklahoma". We Iowans have at least a couple of movie/stage musicals to
OUR name, too ("State Fair" and "The Music Man").
- Bill (or should I say "Uilama")
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