I did not have my camera readily available, but if I had, these are the pics I would've taken while stopping in Rock Springs, Wyoming:
1) The store Hide and Fur. The great thing about this siting was that I kept wondering why the words hide (thinking it meant like hide-and-seek) and fur were together and my 10-year old daughter had to explain it to me: hide, as in animal hide. Ohhhh! I am definitely not a typical westerner (yep, I am stereotyping here, but it's my blog, so I can do that).
2) The Loaf 'n Jug, which can also be found in Colorado, and maybe other states, I don't know. Can you imagine saying to your significant other, "Hey hon, will you pick up a loaf...oh, and a jug?" Nice.
3) The shirt worn by the woman at the Wal-Mart (we stopped there to get Subway sandwiches): You don't hunt - so I don't see you (or something, I didn't have my camera to capture the exact words). Wow, she really likes hunting!
I know it is not right to make fun of a state for my biased observations and really, I spent the first two years of my life in New Jersey for pete's sake, but it is such a different world to me and what do we do when faced with something out of the ordinary? We make fun of it. Not nice, not at all politically correct, but we do it.
Here's the religious bit: I believe in reincarnation as taught by the Buddhism philosophy - that if you don't get it right you have to keep coming back, so when I make fun of Wyoming I totally imagine that I will come back living in Wyoming. Yep. I will frequent the Hide and Fur, the Loaf 'n Jug and I will sport t-shirts such as that worn by the woman at Wal-mart. I think belief in this type of karma keeps us on the straight and narrow, most of the time.
I also realize that Wyoming is an amazingly beautiful state - so breathtaking that it made me wonder why we are leaving this part of the country! The people in Wyoming are like people everywhere, and I am a complete jerk for judging them based on my idiotic preconceived ideas of what culture entails. I know this. It's just that the above observations seem so, ya know...Wyoming!
On another note: I had to call the city of Chelsea (where we're hoping to move in Michigan) and ask, "How many dogs may we have?" I realized later I should have added, "We're moving out there from Utah, how many wives can my husband have?" Yep, stereotyping again, 'cause that's what I do. (By the way, you can only have 2 dogs in the city of Chelsea, so it appears we will not be living in the "city" - population is about 5000 - does that qualify as a city?)
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3 comments:
Heather it is not stereotyping. It is simply people with a great sense of humor! Add these two to your list. I saw them on a trip to Iowa for a family reunion 16 yrs ago. The Squat and Gobble ( a chicken joint) and the Kum n' Go (a gas station)......or maybe they are just asking for it!
oh, I had to look up if the Kum n' Go was a real gas station... I was so scared... but it is.. sorry to not just believe you .. actually my hope was that they thought better of the name and changed it. lol
I have some stereotypes I've learned in my living in different places... They drive like friggin' maniacs in Connecticut and they have a huge attitude about living in Connecticut. People were NOT friendly and they were rude whenever possible. Ohio has some of the nicest most friendly people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. There was just a mid-west feeling that was wonderful and hard to describe. But it was FLAT... F L A T !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Since my husband's family all lives in Wyoming I'm familiar with your observations there...it is like a little bubble of western stereotypes there. I can't say I care for Evanston that much but I do love some parts, I can even forgive Jackson Hole for how touristy it is because it is just a damn fun little town. If you're ever in Pittsburgh you'll have to stop and get a t-shirt at Beer 'N 'At There are a lot of N'at businesses there like Eggs N'at...Shirts N'at...yeah, you're from there, you know how creative the folks of PA can be :)
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