OT Humor: Understanding the Midwest

[Tom Kohlman]

...if you do, you're going too fast...

[philski]

Hell, I consider anyone living in OR east of Pocatello and Easterner!

Philski

[Wood Butcher]

Ever notice how people say "out west" or "back east" regardless of where they live? This is an eastern centric viewpoint and even westerners utter it when referring to the entire US. "I ordered a blurfl from back east" or "I live out west".

When I do the opposite and use "back west" or "out east" in my conversation it triggers the strangest looks from people.

Art

[Charlie Self]

Wood Butcher notes:

True. But think of the direction from which this country was settled. That's what seems to form people's thoughts, even long afterward.

Although I have yet to figure out Mainers' "down east".

Charlie Self "The function of posterity is to look after itself." Dylan Thomas

[Tom Watson]

" Many years ago, sailors hauling cargo to the northeast of New England, observed that the prevailing winds came from the southwest, pushing their schooners "downwind" in an easterly direction. Today, generally speaking, "Downeast" refers to Maine. More specifically though, to a Mainer, it refers to the southeastern part of the state beginning with Ellsworth , Maine, and including the Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor areas."

Thomas J. Watson - Cabinetmaker (ret.) (Real Email is tjwatson1ATcomcastDOTnet)

[Charlie Self]

Tom Watson responds:

Fair enough. By the way, anyone who is in the area and doesn't go to Acadia National Park is missing an absolutely wonderful treat. My kid sister used to live in East Blue Hill and then in Surry, and Frances and I hit the park a time or 2 while visiting Donna. Get outta da damn car, though. Hike around the rocks at the shore.

Charlie Self "The function of posterity is to look after itself." Dylan Thomas

[Gary DeWitt]

LMAO On a slightly more cynical note:

Q. What did the Frenchman do after sex? A. Go home to his wife.

(Bet ya thought it had to do with smoking, heh heh)

[Agki Strodon]

What did the IBM 360 say to the Cray 1?

"Do you smoke after interface?"

The answer:

"Input data incomplete. I never scanned."

Agkistrodon

[tscottme]

Florida is a part of Long Island that drifted south, at least that explains the east coast of FL..

[tscottme]

Surrender, collaborate?

[Cape Cod Bob]

When ships sailed from Boston to ports in Maine (which were to the east of Boston), the wind was at their backs, so they were sailing downwind, hence the term ?Down East.? And it follows that when they returned to Boston they were sailing upwind; many Mainers still speak of going ?up to Boston,? despite the fact that the city lies approximately fifty miles to the south of Maine?s southern border.

And now you know.

Cape Cod Bob Visit my web site at

[Robert Bonomi]

It's understandable that _you're_ confused. There's a long and noble history of that, in that state. Going all the way back to when the first official survey was done. Idaho (and co-incidentally, Montana) was _supposed_ to be another of those 'big rectangular states' like Colorado, *BUT* the official surveyors for the Idaho-Montana boundary, working from south to North, *got*

*lost* in the mountains without realizing it, and the trail of their trek is, as they say, 'history'. When they figured out they'd gotten lost, they _then_ ran straight north, which is why the "panhandle' does have a straight eastern edge. Unfortunately, it simply _wasn't_ possible to correct their survey error, because they'd been laying the official markers as they went.

It was _supposed_ to be Butte, _Idaho_. Some Idahoans think it was to Idaho's *advantage* that those surveyor's _did_ get lost.

Trivia -- do you know what the town of Burke was famous for?

[John Paquay]

Thanks for the laughs, Bob. This wouldn't be nearly so funny if there wasn't so much truth in it.

Back in the late 70's, I lived in So. California for a couple of years. When I finally got fed up and decided to move back to the midwest, a friend told us: "You're going to miss having a dishwasher". My wife answered, "Oh, we've had indoor plumbing and electricity since the sixties..."

John

John Paquay [e-mail]

"Building Your Own Kitchen Cabinets"

Glory and Passion No Longer in Fashion The Hero Breaks His Blade. -- Kansas, The Pinnacle, 1975

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[Cape Cod Bob]

Tourism Councils??? If they exclude Chicago and Minneapolis, couldn't they fit all those states' tourist attractions onto a single mimeographed sheet?

Cape Cod Bob Visit my web site at

[George]

I take it you don't believe in the promised bonanza in Eco-Tourism that follows wilderness set-aside?

Right-winger.

Had a (D) state senator who put his cynicism a bit differently. "When the Ecology types come for a week they bring two sets of underwear and a twenty-dollar bill. And don't change either."

[Bob Schmall]

Obviously, the guidelines are badly needed....

[Grant P. Beagles]

[Grant P. Beagles]

Hey!!! Butte is a great place to be FROM!!!!

Grant

Robert B>