Thursday, October 07, 2004
where are you from?
"Where are you from?" Seems like a simple enough question, right? But I never know how to answer that question. Yes, yes, I know, my blog tagline is "observations from a guy in Texas with too much free time." Or something like that. And yes, I am from Texas. Sort of. I wasn't born here. I haven't lived here my whole life. I live here now. Most of the people who ask me this are also in Texas. I can't answer their question "I'm from Texas." So I fumble around with a lengthy response about how I just moved here from A, but I lived in B before that, and I was born in C, but I also lived in D, E, and F, with a short stint in G. And that's the truth. Well, okay, the places I lived have real names, not letters, but let's not give anything away too early. I realize that nobody really cares where you are from. It's just an ice-breaking question intended to have a one word answer. That's how this system works.
Person A: Where are you from?
Person B: Pittsburgh
Person A: Oh really? My great-aunt's next door neighbor once had a layover in Pittsburgh!
Person B: Oh yeah, what part?
Person A: The part with the airport I think.
And bla, bla, bla, the conversation goes on and eventually ends up with great laughs, fun, and broken ice, whether it stays in Pittsburgh or not.
I know what you're all thinking, "just pick a place, say you're from there and quit whining, you pathetic little cry-baby." You are all very mean people. Besides, it's not that simple. I want to make sure I get my story straight. What if, before I decided to pick a place, I told someone that I was from Greenfield, Massachusetts, then that person hears me tell someone else I'm from Enterprise, Alabama? It would be utter chaos. I'd be called out and exposed as a fraud.
The hardest part is when someone where I live now asks me this question. If someone from somewhere else asks me where I'm from, it's simple: "Dallas, Texas." But when someone in Dallas asks, that's a different story. Can I just say I'm from Dallas? Why not? I live here, too! How long do I have to live here to be "from" here? Is "where I'm from" the last place I lived? But I was there for less than a year. Is it the place I was born? I haven't been there since I was 8. Is it the place I went to high school? Am I doomed to be "from" El Paso my entire life just because I spent a few years there in the early 90's?
Sometimes I think I should move away from Texas so I could just say "I'm from Texas" and that would be the end of it. When you're in Chicago and you say you're from Texas, nobody ever asks questions. Because to people outside of Texas, it doesn't make a difference. It's all cowboys, lassoes, and tumbleweeds anyway, right? But then this sometimes leads to an even more annoying conversation: the pop vs. soda conversation. I hate this conversation. Yet, for some reason, this topic comes up every single time you have a gathering of any kind where two people live in different places. "What do you call it down there, 'sodie pop'?" I don't know, what difference does it make? But this is very important to some people. We must mock the people who say it wrong. "You say 'pop.' That sounds so stupid! Let's all laugh at the 'pop' guy!" Millions of starving children in the world, and we're sitting here talking about carbonated beverages. Just drop it already!
¶ monger187 wrote this on 10/07/2004
Person A: Where are you from?
Person B: Pittsburgh
Person A: Oh really? My great-aunt's next door neighbor once had a layover in Pittsburgh!
Person B: Oh yeah, what part?
Person A: The part with the airport I think.
And bla, bla, bla, the conversation goes on and eventually ends up with great laughs, fun, and broken ice, whether it stays in Pittsburgh or not.
I know what you're all thinking, "just pick a place, say you're from there and quit whining, you pathetic little cry-baby." You are all very mean people. Besides, it's not that simple. I want to make sure I get my story straight. What if, before I decided to pick a place, I told someone that I was from Greenfield, Massachusetts, then that person hears me tell someone else I'm from Enterprise, Alabama? It would be utter chaos. I'd be called out and exposed as a fraud.
The hardest part is when someone where I live now asks me this question. If someone from somewhere else asks me where I'm from, it's simple: "Dallas, Texas." But when someone in Dallas asks, that's a different story. Can I just say I'm from Dallas? Why not? I live here, too! How long do I have to live here to be "from" here? Is "where I'm from" the last place I lived? But I was there for less than a year. Is it the place I was born? I haven't been there since I was 8. Is it the place I went to high school? Am I doomed to be "from" El Paso my entire life just because I spent a few years there in the early 90's?
Sometimes I think I should move away from Texas so I could just say "I'm from Texas" and that would be the end of it. When you're in Chicago and you say you're from Texas, nobody ever asks questions. Because to people outside of Texas, it doesn't make a difference. It's all cowboys, lassoes, and tumbleweeds anyway, right? But then this sometimes leads to an even more annoying conversation: the pop vs. soda conversation. I hate this conversation. Yet, for some reason, this topic comes up every single time you have a gathering of any kind where two people live in different places. "What do you call it down there, 'sodie pop'?" I don't know, what difference does it make? But this is very important to some people. We must mock the people who say it wrong. "You say 'pop.' That sounds so stupid! Let's all laugh at the 'pop' guy!" Millions of starving children in the world, and we're sitting here talking about carbonated beverages. Just drop it already!
¶ monger187 wrote this on 10/07/2004
