This morning, my 6-almost-7 year-old asked us, "Do you know anyone from the '60s? Who lived in the 60s?" He was quite surprised to hear that his grandparents all were alive at that time. I am sure that they will be thrilled to learn that he thinks it is the ancient past. Akin possibly to "the Ordivician".
A co-worker of mine (a single man in his early 30s) was lamenting to me the other day that many of the women he meets in CA are really pretty and nice on the outside, but are sort of cold and petty and mostly concerned with their looks. This was in a discussion about reasons he might move to Chicago. I think he must run with a pretty shallow crowd but I did endorse the idea that the women there are nicer. This got me thinking about the geography of niceness, which allows me to indulge in the sort of gross over-simplifications I so enjoy:
- East Coasters: Act surly and mean, are actually really nice people.
- Midwesterners: Act nice, are nice.
- West Coasters: Act nice, are not always nice.
- Southerners: Act nice, are nosy.
Finally, I have a confession to make. I was in an airport today, agonizing over my reading material choice. The only magazine that really grabbed me was the Harvard Business Review. WHAT THE HELL?!? I bought it, but not before grabbing a Vanity Fair to put on top so no one would see what I was reading. What is happening to me, and is there an antidote?
3 comments:
VF has gotten fairly dreadful, I think. I let my subscription lapse a while ago. Instead, I read the Economist cover to cover when it comes.
I have no idea why you wanted to buy the Harvard Business Review. That is highly inexplicable. Were there no Atlantics? No Entertainment Weeklys? No Peoples?
I think you are generally correct with your geographic descriptions, although Midwesterners are pretty nosy too.
My view - only focusing on the East Coast (well, NYC, where I lived for 5 years) and the Midwest (where I grew up and live now): East Coasters are pushy and don't respect the difference between the public and the private spheres. So, for example, a complete stranger might say: "What the fuck are you doing taking the 6 if you're going to 59th Street? Geez! Do ya wanna stop every 5 minutes and take forever to get there?" But there's helpfulness built in there. They assume you want their opinion and that your (stupid) decision is a matter for them to comment on. In the Midwest, people stay out of your business. That seems nice, but it also means that we'll watch someone obviously struggling with directions or clearly lost and not stop to help.
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