Different Strokes for Different Folks
I love to travel and go to different places and meet all different people. What I have learned by traveling is that even here in the US, regionally there are different norms, foods and cultural aspects that I never really considered until doing some traveling and meeting people from different areas of the country. Being from New York, I just never truly realized that there were so many differences across the regions of the US.
I met a guy from Nebraska at school, and they actually used to go out at night when they were in high school and tip cows. I had never heard of such a thing. He explained to me that cows sleep standing up, and when you find a cow that is asleep if you just push him a little bit, he will fall right over. How awful! I never spent any time around cows, so I hope this doesn’t hurt them. He said that it doesn’t, but it still seems pretty mean to me.
I met a girl from Arkansas where I work, and she was telling me that where she is from they use the word Coke to describe any type of soda. She said that when you go to a restaurant where she is from, they ask you what you want to drink, and you say a Coke. Then they ask you what type of Coke you want and you tell them, root beer, Sprite, orange, Pepsi and so forth. I thought this sounded kind of strange, but then again I had never really heard the word pop used for soda before coming to the mid west either.
Where I am from we use the word supermarket instead of the word grocery store. We also say going food shopping instead of grocery shopping. This is one adaptation that I made very quickly after coming to the Midwest and realizing that no one knew what I was talking about. I also grew up calling pizza a pizza pie, but here in the mid west, that is confusing. The one day I called up the local pizza place to place an order, and accidentally ordered a large pie, they said we don’t sell pies ma’am, you need to call Tippin’s if you want a pie. Tippin’s is a Midwest cake and pie place. I didn’t realize my mistake until I hung up the phone, very confused. I called back and ordered a cheese pizza, and then no problems. Needless to say I have not made that mistake again.
Once on a trip to St. Louis, MO we called a local place to order a pizza, and what we got was really a cracker crust with provolone cheese instead of mozzarella and it was cut into a checkerboard. Well, by far this is the strangest of my Midwest experiences thus far. In New York, all pizza looked relatively the same, but this pizza was not even pizza in my mind. I later learned that this is supposed to be the most famous pizza in St. Louis, a place called Imo’s and that is there specialty this thin crust, and when I say thin crust I mean the equivalent of a saltine cracker with cheese and sauce on it. Probably won’t make that mistake again either.
Since being outside of New York the one thing I really miss is Bakeries, Bagel Shops and Delis. Where I live you can get all these items in your grocery store, but they are not near as good as what I am used to. Also, in NY when you go to the deli, you don’t have to tell them how to slice it; the meat is always sliced very thin. My first trip to a grocery store deli in the Midwest was also an adventure. I ordered a pound of roast beef, and when I got home, I found out that I had four slices of roast beef. Obviously, no sandwiches that evening. I have since learned that you need to tell them to slice it very thin, but if you say shaved, then they pick up a clump of already sliced meat from behind the counter. I want mine fresh so I have to tell them very thin. They don’t always get it the way I want it, but at least I have never gotten just 4 pieces per pound again.
In short, I think it is the differences that make the world a most interesting place. I love the adventure of it all, and learning new customs too.
