This morning, in a crowded hotel breakfast buffet in Milwaukee, I sat down to enjoy my morning yogurt with a guy at a table. Turns out he was a cop from Appleton, Wisconsin that showed me that stereotypes ARE based on some truth! Where's Appleton and what are the stereotypes you ask? Doesn't matter where Appleton is, I'm just saying it's small town mid-west USA!
1. "This is a nice hotel"
I'm talking Brookfield Suites, not even in Milwaukee, but in Brookfield, Wisconsin. This is not the usual caliber of hotels I stay at in big cities. In Brookfield, I thought I was in a timewarp, circa 1986 with pink walls, green doors, cream trim, and way too much tropical floral.
2. "I've never been out to the west coast before"
This is not a child I'm speaking with. This is a man in his 40s. Never been out there? You don't even need a passport to go there, don't need to cross a body of water, and you haven't been there? Hopefully, he's left Wisconsin. But then, I did meet a person a few years ago that came to Vancouver, having left Arkansas for the first time in her life. Americans need to get the duece out of their state.
3. "Is it Vancouver or British Columbia that's hosting the Olympics?"
OK, I know at Expo 86's Saskatchewan Pavilion, Americans asked where the country of Saskatchewan was. But Vancouver and British Columbia - are you serious? Maybe Obama's plea for American kids to stay in school and "not give up on your country" will be extended into some more basic geography lessons for Yank kids.
4. "Wisconsin is a big drinking state"
Apparently, drinking and driving is also a big part of what they do here. I guess being the home of Miller, lots of dairy cows, and the Greenbay Packers has somehow fueled this.
5. "A guy from Wisconsin died in Vancouver last year."
Great, thanks for cheering me up at 7:45 this morning. (He was talking about the guy that died on Grouse Mountain hiking the grind at the wrong time of year).
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