Tourists' national naivete is cause for embarrassment

[Lainie]

I'll accept that I must spend the rest of my life explaining to people that all of Ohio is not flat, and that yes, we have trees, in fact, much of the state is heavily forested. But I should not have to explain to them that no, Ohio is not the same as Iowa.

Then there was the guy I met in western WA who, despite having been married for decades to a woman who'd grown up on the shores of Lake Michigan, could not understand the concept of Great Lakes lighthouses, because "Why would you need a lighthouse on a lake?"

[Eddylizard]

Yeah but Ohiowa does have a cute ring to it. Ever thought of merging to make my ears happy?

[Seaboe Muffinchucker]

Originally Posted by Lainie

Then there was the guy I met in western WA who, despite having been married for decades to a woman who'd grown up on the shores of Lake Michigan, could not understand the concept of Great Lakes lighthouses, because "Why would you need a lighthouse on a lake?"

After all, Lake Washington itself is so tiny and calm.

Seaboe

[Lainie]

Originally Posted by Seaboe Muffinchucker

After all, Lake Washington itself is so tiny and calm.

Seaboe

Yeah, at least Lake Michigan never sank any bridges! Ships, sure, but bridges, never.

[Nick Theodorakis]

Originally Posted by Lainie

...Then there was the guy I met in western WA who, despite having been married for decades to a woman who'd grown up on the shores of Lake Michigan, could not understand the concept of Great Lakes lighthouses, because "Why would you need a lighthouse on a lake?"

I guess he never heard the song "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald." Not that a lighthouse would have saved it, but it illustrates that the Great Lakes have the kind of ship traffic and weather that might warrant the use of lighthouses.

BTW, Michigan (the state) in fact has more lighthouses than any other state in the US [cite].

Nick

[Lainie]

I think the whole concept of large vessels sailing the Great Lakes had somehow escaped him. Which suggests that he not only never heard The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, he also never learned much about the War of 1812.

[Magpye]

We get people who ask where they can change their money up here, sometimes, too. I think it is most likely to happen in the Southeast, which, to be fair, is right next to Canada... my theory is that the cruise-ship passengers sometimes lose track of which of the towns and cities they are visiting are Canadian and which are Alaskan. At least, that's what I tell myself. It is true that when I was little (not so much anymore, though) you could use Canadian change (but not bills) pretty much anywhere in Alaska, and it was a common occurrence to find a Canadian quarter or penny in your change at the store - or even in a roll of coins from the bank, sometimes.

My favorite question came from a gentleman who asked to see a road map, then said, "Can I see one with all the roads?" I had to gently explain that those were all the roads. (You can understand his mistake - here's an example.)

[Hapax Legomena]

Originally Posted by Lainie

There's nothing smug about expecting US citizens to know that Hawaii and New Mexico are parts of the US, or to recognize the names of states, or to know that there are states between CA and Canada.

Indeed...a co-worker of mine was talking about collecting the state quarters and mentioned that she had gotten one of the D.C. ones. When I commented that I had heard that they had decided to go beyond the 50 states as was originally planned, she said, "Is that part of the US?"

The conversation continued:

Me: Um, yeah, you know, Washington D.C. the District of Columbia, our nation's capital?

Her: (blank stare) Oh, I don't know much about the states.



To top it off, she told me a few days later that she had asked both her husband and her mother and they had never heard of it either...and her mother is a college graduate.

[Nick Theodorakis]

Originally Posted by Magpye

... It is true that when I was little (not so much anymore, though) you could use Canadian change (but not bills) pretty much anywhere in Alaska, and it was a common occurrence to find a Canadian quarter or penny in your change at the store - or even in a roll of coins from the bank, sometimes.
...

That was pretty much true when I lived in Rochester, NY, as well.

Nick

I think folks watch TV and movies, and don't have enough facts to figure out now from then, fact from fiction. I've had folks in Japan ask me if I've ever had any trouble with "the indians".
Everyone does similar stuff every now and then. Like expect to get off the plane at Heathrow and see a Beatle. Or, a movie star in LA. Or, get mugged in New York.

[Ali Infree]

How about snopesters from the Dakotas or the Carolinas? I know as a West Virginian, I get the usual questions when I am away from home like, "how close do you live to Richmond ?" Or, "I went to Virginia Beach one year for spring break." I occasionally mutter something like, "Did you ever hear of the Civil War?" Does me no good normally.

We aren't very good with geography or history. Not me, I love maps. Thanks for the link Magpye! I had trouble tearing myself away. Inspite of that experience, I get cities wrong between our two North/South states.

Ali "I save my Canadian coins, in case you guys take over" Infree

[Lainie]

Originally Posted by Ali Infree

How about snopesters from the Dakotas or the Carolinas? I know as a West Virginian, I get the usual questions when I am away from home like, "how close do you live to Richmond ?" Or, "I went to Virginia Beach one year for spring break." I occasionally mutter something like, "Did you ever hear of the Civil War?" Does me no good normally.

At least they don't ask you if your ancestors owned slaves.

Do they?

[Mateus]

Originally Posted by Nick Theodorakis

That was pretty much true when I lived in Rochester, NY, as well.

Nick

It still is, really.

[Bryan With a 'Y']

Originally Posted by llewtrah

It's logical though - Tasmania is another island. And visiting "Australia including Tasmania" sounds weird.

All the same, I don't think I'd care to hear someone saying they visited "the United States and Alaska."

Of course, you could have the same problem in Hawaii - you could quite validly say that "on our trip, we visited Maui and Hawaii," but you'd likely confuse people. Which, I suppose, is why the island of Hawaii is usually called the Big Island rather than being called by name.

[Arriah]

Originally Posted by Eddylizard

Yeah but Ohiowa does have a cute ring to it. Ever thought of merging to make my ears happy?

Illinois and Indiana might have a small problem with that

[jw]

Originally Posted by Dactyl

We seem to get the opposite with regards to the Republic of Ireland.

When I worked in customs clearance (prior to the EU Maastricht Treaty on European Union) it was necesary to present import/export documents to customs & excise for all shipments, even coming from within the EU. We often had disputes with local customs officers over errors made in some documents, mainly caused by our overworked counterparts in London. The UK office were often asked to write a letter to customs, explaining the errors. They regularly addressed letters to HM customs.
Talk about a red rag!
IRC, pointing this out to one chap. He asked me in a most honest voice, "How come you don't have HM customs?"

Also, regarding the OP, my BIL used to work as a taxi driver here, twenty years ago. Many visitors would arrive and ask him to take them on a tour around the island and bring them back before tea time. I suppose people who were used to motorways would figure that 120 miles from Dublin could be done in a few hours. However, even with some road improvements, a 120 mile trip to Kerry can still take over 6 or 7 hours, one way.

[Eddylizard]

Originally Posted by Arriah

Illinois and Indiana might have a small problem with that

Screw em. I was never big on geography anyway.
Ohioillindianowa then.

[Ali Infree]

At least they don't ask you if your ancestors owned slaves.

No one has ever asked that, Lainie. From property records and wills, since we were part of Virginia till 1863, I can say no. But that wouldn't necessarily have been true of the neighbors. While dumb, people can be polite and not ask the question though.

However, even with some road improvements, a 120 mile trip to Kerry can still take over 6 or 7 hours, one way.

Ouch !! I have thought about visiting Ireland and driving about, maybe not.

Ali "look away, look away, way down,,, err North, North" Infree

[jw]

Originally Posted by Ali Infree

Ouch !! I have thought about visiting Ireland and driving about, maybe not.

Ali "look away, look away, way down,,, err North, North" Infree

TBF, the roads between the main urban centres are gradually all becoming dual carraigeways, so you can make Limerick, Cork, Belfast or Galway from here in a few hours, but outside of that? You'll be driving slowly.

[lyra_silvertongue]

Originally Posted by Magpye

It is true that when I was little (not so much anymore, though) you could use Canadian change (but not bills) pretty much anywhere in Alaska, and it was a common occurrence to find a Canadian quarter or penny in your change at the store - or even in a roll of coins from the bank, sometimes.

M

It's definitely still true around here (all of Michigan, I think) even though my city is still a 3 hour drive from the Canadian border.

I just opened up my cash register to see how many Canadian coins were in there right now and I'm actually surprised to find none!