I went to the store a little bit ago and was standing just inside the door bullshitting with one of the clerks I know who also moved out here from California when a little old blue haired lady about 80 years old walks in. Apparently her and Kimberly know each other pretty well because they started trading lighthearted jabs at each other when the old lady turns to me and says "So, are you a yankee too?"
I started laughing and said "Nein Ohma, Ich bin Deutsch" because there's no fucking way I'm copping to being from California too and opening myself up to an attack.
She hesitated for a second while she did the translation and says "And would that be Northern or Southern Germany, sir?"
Damn, talk about being on her toes.
Hahaha! I feel your pain. Sometimes I try to pass myself off as being Finnish, but for some reason people are unconvinced. Saatana perkele!
ReplyDeleteFace it; you can't win against this type. You can't get away from being "from California." Enough years in the sun, and that Coppertone smell just doesn't wash off. I moved to a then-RED California in the mid 70's. I was hated because I was "from New York." And now, here I am...
ReplyDeleteLike the night man said; "You can check out any time you like, but you can NEVER leave..." Soon enough, this whole thing is going to come apart. I might as well make my stand WHERE I stand...
She was just joking. The entire conversation between her and Kim and then me, she was smiling and laughing.
DeleteI've been here 4 1/2 years and have been treated with nothing but kindness and respect by everybody, even those who know where I moved here from.
Man...
DeleteOver 4 years already? Damn I'm getting senile.
I remember you auto-timing all your posts for when Ms. Lisa and yourself made the drive back east.
Just shaking my head. =O
Hahaha, you know shes the sort of great grandma parents hate because she gets the grandkids all wound up. ;P
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to be the uncle that teaches the kiddies how to make thermite and curse.
I am the uncle that gives his nephews sheath knives and 10/22's. Plus I call them all 3 by girls names and tell "My nephew is so stupid" jokes. They all 3 love me.
DeleteLOL... Old people, they are sneaky like that which is why they reached that age.
ReplyDeleteShe got ya good Kenny but don't feel bad, the first 5 years here in SC all I heard was "Y'all ain't from around heah" and hearing about the war of northern aggression. Hell, I have close friends that still tease me and refer to me as "That Yankee" and it's been 30 years. LOL
ReplyDeleteGood story. I love the south. Lived there for near fifty years. Never in a city. I always lived back up against the Blue Ridge. First thing people ask you is "Who are your people and what church do ya go too?"
ReplyDeleteWhen I moved to KY from Chicago area (20+ years ago). The first question EVERYONE asked was
ReplyDelete"Where y'all from?". I explained I wasn't born in the South, but got here as soon as I could!
Most of em liked and appreciated that.
DixieDennis
LOL, Tell her you are from " Mitte" since Heilbrohn in in middle Germany, hehehe
ReplyDeleteDon't mess with the old ladies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yj-6nJCQYdo
ReplyDeleteI was once told, by a Southern belle living up here in the north, that the difference between a Yankee and a Damn Yankee was that a Yankee comes and visits, while a Damn Yankee comes and stays. If Illinois gets any worse I just might become a Damn Yankee real soon.
ReplyDeleteMiguel GFZ: Another quote: "Old age and treachery beat youth and inexperience every time."
Reminds me of the guy speaking in front of a church in Northern Ireland. After declaring he was an atheist, a woman in the back called out,"Yes, but is the the God of the Protestants or the God of the Catholics in whom ye don't believe?"
ReplyDeleteShould have fired back with "Ostpreussen"
ReplyDeleteFollowed by "Danzig ist Deutsch".
DeleteMoi, je parle le français. Particularment avec les gens que je n'aime pas parler.
ReplyDeleteOne day when I speak French to someone I don't want to talk to, they're going to be more fluent than I am and call my b.s. I speak to the ex wife in french all the time.
When I moved from California to Montana 15 years ago the only hostility I felt was at the DMV. It wasn't overt but there was this underlying tension that was unmistakable. Eventually, they told me I needed a copy of my birth certificate. When I told them I'd just run up the the courthouse and get a copy their attitude took a complete 180. All of a sudden I was a local boy who'd repented and come home. Sadly, my wife is a California girl born and raised. Her saving grace is that she's sixth generation in Montana beginning with a great something who was in Alder Gulch and Virginia City in the 1860s. 3-7-77
ReplyDeleteBeing born in Western NY I've dealt with this in a couple of ways. I'd say I grew up in SOUTHERN New York - ten miles from the PA border. In my county we had more deer than people. True enough. I also did the research so I could say well, actually, I ain't a true Yankee according to the Yankee snobs. To qualify as a "true Yankee" one has to be from the New England states and poor ol' New Yawk ain't one of them.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first moved here I worked for a school. I was talking to one of the teachers about where I was from. I told her I grew up in New York but if I lived back in Civil War times I'd would have sided with the South. Looking behind me I saw the black janitor standing there. I looked at him and stammered - I was referring to states rights not the slave issue. He smiled and nodded. I'm pretty sure he know I meant it. He was a good guy and we got along fine, before and since.
In southern Germany, it's "Wie gehts, y'all'
ReplyDelete