[Culturechat] Education in the northeast

[tillhouse]

At a family reunion of many generations, one man introduced his wife
as----"this is my current wife"---only in Ca!.  We are proud second
generation with a fifth generation great grandbabe and this did not fly.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Joan Herriges" <JoanHerriges@worldnet.att.net>
To: "tillhouse" <tillhouse@home.com>; <gigli.saw@virtualnewport.com>;
"culturechat" <culturechat@untours.com>
Sent: Wednesday, May 16, 2001 2:28 PM
Subject: Re: [Culturechat] Education in the northeast


> Someone who moved to California recently asked me "why does everyone
> introduce their wives by number?  For instance--"This is Joan, my third
> wife".  Did not have an answer (or an SUV).
> -----Original Message-----
> From: tillhouse <tillhouse@home.com>
> To: gigli.saw@virtualnewport.com <gigli.saw@virtualnewport.com>;
culturechat
> <culturechat@untours.com>
> Date: Wednesday, May 16, 2001 1:40 PM
> Subject: Re: [Culturechat] Education in the northeast
>
>
> >And here in Ca. you are asked what type SUV you drive.
> >----- Original Message -----
> >From: "Vance Roy" <gigli.saw@virtualnewport.com>
> >To: "culturechat" <culturechat@untours.com>
> >Sent: Wednesday, May 16, 2001 6:37 AM
> >Subject: [Culturechat] Education in the northeast
> >
> >
> >> Is it only me that seems to always hear New Englanders bring up the
> >> topic of "Where did you go to school?" in the first   minutes of a
> >> conversation with a stranger?
> >>
> >> In the South (always capitalized), one wants to know three things about
> >> a stranger. "Where are you from?", "Where did you go to school?", and
> >> "Have you found a home church yet?". The first is curiosity because
most
> >> folks talk funny to Southerner's ears. The second is asked only because
> >> in football or basketball season, we like to know who to hate and who
to
> >> love. The third is typical Bible Belt Babble.
> >>
> >> In Yankeeland, the first thing usually out of the mouth in that
thwarted
> >> tongue is something to let you know that the person or his relatives or
> >> both, went to this school or that. Such as, "When I was at Brown", or
> >> when my child graduated from Smith". Then the inevitable, "Where did
you
> >> go to school?". Now, I have a daughter who is a Cornell grad. Wonderful
> >> school, and even though obscene in cost, it gave me the feeling that I
> >> had gotten my money's worth. The thing is, these people up here in NE
> >> seem to think that it makes one a better person, if one has graduated
> >> from a "prestige" school. That seems to be the sign of quality. Now,
> >> come on, haven't we all known absolute Dweebs that are Harvard grads,
> >etc.?
> >>
> >> Not long ago, we were in BOS attending a wedding. At the reception, we
> >> were seated around a table of eight or so. Some delightful folks and
> >> some average or below, Yankee Doodles. A lady from "New Joisey" had
been
> >> eyeing me for awhile. I have no delusions of grandeur, and she was no
> >> doll, so I didn't know what to think. Then she spit it out. "Is that a
> >> Penn tie you have on?" Well, it so happened that my tie was a nice one
> >> from a shop in Luzern, so I said "no". Then, here it came. "Where did
> >> you go to school?" In my most exaggerated drawl, I laid out, "Maamm, I
> >> went to Tennessee, and you don't get a tie there; you get a nice set of
> >> Bibb overalls when you graduate." This lady was amused to the point of
> >> impending incontinence and immediately grabbed her husband to tell him
> >> about the Tennessee overalls.
> >>
> >> I remember how, the first time I was in BOS in 1968, I remarked at what
> >> a snow job the medical folks had done on the Bostoneese. If Mass
General
> >> Hospital said spit, everyone puckered up. Wonder what they would have
> >> thought had they known that the acting chief of the division had done a
> >> year of his training in Tennessee because at that time, the training in
> >> BOS was only accredited for three instead of four years? I remember a
> >> friend who interned after graduation in Memphis in BOS. Some of those
> >> Harvard and Yale boys looked at him as a member of a third world
country
> >> until he got their attention as a smart guy.
> >>
> >> I suppose the point of all this blather is that a person's worth is not
> >> measured by where he went to school. Some Yanks have yet to grasp that.
> >> --
> >> Vance C. Roy
> >> gigli.saw@dplanet.ch
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> This message was sent by Culturechat.
> >> To reply or send a new message, email to:
> >> Culturechat@untours.com
> >>
> >> Visit the CultureChat archives:
> >> http://mailman.dca.net/pipermail/culturechat/
> >>
> >> To unsubscribe, change to digest delivery, or
> >> temporarily pause delivery, visit:
> >> http://mailman.dca.net/mailman/listinfo/culturechat
> >>
> >
> >_______________________________________________
> >This message was sent by Culturechat.
> >To reply or send a new message, email to:
> >Culturechat@untours.com
> >
> >Visit the CultureChat archives:
> >http://mailman.dca.net/pipermail/culturechat/
> >
> >To unsubscribe, change to digest delivery, or
> >temporarily pause delivery, visit:
> >http://mailman.dca.net/mailman/listinfo/culturechat
>