Funny responses from strangers...

[JennyT2]

In May when we said we were from near Toronto, we were asked if we still had snow ... nope when we left it was 70 degrees and they are shocked that it isn't cold year round. On another trip to FL, not WDW, a man from Maine was absolutely shocked that I watched Grey's Anatomy ... didn't think us Canadians got to watch American shows I told him we even watch CNN so we can spy on you!!! lol

We tend to get ALOT of questions about our health care and employee benefits like maternity leave as well.

 

[AuroraMeansDawn]

Let me just say that no matter where I may be from I fear being shot. It has nothing to do with geography. Just a normal rational fear of bullets being sent in a trajectory towards me. But honestly I don't mind making small talk about Texas . It's a great state and we have brought y'all many fine things like Tom Landry, King of the Hill, Neiman Marcus, Friday Night Lights and Chuys Tacos...and JR. Kristen shot him btw

 

[rainynight]

I never get interesting responses when I tell people where I'm from (Indianapolis). A majority if the time people I talk to have lived here and are familiar with the area which I always find strange, guess its a more popular city than I realize. The rare times I talk to someone who hasn't been or lived here they always ask me about the Colts or how I like the new stadium. Umm...I'm not at all unto sports and up until I was 17 I though the Super Bowl was baseball.

 

[rainynight]

In May when we said we were from near Toronto, we were asked if we still had snow ... nope when we left it was 70 degrees and they are shocked that it isn't cold year round. On another trip to FL, not WDW, a man from Maine was absolutely shocked that I watched Grey's Anatomy ... didn't think us Canadians got to watch American shows I told him we even watch CNN so we can spy on you!!! lol

We tend to get ALOT of questions about our health care and employee benefits like maternity leave as well.

I'm guilty of that. I question every Canadian and Australian I meet because I love both countries and hope to move out the US to one or the other some day. And I love hearing Canadians say "eh". : -)

 

[ZephyrHawk]

You know, I've never gotten a weird look from saying I was from the Detroit area (I grew up Downriver, which is technically as close to "South Detroit" as you could get). However, people would always be shocked when I told them I lived on an island. Common question and response: "Do you have a boat?" "Yes" "Do you need it to go get supplies from the mainland?" "Ummm...no. There's a bridge. Two of them actually. And there's a grocery store on the island anyways."

 

[rosie2283]

When we were in DIsneyland, as we were loading on to Soarin' the cast member asked us where we were from. We replied "Northern Saskatchewan, in Canada".

The cast member responded with,"oh I had a family just last week from Montreal!" Then give us this look like 'do you know them'.

Truth be told, we are closer to Disneyland than we are to Montreal!

Also, my daughter was meeting Jack Skellington (who was fabulous by the way!). He asked her where she was from and when she replied with Saskatchewan, he said "Sas-scratch-ew-wan!" Is it cold enough to r-r-r-rattle your bones there?!"

Haha...yes, pretty much!

 

[jackieinJuneau]

When we lived in Alaska everyone would ask if we knew Sara Palin, too. Alaska is kind of a big state....

Yeah, people coming off the cruise ships often ask to go somewhere, a shop or bar in another city they don't understand the mileage between most places. One person asked me if the could just rent a car and drive to Anchorage. Lol, sure then put that car on a ferry for a day then drive 800 miles or so. I was nicer then that but at least google a map of the state before you visit. I do live in the capital and work for the state so I get the "honor" of meeting or running into most of our elected officials. My Sara stories are from when she was Govener. Oh also I worked a summer as a retail manager at a gift shop and people always asked about the exchange rate but sadly it was always Americans asking

 

[grimley1968]

I have fun with those convos. We're military so nearly every trip were "from" somewhere else. Got the weirdest looks when we came from Washington state. As if people from the west coast never go to Florida. And now were "from" Kentucky and people ask where my accent is.

Born, raised and living in Kentucky here (though I did live in some other places in young adulthood). I have an accent, but don't use much local slang because I was raised to speak with decent grammar (though admittedly I slip sometimes).

What tickles me is when someone from another state meets me and then relates the time they went to the Kentucky Derby, as though my yearly calendar revolves around that or horse racing in general. I have never been to the Derby, nor really even want to go. I think horses are beautiful animals, but couldn't care less about racing. When I am asked who I think will win the Derby this year, I always respond with something like, "Does Secretariat have any great grandkids running this year?" Kentucky is a bigger and more varied state than what a lot of people who haven't been here imagine.

It's sort of like asking someone who lives in Tallahassee what MK's park hours are going to be 3 months from now.

 

[mydisneykids]

I'd get asked all the time " So, You ever meet Snooki or Jwoww?" I would just shake my head because it seems like that's all New Jersey is known for now.

Can't tell you how tired we are of getting fist pumps when we say we are from NJ.

 

[Kensch1980]

Can't tell you how tired we are of getting fist pumps when we say we are from NJ.

I wonder if anyone ask you NJ people about the Sopranos? Lol

 

[RunningWithScissors]

I love this thread! Being from South Alabama, we often get people who say how much they love our accents. The kids are usually wearing University of Alabama football shirts, so we very often get "ROLL TIDE!!"

As for Kid Rock, he owns a large parcel of land down here and is frequently spotted all over town. I passed him coming out of Lowes a few weeks ago. So, it's kind of crazy that people associate Michigan with Kid Rock--for obvious reasons--but I have a better chance of running into him in my small, South Bama town than most people IN Michigan.

 

[starrysky]

When we met tiana and naveen I asked dd if she enjoyed her cuddle with tiana? Naveen replied you said cuddle where are you from? As if the accent isn't enough of a give away I said the uk they both gasped and asked if we had any Jaffa cakes on us or could we bring them some :/

When we met Tirana she asked us if we had any haggis that we could give her for her restaurant. Thought that was really sweet of her.

Also we have been asked countless times if we know people from all over the place in Scotland. It's a pretty big place so no we don't know everyone. We get a lot of Scotland that's in England right? That really gets us or when they say oh your from England!!! Umm no Scotland is not England.

My dh all time favourite was when someone asked him if it was still august where we were from?

There have been a few others but those are the real head scratchers.

On a side note we did meet a girl who was working at the Rose and Crown who was from near our home town and we did know some people in common.

 

[Turn the Page]

Just as an aside does everybody remember the Kid Rock song All Summer Long that came out several years ago? Well, the song is about where I live and unfortunately the radio stations up here play it at least four times every day during the summer (down from once an hour like it was a few years ago thank god). Well, one of my friends from the south asked if the area really looks like it did in the music video. I watched the video again and thought it looked a little odd so I googled where they filmed it. They filmed the video to the song about summertime in northern Michigan in Tennessee.

Back to the topic at hand. Yes, when people ask me where I'm from I show them on my hand and they invariably nod excitedly and say "oh the UP?" Ummmm.....no. That would be up here and show them with my other hand.

 

[smallblackstars]

In Mickey's Star Traders the CM serving me asked me where I was from, I replied 'We are from Scotland', he then said 'Oh my gosh, I just love the Irish accent but yours isn't very strong!' I politely explained that Scotland is not where an Irish accent is from, that would be Ireland. He laughed and apologised and said 'Oh yeah, Scotland is in England, isn't it?' I giggled and replied 'Close enough, we are above England, not in England' He was so funny and giggly and again apologised, saying his geography wasn't brilliant and went on putting my purchases through then stopped and burst out with 'SCOTLAND!! DO YOU KNOW EWAN McGREGOR???' I looked at him wide eyed and startled at his outburst then raised an eyebrow and he burst out laughing and said to me, 'Sorry, that was a silly question, I was just trying to get round to my favourite subject, Star Wars, so I could catch you out with questions and not look so foolish after my poor display of geography!' As there was no queue I stood and chatted away to him for about 5 minutes until another customer came to the counter. He was hilarious, we had a fabulous and pretty geeky chat and as I walked out the store he said 'I best invest in a globe so you don't catch me off guard next time!!' He really made my day!

 

[Kellykins1218]

It's a great state and we have brought y'all many fine things like Tom Landry, King of the Hill, Neiman Marcus, Friday Night Lights and Chuys Tacos...and JR. Kristen shot him btw

I look forward to visiting my mother-in-law in San Antonio just so I can go to
Whataburger. Yes, I know they are in other states but we don't have them here so for me it's a Texas thing

 

[Bonnie151]

Also we have been asked countless times if we know people from all over the place in Scotland. It's a pretty big place so no we don't know everyone. We get a lot of Scotland that's in England right? That really gets us or when they say oh your from England!!! Umm no Scotland is not England.

We had worse once! We once had a couple ask us if we were scared to live where we did because of all the violence and bombs. I kind of stared blankly at them while I tried to figure out if I'd missed some massive event on the news. Turned out they thought Scotland was part of Northern Ireland (and this was well after the Troubles were over)! Strangest question I've ever been asked!

 

[jennylyn_b]

It's like when anyone from the STATE of New York saying "I'm from NY" and having someone automatically assume you mean New York City. Although honestly I don't know anything north of Albany.

And as far as bless their heart, I figured out the Northern equivalents to it. We have "Well I'm sure they're nice but..." or "I love them but..." We compliment first then insult. Y'all Suthnrs do it backwards.

I grew up about 40 miles northwest of Albany, Ny!

 

[starrysky]

We had worse once! We once had a couple ask us if we were scared to live where we did because of all the violence and bombs. I kind of stared blankly at them while I tried to figure out if I'd missed some massive event on the news. Turned out they thought Scotland was part of Northern Ireland (and this was well after the Troubles were over)! Strangest question I've ever been asked!

Yes it's amazing we live in the oil Capitol of Europe yet we have people in our own country who have no idea where we are. It therefore should not surprise me that people from out with still get it wrong.

 

[jennylyn_b]

I live at the Jersey Shore and it literally makes my skin crawl when someone finds out and starts fist pumping or referencing that horrible show. Most of us here are embarrassed by that show.

 

[Pseudacris]

Glad this isn't just us. I'm from the US, but my husband is Scottish (well, his mother's a Swede, but that isn't important in terms of accent and where he grew up )

There's always a comment about haggis. Or "hey, I'm in the Mac_____ clan and my ancestors fought alongside William Wallace."

Once one of my coworkers met him and kept asking him yes or no questions because she liked that he tends to say "aye" instead of yes mostly.