Do you ever get "where's that?" when you tell someone where you're from?

[RangerPooh]

I find that my New England relatives have no idea how big states in the South are. I'm in Memphis, and they say things like "The mountains must be beautiful." Yeah, they are - and they're 8 hours away! SC is even small by the standards of many states around it, but it'll still fit Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont in it!

Yup! We’re in Lakeland (just down the hey from you) and my friends back on the west coast ask about the mountains. No clue, there’s none here. But that’s ok, when we tell people that we lived in WA everyone assumes that the weather is rainy like Seattle and has plenty of trees. Nope, the eastern side is the high desert. 5 hours of high desert and wheat fields separated us from Seattle.

 

[RangerPooh]

I used to live about 20 minutes outside of Washington DC. I would always tell my overseas family "you know that star on the map if the US? Next to that"

We spent a year in southern MD, unless they’ve lived there most have no clue about it.

 

[clori]

I usually just say Boston area unless a person if familiar with the area.

I grew up in NH and I lived in (West) Germany the school year when the challenger exploded. I honestly didn't know about it when I went to school probably the next morning. I was so confused when someone told me my teacher had died. It took me a bit to put it all together but since it was a NH teacher it was automatically thought to be my teacher. I didn't live anywhere near Concord NH. I guess they thought NH was small enough to have one school system.

 

[marker123]

Nope. Cos I'm from Seattle.

 

[drag n' fly]

All the time. Is that close to Toronto? No its on the opposite side of the country. Gee I didn't know Canada was that big.

 

[sasywtch]

It's always my fellow Americans who are clueless. I've traveled the world and found people who asked me about specific towns in Delaware - or bars.

Are you always running into idiots? I don't know anyone who doesn't know that Delaware is a state.

 

[sasywtch]

My hometown in CA is known for being the garlic capital of the world. If you don’t know that tidbit and aren’t from the area then I just say it’s near San Jose (aka Silicon Valley) or in the SF Bay Area.

When we lived in WA we lived in a rural area on the Idaho border. For those in the state we’d just say Pullman or ‘Washington State University ‘ and people had an idea. These days when people ask what part of WA we lived I just say on the Idaho border 2 hours south if Spokane. They’ll have no idea so why give more detail?

Currently we live in a small city outside if Memphis, TN. So no description is needed, we just say Memphis.

Gilroy?

 

[indimom]

Always. But I come from a town of 6,000 in the middle of corn fields, so not surprising.
We just tell people we're between Indianapolis and Cincinnati.

 

[china mom]

We spent a year in southern MD, unless they’ve lived there most have no clue about it.

I'm on the Eastern Shore (Maryland's Easter Shore) now and even fellow American's don't understand where that is, let alone the name of the town I'm in.

 

[mmouse37]

Yup! We’re in Lakeland (just down the hey from you) and my friends back on the west coast ask about the mountains. No clue, there’s none here. But that’s ok, when we tell people that we lived in WA everyone assumes that the weather is rainy like Seattle and has plenty of trees. Nope, the eastern side is the high desert. 5 hours of high desert and wheat fields separated us from Seattle.

Our daughter lives in Bend, OR which is also high desert but when we tell people she lives in Oregon they always assume the coast hence rainy weather like Seattle.

MJ

 

[rickybobby]

I usually tell them it's close to Mount Pilot, and leave it at that. Some get it, some don't.

 

[RedAngie]

Unless they like roller coasters they probably have no idea where it is. We just say we're an hour west of Cleveland and an hour east of Toledo.

Only uncultured swine have no idea where Sandusky, OH is.

I spent my childhood in Delaware and I distinctly remember a teacher telling us about a time that someone in Texas would not sell him gas because they thought he had a fake license plate.

Did you guys know that though Rhode Island is the smallest state, it has more counties than Delaware? Fun fact.

Yes, I knew that. Rhode Island has five counties and Delaware has three. They are the only two states where I've been in every county.

 

[BrianL]

Yup! We’re in Lakeland (just down the hey from you) and my friends back on the west coast ask about the mountains. No clue, there’s none here. But that’s ok, when we tell people that we lived in WA everyone assumes that the weather is rainy like Seattle and has plenty of trees. Nope, the eastern side is the high desert. 5 hours of high desert and wheat fields separated us from Seattle.

My parents live out that way, not quite Lakeland, but in the unincorporated area between the city proper and the Canada Road.

 

[bjscheel]

We had a chuckle when our taxi driver in California asked where we were from.

"Iowa"
"Oh, Iowa...Potatoes!"
"No, I-o-wa...corn"
"Ah...I-o-wa...corn!"

 

[STLDisney_Freak]

I live in a very small town about 40 mins outside of St Louis. Unless I am talking to someone local I just say St Louis.

 

[petlvr1064]

Hi neighbor! I live in Lockport!! Yes- everyone thinks Buffalo, NY is right by NYC

Ya my dad grew up in Buffalo so I am a huge Buffalo Bills fan. I always knew that Buffalo and NYC were along ways apart but never exactly how far until I asked.

 

[petlvr1064]

We had a chuckle when our taxi driver in California asked where we were from.

"Iowa"
"Oh, Iowa...Potatoes!"
"No, I-o-wa...corn"
"Ah...I-o-wa...corn!"[/QU

 

[petlvr1064]

Lol I was just going to post this. I lovein Iowa also Cedar rapids to be exact

 

[Minnesota!]

No, because I say "suburban Minneapolis" and that's close enough. If I say the actual town name, people FROM Minnesota still don't know. LOL.

I always assumed Roseville based on your user name, but based on your statement above, I will say that is not correct

My hometown in CA is known for being the garlic capital of the world. If you don’t know that tidbit and aren’t from the area then I just say it’s near San Jose (aka Silicon Valley) or in the SF Bay Area. .

Gilroy has been on my bucket list for a while. We are doing a summer vacation this year and one option is the west coast SPECIFICALLY to hit Gilroy and Monterey.

Living in a metro area that straddles state lines is always a weird one to explain. There are all the suburbs of Kansas City that are in Kansas and not Missouri. Vancouver, Washington is part of the Portland, Oregon metro area. And I guess the real weird one is that Cincinnati Airport is in Kentucky.

Twin Cities (MN) metro includes the eastern part of Wisconsin, too.

Oh it’s so small that you can get North to South in a little over an hour. Providence is a small city.

We are planning our summer vacation (as stated above) and the east coast is the other option - my mom was born in New Bedford and one kid is obsessed with Rhode Island. Anyway, when planning, I was SHOCKED how close everything was. DH said "no drives of more than 3 hours"... but, in 3 hours, I could be in like 4 different states. 3 hours from home, here, it would still be MN. (Or Iowa or Wisconsin...so pretty much the same thing!). Kind of nice to have so many options so close!

I typically tell someone "Twin Cities". If they know the area, they will ask east or west metro and we go from there.

 

[Disney Ron]

Ya my dad grew up in Buffalo so I am a huge Buffalo Bills fan. I always knew that Buffalo and NYC were along ways apart but never exactly how far until I asked.

I'm so sorry.