Geographic snobbery

There was a girl wearing a Utah Jazz shirt at the front desk of the Discovery Museum today when I checked in. I said something like, "Nice shirt--I'm from Utah"; she was too. Another front desk worker piped in with a, "Congratulations to both of you on escaping." For a split second it felt like a compliment (kind of like, "You don't seem like a Mormon." Thanks! Wait, what?), but then I felt irritated. All I could come up with at the moment was, "Oooh no!" (like "oh no you didn't!"). He said something like, "It is really beautiful there," and I agreed and went on my way.

But it was one of those situations I kept stewing about and coming up with things I should have said (I think the winner was,"You must be a lot better than people who live in Utah"). What's the deal with big city people thinking they have something over people in smaller cities and towns, especially those in the middle of the U.S.? I've seen this attitude in varying degrees many times. San Francisco is cool, and that's fine if you don't think you'd like living in Utah/Kansas/Illinois, but don't be a jerk about it, especially if you've never been there. And especially if your audience is two women who have willingly associated themselves with the place you're putting down and haven't said anything negative about it, Discovery Museum Guy.

Just to show I'm not above [affectionately] making fun of where I'm from, here's what Ashlee Simpson would look like if she lived in Vernal:

Pam Anderson if she lived in Kanab:

Sharon Stone if she lived in Bountiful:

and Britney Spears if she lived in Panguitch:

Hee hee! All credit is due to Becky who sent me these pictures among others a few years ago.