What Is It About the Mid-West?

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Wow! What Fun!!!

I love to take the train! If I ever won the lottery, the only luxury thing I can say for certain that I'd buy would be a private rail car (although a big part of the fun is meeting people on the train, but I'm sure I'd get over that ;-).

And yes - CB is/was a big rail center: it still has a huge Union Pacific yard, and in Omaha you can still get on the California Zephyr west bound every night and eastbound every morning. The City Streamliners (operated over the UP in those parts) are long, long gone.
 
There's a kind of hush, or peace in the Midwest I have found when visiting that doesn't exist elsewhere in the US. You get the feeling that nothing bad could happen there. Perhaps that is why the scary movies and disaster films like it as a setting. The chaos/mayhem/disaster juxtaposed against the seemingly bucolic and reverent place creates contrast. A murder, psyco or disaster in New York or Los Angeles does not stand out like a cockroach on a wedding cake like it does in the midwest.
 
Dan did you ever travel on CP's Canadian thru the Rockies? I used to take trips on my employee pass before it was taken over by VIA. They ruined it somewhat by ditching the old CP route and using only the CN's route up thru Edmonton,not quite as thrilling. However they did spend millions over the last few years refurbishing all the old stainless cars back to their original glory. They had become really really shabby with duct tape literally holding the a/c vents to the ceilings etc. LOL
 
I love small-town Midwest. I live in one. The Midwest, like any other area, has its positive and negative aspects. And before you peg us as completely boring, remember that we spawned Ed Gein, Jeffrey Dahmer AND Bob Dylan.
 
John and I took the VIA Canadian the Summer before last, Pete. It was a wonderful trip, but it was a little too long on the train for me (one thing you can say for Amtrak - you always have to change in Chicago, LOL) and I missed having all the station stops you have in the states, with the people coming and going.

I would have liked the traditional route better as well - there are some beautiful railroad hotels along that line - the original CP hotels are now part of Fairmont.

That equipment was surely gorgeous though. It's a shame Amtrak couldn't have held on to their vintage stuff, but that's life. Funny how a single flush can change the course of things, isn't it? ;-)
 
bigoted, narrow minded, ignorant we don't see them

We them = bigoted, narrow minded, ignorant

dividing people into catagories and proclaiming yourself superior is assuming the role of the ones you profess to hate. Personally I prefer to think of people as enlightened and not but possesing the potential for enlightenment providing the right role model comes along. We are all people here together to learn......some more than others.

N_____r is just a word. One that the African American community uses profusely regarding each other.

If you name your dog something, in my mind that name takes on a special place in my heart and I cannot concieve of anyone ever as fine and worthy of that name as my beloved K-nine companion. In other words, no human would ever be worthy, they must have loved the African American race of people to have called their dog that. :)
 
Hmmmm. Superior? lol! Doubt that. Don't want to be around "them"? YES, you got that it right! And I have my reasons.
I am not black, am mixed white and indian. Am also openly gay. I spend most of my free time with my friends from the hood, most who ARE black, and have always accepted for who I am. I usually will hear things like: "Pretty Ricky, you OUR niggah"
Am always pleased to hear that.
I am always one of the crowd here.

You do have to earn respect in the hood. But once the trust is earned, it is for life, and you are "in" for good.
It's not the same "out there" So I like to stay "in here"

My choice. <:
 
Dan & Pete, my most recent bit of train travel was on Amtrak California's Capitol Corridor line that runs between San Jose and Sacramento/Auburn. Supposedly a rail commuting success story but it didn't appear that way to me as there were maybe 20 people on the entire train when I took an end-to-end walk. The coaches are modern with wi-fi and tables for laptops at one end. What I noticed when I boarded is that the whirring sounds of fans and HVAC system were as loud as on any modern subway type of car such as BART. It wasn't until I took a walk to the snack bar car that I realized how noisy those new coaches are. The snack bar car was vintage Amtrak, grey with red and blue striping as opposed to the navy & gold scheme on the California cars and the top level was all chairs. And entirely silent. No whirring sounds or blinding flourescent lighting, it was a genuine long haul car complete with curtains on the windows and plush high back seats. After getting my lousy coffee, served up out of an air pot, I went back to my original car and gathered my things and headed back to the quiet sophistication of the true long haul coach. It was only then that I felt I was riding a real train again. Those commuter cars are just that--made for short rides where you're not exposed to the constant whirring and bright lights for very long. It was nice to have a taste of the old time train travel. If I use this train again, I'll know which car to head for.

And OK Mr. Smith, you had me going there with that rail car pic but it's my own fault for not paying attention to the punch line.
 
Well, you have to admit dividing people is kinda segragating

I understand rick, I think we agree mostly. Its really just all perspective. Hood vrs farm. Its really clique-y where I am from and outsiders do have a hard time (not from me mind you).It makes me mad really when I see others exclude people. I love all kinds of people regardless of color, race, sexual preffernce, or sex. Variety keeps things interesting and as for being gay, You are honest with yourself and probably alot more open with others because of that fact. Thats what I find anyway and do enjoy that community. The thing is, nobody trusts anyone in the sticks if they dont know what your parents were like, unfair but kinda true here at least. Kinda like knowing your homies in the hood. I think people are mostly the same everywhere. Some good, some bad, some ride the fence.

Srry all about my spelling, im only good with spellcheck. lol
 
One thing that really peeves me about the midwest, and I don't understand why they do this, is the whole ye-olde-silo-and-thresher school of decorating. That wasn't chic at all when I was growing up, and that's back when there were a lot more family farms.

I am not a big fan of Wimsey anyway, but I guess I just hate seeing farming made into some sort of cutesy, kitschy, old-timey eccentricity. Farming is hard work, which requires both brains and brawn. It doesn't deserve to have doily put on in.

The thing that really got me was when visiting the old Howard Johnson's that I worked at in college. Back in those days, it was a remarkably well-preserved piece of Mid-Century Americana, right down to the light fixtures, and "control centers" between the beds. And it was popular and profitable: People liked the retro look.

Sure enough, someone bought it, and now it's a "Country Inn". They boxed in the space-age lobby building with all sorts of gables and gunk, and put huge heart-shaped dried floral arrangements and floral bedspreads in each room. It was like taking Mrs. Robinson and putting her in a gingham dress and sun bonnet.

To each his own, of course, and I mean no offense to people who like that style, or use it in their homes, but I just don't understand that look in a commercial application. I think it feeds into the stereotype of Midwesterners being sort of behind the times.

Oh, and the coffee shop in Council Bluffs uses cool-whip and SPRINKLES on their mochas. But at least they have a coffee shop.

On the bright side of things, my previously lilly-white high school is much more integrated and - according to the librarian, who was there back when I was there - everybody pretty much gets along. The same is true of my Mom's church, which was always very homogeneous. But even they market themselves as "The country church in the city", which makes me want to yak. ;-)
 
Linda, I can understand what you are saying about rural life, and being snubbed.
There is hate in the hood, along with the love. Sometimes being "in" with some, can put you "in the bad" with others. I try to stay neutral, but it can be really hard to do. So I am not "in" with everybody, but have many on my side.
Point is that I am "in" with many. And don't think that would happen with the people in the rural areas. Too bigoted out there for my kind.
 
Those who live in glass houses...

After reading this post and mostly rolling my eyes at a lot of the nonsense it contains, I can sum it up like this.

I was born and raised in New Jersey, and I went to high school down near Miami, Florida and I lived in NYC for over a decade. I moved to Minneapolis 11 years ago now and have never been happier. I can't imagine ever leaving Minneapolis as it is such a nice place to live. It's just easier here all around, less traffic, less annoyances, it's a beautful clean and green city, politically they have gotten it right for the most part and I have never had as many good friends as I have here. As for the climate, for someone who is a weather watcher and finds climate fascinating, its has the most varied climate in the entire country, now anything less would be simply boring and unfulfilling. If find it a bit irnoic that the ones who are putting our wonderful part of the country in a poor light are all coming from places that you couldn’t pay me to live in.
 
Ooh Ooh!!! Let me add my two cents

For what it is worth. I have traveled the world from Australia to St. Petersburg. I was born and raised in the Midwest and lived for 21 years in California. I chose to move back to the Midwest and my home of Chicago because I dearly missed it and the change of seasons for 21 years. Did I enjoy the 70 degree sunshine? Yep, but it got boring. And I can visit it whenever I want. I will probably spend the worst part of the winter somewhere warm, but the other three seasons will find me back here by a lake.

Here is what I love about the Midwest.

-Folks are straight-shooters, they may not be your best bud right away, but when they become your friend, they are a true friend for life.
-Chicago has some of the best culture in the world (and shopping)
-I am in as much awe of looking out over a fresh snowfall as I am when the daffodils come up in the spring.
-The Midwest is a ethnic and cultural melting pot.

I guess to each his own. But I never got the Midwest out of my system, and after having been back from California for almost seven years, I have never looked back.

3-23-2007-18-57-20--fnelson487.jpg
 
Chicago is a VERY cool city. One of the best in the Mid-West for sure.
 
In the country

I live in the Illinois in a small town of 850. I don't really think that we are backward dolts who have never had an original thought. We vote for the same candidate for pres. like everyone else does; we have phones and electricity too, imagine that! If people are in need, folks turn out to help and don't expect anything back in return and the list goes on. Just my thoughts on the subject. Gary
 

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