Dyed in the wool Midwesterner?

[Ultralight]

Behavioral indicators of Midwesterners:
-Being cheapskates
-Eating at buffets
-Playing on softball leagues all spring and summer
-Fondness for potato salads

[Teacher Terry]

Bowling is a sport)

[ToomuchStuff]

Behavioral indicators of Midwesterners:
-Being cheapskates
-Eating at buffets
-Playing on softball leagues all spring and summer
-Fondness for potato salads

Personal bias? There are midwesterners, would don't fit those.

[dado potato]

HuffPost ran an article on certain empirically observed characteristics of Midwesterners. (6/18/2014, author Sarah Boboltz)
We spend less for lunch.
We are "friendlier" and "more conventional" than people from other regions.
We exhibit more voluntarism.
etc.

An anecdote from Phil Stagg's Waterfalls of Michigan, Book 4 - West about his experiences after getting stuck along with his son near Penn Falls in Ontonagon County:
… After several hours of trying to get my 4WD Chevy out of the slimy muck, it was obvious it was not going to happen without some help...
Stagg attempted to call AAA, but the cell phone signal was poor.
… This chewed up the last half hour of precious daylight. … So we each quickly made an overnight bag out of our camera backpacks and started hiking out of the woods... The village of Ontonagon was 20 miles away... We hiked about 3 miles back to M-26 and there met a vehicle... Here was a hunter heading out from his hunting camp for some supper... He gave us a ride to Rockland, where we had a wonderful Saturday Pizza Buffet with him. From there we went back to see about getting the truck out. After an hour of futile effort he took us back to his hunting camp, where we spent the night. In the morning he went out hunting with his aging dog, and he let us drive his truck to a rendezvous he had set up with an off-road towing company from Houghton. We led the tow truck to our vehicle. He winched it 100 yards up the 2-track, and then he promptly got stuck himself.... About this time our hunter friend and his dog came wandering in. They had hiked the several miles along the river to see how we were doing. Putting all the tow-ropes together … there were just enough to hook the hunter's truck to the tow truck and pull him out. He then winched me up the rest of the way, and we were once again on our way! It's nice to know there are still helpful people in this world. May we all be like our "guardian angel" Yooper.

[Teacher Terry]

When we lived in upstate New York in 1976 we lived in a town of 2k. A couple that lived outside of town where there was a bend in the road said every winter they would get bad snowstorms and people would go off the road by them. It could be days before the weather was good enough for people to get their cars out of the field and leave so they always made sure to have enough food in their freezer.

[catherine]

My brother and SIL have lived in Minnesota for years (My SIL was raised in Wisconsin and they moved to Minnesota just on the other side of the St. Croix after they married. My brother actually has adopted the accent.

My favorite story about Midwestern hospitality goes back to the late 80s when I took my mother and 4 kids out there for a week to visit with my brother/SIL. We met all the neighbors in their little town, and they were all so friendly, but the one that stands out was Rebecca, who had two small kids, had just gone through a nasty divorce, and commuted an hour into Minneapolis daily for work.

But she offered to host a party for us--total strangers!--telling my SIL, I don't have too much money, but if everyone brings something I'll provide the back yard. Which she did. This would NEVER HAPPEN in my neighborhood. First of all, when family comes to visit a neighbor, we leave them all alone--we don't stand on their porch in a line to meet them. Second, you don't invite people to your house unless it is HGTV-ready, because people talk about the things you have and don't have.

So her house was a little chaotic, of course. Far less so than mine would have been under similar circumstances. But we had a great time, and she certainly had no reason or obligation to ask us! Other than she loves my brother and sister-in-law and wanted to be hospitable to their family.

I've never forgotten that. It seems so small, but it was (to use a Trumpism) so bigly kind.

[Teacher Terry]

That’s so cool Catherine. In our neighborhood the old houses are being sold and renovated. A young couple across the street was working in their front yard so I went over to welcome them. They were remodeling the inside and asked if I wanted to see it which I did. I asked if they wanted to see ours and they did. I have been in some of my neighbors homes and I would never judge. How much money someone can afford to spend on their homes is no reflection on the type of person they are.

[beckyliz]

I'm a lifelong Kansan and will probably die here. I despaired over the politics of the last two governors, but we have a new one now and I hope she can lead us out of the darkness. I will stay and do what I can to make my beloved state better. It isn't all flat as a pancake! The Flint Hills are lovely to drive through, especially in the Spring after the burn off and new grasses have sprouted for the cattle to fatten up on. I love the history, geography and most of the people, lol.

[Teacher Terry]

I have lived in Kansas twice but unfortunately in Wichita. The KC area is pretty also. People are nice but the politics were so conservative.