My understanding of how regional I am came when I realized that other regions do not routinely describe their (in-nation) immigrants as being "from away."
I do find it interesting that the phrase "flyover country" is a post-rust belt elocution. During the grand age of manufacturing, Detroit and Milwaukee and St. Louis all had such a different place in the meaningfulness of the American self-concept than they do now. As the rust belt has faded in the last 50 years, I think that the concept of where the flyover begins has inched eastward: Toledo, Columbus, Pittsburgh.
Really, I flew in to Madison last year vaguely convinced I would be landing in some windswept prairie wilderness. I'm about as provincial as you could expect, and I was pleasantly surprised that Wisconsin has trees and lakes.
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I do find it interesting that the phrase "flyover country" is a post-rust belt elocution. During the grand age of manufacturing, Detroit and Milwaukee and St. Louis all had such a different place in the meaningfulness of the American self-concept than they do now. As the rust belt has faded in the last 50 years, I think that the concept of where the flyover begins has inched eastward: Toledo, Columbus, Pittsburgh.
Really, I flew in to Madison last year vaguely convinced I would be landing in some windswept prairie wilderness. I'm about as provincial as you could expect, and I was pleasantly surprised that Wisconsin has trees and lakes.