Friday, August 04, 2006

 

I'm feeling chatty.

So here's another long-winded post with no pictures. Yeehaw!

And since I've already said yeehaw, let me present today's topic: I love Oklahoma.

This morning I pulled into the grocery store next to a lady who was just getting out of her Toyota Prius. I told her I loved her car and that I was planning on buying a hybrid car soon. She told me how much she loves her Prius. Before I knew it we had walked into the store, selected shopping carts and gone through the produce section together. By the time we separated, she had wished me luck in my new career in home health and I'd welcomed her to Knitting Guild meetings (Does this mean I can no longer be the Anti-Missionary Knitter? Because damn, that would have been a HOT blog name.).

Things like this happen all the time in Oklahoma. About a year ago, Rick and I were waiting for a table at a popular breakfast joint here in OKC. Another girl in scrubs was waiting in line and we got to talking. It turned out that I worked with one of her best friends. When a table became available, Rick and I asked her and her boyfriend if they would have breakfast with us. It was great.

Now, not to diss on Boise, Idaho, where I lived for three years in my early twenties, but this just doesn't happen there. My first day in Boise, I tried to chat up a lady in front of me at the grocery store. At first she looked confused, like "Do I know this person?" When she realized the answer was no, she smiled awkwardly but didn't say a word. She was not the last resident of that town to ponder the strangeness of talkative Okies! Honestly, I don't know why I didn't get more positive reactions from comments such as "Wow! Look at this wine selection. At the GROCERY STORE! You gotta love a state that has entire aisles of wine at the grocery store!" I love Boise, Idaho, and I miss parts of it terribly (shoutout to the Greenbelt!), but damn, those folks take their chatting seriously and it is not to be done with strangers.

Not here. In Oklahoma, we'll chat with anybody at any time. We may look like idiots anytime we're featured on the national news (i.e., "that there far near burnt up the double-wide"), and we may have a ridiculous tendency to vote for officials that deny the existence of global warming, but Shit Fire! We're friendly!

Except for maybe when we're driving (but that's another story).

Comments:
Great post! How awesome would shelves full of wine at the grocery store be?
 
I love it here in Oklahoma too. Hate the politics, but love the state. And those guys they always find to interview on tv? The newscasters always pick the ones missing front teeth too. Gotta love it.
 
I hope I don't tick anyone off with this one...but that choosing to interview the toothless illiterate Okie....is an OKC thing. I moved here from Tulsa in 2000 and we didn't see folk like that on tv there. :-)
 
Depends on where you are in Oklahoma and its NOT that way over here in my southeast corner :(
 
Katie, we have a Prius and I absolutely love it! We average about 55 mpg with combined highway and city driving. I feel very good about the lowest pollution producing vehicle currently available and the lower usage of fossil fuels. We've had our Prius for 2 years and it's been an absolute dream...no problems at all!

I also love being an Okie. Even though the summers are HOT and we have tornadoes, I wouldn't trade it. Folks are very friendly here and you can't find that just anywhere. We've lived in and visited other states, and in my opinion, none of the others can begin to compare to OK.

Hey, I'm an RN, too. Only, for about an eon or two. : ) OR, ICU, neuro, and cardiology research were my areas over the life of my career.

I hope you enjoy your new area of nursing. Have a wonderful upcoming week.
 
Post a Comment



<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?