Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Observation

Today I was asked about my Christmas plans and I responded by saying "I'm going to NJ".

For some reason, everyone knows someone in New Jersey, and they always feel the need to share this with me, followed by "He/She lives in ."

What am I supposed to say to that? Usually I respond with "I'm from Franklin Township", realizing that unless you are from Central Jersey, no one knows where that is.

Of course, the next question is "Oh, where is that?"

My response is "Central Jersey".

And every single time, the person will say "You know, I can usually peg people from NJ, but you totally don't have an accent." They say this as if either A) it's a good thing or B) I'm lying about being from Jersey.

Observation: Not everyone from Jersey sounds like the idiots on Jersey Shore (or The Sopranos, for that matter). Additionally, I haven't had a New Jersey address since 2004, so while I have never once in my life said "You's guys", I would assume that my accent is a little worse for wear. And finally, assuming that in your head everyone in Jersey sounds the same, there are 3 distinct areas in New Jersey: North, Central, and South. Each one has it's own accent... and South Jersey is like a completely different state altogether. So when you say things like "I can usually peg someone as being from NJ because they say 'You's guys'", you sound like a moron.

2 comments:

Hillary said...

I know what you mean! I'm from MN and people from other states expect us all to talk like in the movie "Fargo." Maybe everyone should just stop make such broad assumptions about people based on where they live!

Claire said...

LOL @ South Jersey. It's true. I think people from South Jersey sound extra country and people from North Jersey sound extra New York. So, theoretically, Central Jersey wins by default.