Please excuse me, I’m From Away.

HEYYA!! Sorry it’s been so long since my last post.  This whole *BAKING UP A BUSINESS* thing is very time intensive.  More on that later/BUT for now The Cart & I just wanted to thank you for your support.  Great suggestions, everyone!  I have designed a t shirt for our future excursions which I think will simplify matters greatly.

excuseme

THANKS>!!ME too.  Hard to believe I’ve been *From Away* for SEVEN WHOLE WEEKS NOW!

What do you mean, what do I mean? Aren’t you LISTENING?  I’ve been From Away for 7 weeks.  OH! No.. I don’t mean I’ve been AWAY FROM Philly all this time, though you could read it that way too.  No.  What I really mean is since moving to Maine I’ve joined a secret heretofore unknown and supremely mysterious group which is in fact growing ever larger even as I write this sentence.  In fact — you are very likely a part of it — and you may not even KNOW! NO _ I’m not talking about LOST! BUT SPEAKING OF WHICH _did you watch weds night?  I KNOW! I was like GO JOHN! WAY to kick that stupid bug-eyed benjamin linus in the balls. MAN I HATE HIM.  BUT – aanyway – From Away is a folksy term used by Mainers to identify OUTSIDERS.  It’s a polite way of acknowledging crazy persons without having to point and make little nutball circles next to one’s head. Saying someone is FROM AWAY is akin to calling them a dingus w/out saying so.  It’s simply understood.

Mainers are very proud of their heritage.  If you were born in Maine, you are and will always be a Mainer (Maine-uh).  Everyone else is From Away.  SO that pretty much includes us all – or 99.9999999852% of the world. Having “From Away” to bandy about – well, it makes it easy for Mainers to scoff at, scorn or ridicule those not from Maine (meaning US), without alerting us to this fact.  I also believe, though I cannot be certain, that this whole “From Away” thing was intended to establish Maine superiority and/or differentiate between homegrown and non-native whackadoo.  A little like the Nazis, but extremely reserved and without death camps.

WELL. LET ME JUST SAY./ All of us were born somewhere.  I, for one, was born in a hospital.  But not everyone has that luxury.  Some people were born in Maine.  But I do not fault them for that.  No.  That my friends would be wrong.  Making fun of someone, rolling your eyes behind their back or assuming they’ll vote A CERTAIN WAY because of where they were born is not right.  That is just plain PLACIST.

And in this day and age, to have to play the PLACE card – well…  I don’t have to roll my eyes b/c you KNOW I AM ANYWAY.  That is stooping pretty darn low.  NOT as low as that guy hawking tee shirts w/ Calvin peeing on that other guy, but STILL.  Just b/c I am FROM AWAY does not mean I don’t enjoy a lobstah roll as much as the next guy.  [Though, between you & me, I’d save your $10.] And DON’T get me started on the whole top-split New England frank roll vs. the “Other part of the country” side-split hot dog bun… sheesh.

mainiacs

10 thoughts on “Please excuse me, I’m From Away.

  1. WoooooT! Way to rant there Dish Lady. You know I didn’t really understand lots of that as I’m from Way Way Away but I am totally on board and agree whole heartedly!
    *rolls eyes back incase someone needs them later*

  2. You having a little culture shock, there, Dishy? Love the shirt. Don’t worry, in a hundred years or so, you’ll be a true-blue blueblood. But I suppose it will be posthumous so it won’t really do you any good at all. Your children could put up a plaque… “To the Philly Cart Lady”

  3. Step away from the tshirts Dishy, you’ll be okay!
    Maybe Mainuhs think they are the only ones going to Heaven too! 🙂 Peace and Love from the South (and you know how much of the country views the South) Oh wait, this is your rant not mine…Love Ya Mean It!

  4. Oh, Christy… you should have lived in East Falls instead of University City. There was a woman on my old block who was 100 years old, but was still not a true Fallser because she moved there when she was 20. Haha! And I’ve heard South Philly is even worse!
    Hope you have a great Mother’s Day!

  5. I’m almost always from “away”. To date, I’ve lived in Austin, San Antonio, Daytona Beach, Miami, Orlando, and Raleigh with LOADS of time spent in Gainesville, Tampa, and Ft. Lauderdale.

    I think, next, I’d like to try Boulder, CO or NYC.

  6. THANKS DAFF! I don’t understand half of what I’m saying half the time either – so no worries! xo

    Heyya Trace! Did you get one yet?? They’re gonna be ALL the rage!

    Thanks Curly – feel free to drop by my couch after the camping trip. It’s on the house.

    Connie — I just read the funniest book ever about the south – Being Dead is No Excuse. I give it 2 toe tags up. You will LOVE IT!

    Oh Laura — what a hoot! THAT is Philly. Hope you had a wonderful weekend too. xo

    Welcome Zhisou! So glad you clarified about the grockles.. did sound a bit suggestive.

    MTAE, you are so right. I have embraced my inner me and am letting it all hang out. PS: you should see the scene at pickup time before and after school. Talk about Clique-y!!

    Hayden – WHAT ABOUT MAINE??

  7. Yeah, “grockles” is a bit of a weird word, but that’s Yorkshire for you.

    Hayden, you should try living in Europe too, London’s the greatest, except the weather. And the prices. Loads of great places: Madrid, Rome, Berlin, Amsterdam …

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