As a native Nebraskan who has traveled most of her life, when I meet people and tell them I am from Nebraska I get asked at least one of these questions every time. Sometimes they are asked as jokes, but many times people ask me the following questions with absolute sincerity. When you read these questions I hope that you understand how comical they are, especially to people from the Midwest. If you don't understand why these questions are funny, then I highly recommend you come visit Nebraska and see for yourself.
1. Why do you not have an accent?
If you have ever looked at a map of the United States, you would see that Nebraska is not in the southern part of the country, so why would we have a Southern accent? Even people who understand that we are in the Midwest still suppose that we should have an accent. The best way that we describe our accent is that we have no accent. Some people from outside the Midwest say that we typically speak a little more drawn out and smash some of our words together. Nebraskans are still a bit unconvinced about this description, but it is better than thinking we have Southern accents (note: I have absolutely nothing against Southern accents, I just think it is silly that people think Nebraskans have this accent).
2. Do you eat corn every day?
Alright, I understand that Nebraska is known for producing copious amounts of corn, but it is not the only thing we consume. Actually, we have many wonderful restaurants that have much more than steak and corn (although, I do admit that they are our specialties). Omaha and Lincoln in particular are two cities where many new delicious restaurants have been popping up, so if you are a foodie they would be good places to visit.
3. Do you live on a farm?
I get it, the stereotype of Nebraska residents is that we are all farmers and our closest neighbors are over 10 miles away. It is true that there are a lot of people who live on farms, but Nebraska also has cities. Omaha is the largest with a population of about 400,000 people, followed by Lincoln with about 250,000 people; I know some of you really big city people are shaking your heads at those numbers, but I bet that is more than you thought for Nebraska.
4. Do you frolic through cornfields?
If you’ve ever been to a cornfield you would know that simply walking through a cornfield without the proper attire is difficult and can be quite painful. Trying to frolic through one even with the right apparel can hurt a lot, and you’d probably end up falling on your face and end up getting a lot of scratches. Any Nebraskan, no matter if they live in the city or not, would know this.
5. What is your pet cow’s name?
“Oh, her name is Bessie. She has 10 big black spots on her and the biggest brown eyes.” I have been asked this question so many times that I have made up a pet cow for myself as I have just described her. But don’t worry, I always tell these people that I am joking with them, and I tell them that not everyone in Nebraska is a farmer; I do live in a city.
6. How many guns do you own?
This question might be the one that pushes my buttons the most, and luckily it is the one that is asked the least but every once and awhile it comes up. It annoys me that everyone assumes that people in typically more rural places believe that everyone owns at least one gun; this is false. I acknowledge that many people in western Nebraska probably own at least one gun, but most of the people in Omaha and Lincoln do not own any guns.
7. Why does everyone love the Cornhuskers so much?
As much as I have been saying that Nebraska is bigger than you might think, it is still not big enough to have any professional sports teams. The University of Nebraska at Lincoln is the biggest university we have, so everyone treats their teams like a professional team, especially since they joined the Big 10 conference. Go Big Red!
8. Do you ride a tractor to school?
Again, this is just a silly question; I mean do you know how slow tractors go? Getting stuck behind them on the road is one of the worst things. They are not meant for speed, it would take a long time to get to school on one of those if you are not really close to your school. Of course, there is also the fact that I have been trying to get across that not everyone is a farmer in this lovely state. Yet, I do confess that I know of a school that has a “Ride Your Tractor to School” day, so maybe this isn’t such a ridiculous question.
9. Is there even anything to do there?
Oh, my friends, there is so much to do! Omaha has grown exponentially in the past couple of years; there have been numerous projects where there have been enhancements in many of the more run down parts of Omaha. We just got the Nebraska Crossing Outlets in Gretna, which have some great stores that we never had before and people from all around love to visit those outlets. And thanks to Justin Bieber’s song “Omaha Mall” I get asked everywhere I go if I’ve been to this mall, and in all honesty I’m not 100 percent sure which mall he is talking about; my guess is it is Westroads Mall which is our main indoor mall in Omaha. Another event that has made Omaha really popular is the College World Series, which is such great time of year because everyone comes out to watch the games and there is so much life in those times. I would recommend coming down to Omaha during this time of year, or any time of year! There are also always concerts going on in or around the city with many popular and local artists. Like I mentioned earlier, there are a multitude of restaurants to try out all around the city, some of which have been on television.
Alright, I’ll stop raving about my city for now, but I suggest that all of you come to Nebraska to see for yourself the life in this up-and-coming city!
