As an out-of-state student at the University of Wisconsin, the terms coastie and sconnie are something I hear pretty often. For those who don’t know, a sconnie is any person from the state of Wisconsin, while a coastie is a UW student from anywhere outside the midwest, typically the East Coast (west coasters are often put into this category as well). Even though the characteristics of sconnies and coasties are often exaggerated, there is some truth to some of the typical characteristics attributed to both groups. Most of these characteristics revolve around accents, choice of clothing and other pretty irrelevant characteristics. Instead of diving into the differences, I have instead decided to discuss some of the interesting things I (a coastie) have noticed about people from the Midwest the past three years. Overall, it is safe to say Wisconsin is a pretty interesting place.
There are as many friendly people in Wisconsin as there are types of cheese.
As a coastie, it was definitely a culture shock to see just how friendly people in Wisconsin really are. It doesn’t matter if you are just passing each other on the street or waiting in line somewhere, people in Wisconsin will always say hello and start a conversation.
When sconnies ask how your day is, they actually want to know!
Here in Wisconsin, phrases such as “how is it going” and “what’s new” aren’t just said to be polite. Whether it is your cab driver or waitress asking you these questions, they really do want to know how things are. The fact that you may be complete strangers doesn’t really matter here.
Manners and
politeness get you a long way.
A really hard adjustment for coasties living in Wisconsin is the fact that people here don’t just yell at people until they get what they want. In fact, if you are polite and say please and thank you, there’s a much better chance you will get help with whatever you are trying to do (and maybe a little extra something will be thrown in to be nice.)
Sconnies live and breathe for Wisconsin and always will.
At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter where you are from. All that matters is how obsessed you are with this unbelievable state!
