What is "unique" about the culture where you live?
- Thread starter Seattle
- Start date
I do not live in Rhode Island presently, but this practice has always baffled me and I've never encountered anything quite like it elsewhere:
You're at a four-way intersection, with a regular traffic light--just red/yellow/green, but no left-turn arrows. The light turns green and the opposing traffic allows the first car--but only the first car--to make a left turn before proceeding. And somehow everyone seems to know to do this, despite it being contrary to traffic law and just plain common-sense. But then you cross over into New York, Connecticut or Massachusetts and, of course, no one does this. And Rhode Island being a very small state, plenty of outsiders and commuters regularly travel through the state.
I'm sure accidents sometimes happen--non-Rhode Islanders unfamiliar with the practice, and following regular traffic laws and common-sense--but surprisingly rarely.
You're at a four-way intersection, with a regular traffic light--just red/yellow/green, but no left-turn arrows. The light turns green and the opposing traffic allows the first car--but only the first car--to make a left turn before proceeding. And somehow everyone seems to know to do this, despite it being contrary to traffic law and just plain common-sense. But then you cross over into New York, Connecticut or Massachusetts and, of course, no one does this. And Rhode Island being a very small state, plenty of outsiders and commuters regularly travel through the state.
I'm sure accidents sometimes happen--non-Rhode Islanders unfamiliar with the practice, and following regular traffic laws and common-sense--but surprisingly rarely.
Now that you have mentioned, in my traveling I passed by thru Rhode Island as well, in an area close to the beach. I was with my little children. And old lady saw us ready to cross the street and she stop in the middle of the block, far away from us in order to allow us crossing the street, And she started driving forward again only when she saw we reached safely the other side of the street.
Traveling to the south passing thru Georgia, I had the same situation in a city below Atlanta trying to cross a street with my little children, but cars never stop in that street corner even when it had a Stop sign... lol...
Traveling to the south passing thru Georgia, I had the same situation in a city below Atlanta trying to cross a street with my little children, but cars never stop in that street corner even when it had a Stop sign... lol...
Seattle
Valued Senior Member
I saw a Stop sign in some state (Florida maybe?) and it said Stop with a little "please" on it. I think it was just something that that small town decided to do.
I grew up in North Carolina and people generally made sure to look out for slow moving pedestrians before taking off after a traffic light turned Green. I was in Manhattan and when the light turned Green everyone floored it and if you were a pedestrian who was still crossing...too bad
Now I live in Seattle and occasionally someone will do the thing mentioned above in another thread (letting the first person waiting to turn left go first. No one counts on that but if I see a large line of cars opposing me and the first car just sits there without moving and I'm waiting to turn, I'll do so but I'm fast about it and I don't count on anyone not running me over.
I grew up in North Carolina and people generally made sure to look out for slow moving pedestrians before taking off after a traffic light turned Green. I was in Manhattan and when the light turned Green everyone floored it and if you were a pedestrian who was still crossing...too bad
Now I live in Seattle and occasionally someone will do the thing mentioned above in another thread (letting the first person waiting to turn left go first. No one counts on that but if I see a large line of cars opposing me and the first car just sits there without moving and I'm waiting to turn, I'll do so but I'm fast about it and I don't count on anyone not running me over.
Everyone here is civilized, patient and considerate at road-works, in supermarket checkout lines, at the coffee counter and the hardware store and the salad bar - for ten month of the year.
At the end of June, vacationers from the city arrive and everything goes to hell until Labour Day, when they gather up their feral offspring go home.
At the end of June, vacationers from the city arrive and everything goes to hell until Labour Day, when they gather up their feral offspring go home.
Janus58
Valued Senior Member
Not where I presently live, but where I was born and raised in Northern MN there were a couple of things that were unique:
The sauna to household ratio was quite high( We had one, the neighbors across the road had one, their cousins just down the road had one...)*
We had a distinct accent or "Range accent" ( named after the Mesabi or "Iron" range where we lived), which differed from the standard Minnesota accent to the point that if you even went just 80 miles south to Duluth, people could tell you were from the Range from just listening to you talk.
*This one is not entirely unique to that region, as there are other "pockets" where persons of Finnish descent tended to settle, and wherever you find a lot of Finns, you are going to find saunas.
The sauna to household ratio was quite high( We had one, the neighbors across the road had one, their cousins just down the road had one...)*
We had a distinct accent or "Range accent" ( named after the Mesabi or "Iron" range where we lived), which differed from the standard Minnesota accent to the point that if you even went just 80 miles south to Duluth, people could tell you were from the Range from just listening to you talk.
*This one is not entirely unique to that region, as there are other "pockets" where persons of Finnish descent tended to settle, and wherever you find a lot of Finns, you are going to find saunas.
Well I was born/grew up in a town named after the flagship of the three that sunk the Graf Spee in WWII: Ajax - also could be some Greek dude as well. The other ships the Achilles and Exeter named as roads and other ships not mentioned in this film.
It was a town run on nuclear power from the adjacent city. In fact it was surrounded by two cities and Lake Ontario. Off the 401 which is the highway between Montreal and Toronto with regular travel to Toronto.
The anchor of Ajax sits outside City Hall. And it's cool for being...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_A...ht cruiser,in the Royal Navy to bear the name.
It was a town run on nuclear power from the adjacent city. In fact it was surrounded by two cities and Lake Ontario. Off the 401 which is the highway between Montreal and Toronto with regular travel to Toronto.
The anchor of Ajax sits outside City Hall. And it's cool for being...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_A...ht cruiser,in the Royal Navy to bear the name.
Janus58
Valued Senior Member
Interestingly, In pure numbers, Florida ranks 6th in Finnish* population for US states.
This still puts them at only 0.08% of the total Florida population, which is lower than the national average of 0.2%
Minnesota, as a whole, sits at 1.135%. The region where I lived had a much higher concentration. Most of the people I can think of had Finnish surnames like Niemi, Sauri, Takola, Leino, Lindula**, etc. There was one older gentleman who spoke enough English to get along, but was much more comfortable speaking Finnish. He used to visit with my parents quite a bit since they spoke it also.
This map gives an an idea of just how "clustered" Finns in the US are.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnish_Americans#/media/File:Pct_finnish4.png
*Meaning someone with any Finnish ancestry.
** This was the name of our neighbors across the road, and these guys: https://www.facebook.com/events/duluth-folk-school/music-lindula-brothers/2241987022790722/, who are obviously related, as Cherry is the community we lived in.
Do they build saunas in Florida, too?
Or are the Floridian Finns of later generations, no longer bound by old-country habits?
If somebody wanted to do the research (scholars already have) we could trace all ethnic groups by dates of arrival, through settlement clusters. I would also expect that most nationalities are disproportionately represented at the sites of these original nodes, because a few immigrants would acquire land, start businesses and services in those localities, and, even though their children might scatter, a core population would remain, attracting subsequent waves from the same country.
What's this to do with the topic? Let's see.
The core populations in this county are Ojibwa, Scottish, Dutch, German, English and ex-African from the US. This was a significant terminal of the Underground Railroad, but you can't readily tell. Partly because many of the second and third generation left for the big cities, just as the children of European immigrants did. Also, because there was much commerce and intermarriage with the local white communities. But, just as significantly, in the first half of the 20th century, family and place names were changed, grave markers removed, even parish records destroyed or altered, to hide the racial background of some residents. This practice was not entirely restricted to white people [British and a Royalist descent] reconfiguring history; some descendants of the escaped slaves themselves were concealing the fact, in order to gain social or economic advantage during one of the more virulent outbreaks of bigotry.
You can imagine the difficulties confronting someone who tried to reconstruct their family tree in the 1990's! Much of that work has been done by now, and some acknowledgment of those pioneers restored.
It may not be unique, but I find it interesting.
Or are the Floridian Finns of later generations, no longer bound by old-country habits?
If somebody wanted to do the research (scholars already have) we could trace all ethnic groups by dates of arrival, through settlement clusters. I would also expect that most nationalities are disproportionately represented at the sites of these original nodes, because a few immigrants would acquire land, start businesses and services in those localities, and, even though their children might scatter, a core population would remain, attracting subsequent waves from the same country.
What's this to do with the topic? Let's see.
The core populations in this county are Ojibwa, Scottish, Dutch, German, English and ex-African from the US. This was a significant terminal of the Underground Railroad, but you can't readily tell. Partly because many of the second and third generation left for the big cities, just as the children of European immigrants did. Also, because there was much commerce and intermarriage with the local white communities. But, just as significantly, in the first half of the 20th century, family and place names were changed, grave markers removed, even parish records destroyed or altered, to hide the racial background of some residents. This practice was not entirely restricted to white people [British and a Royalist descent] reconfiguring history; some descendants of the escaped slaves themselves were concealing the fact, in order to gain social or economic advantage during one of the more virulent outbreaks of bigotry.
You can imagine the difficulties confronting someone who tried to reconstruct their family tree in the 1990's! Much of that work has been done by now, and some acknowledgment of those pioneers restored.
It may not be unique, but I find it interesting.
I live in a place a travel writer once compared to Brigadoon.
We have a reconstructed fort (yes George Washington did sleep there) as well as one of the best amusement parks for children.
This year we were designated a Hallmark town. (Not sure what that means. Think it might refer to the town square.)
Best of all it is in Steeler country.
We have a reconstructed fort (yes George Washington did sleep there) as well as one of the best amusement parks for children.
This year we were designated a Hallmark town. (Not sure what that means. Think it might refer to the town square.)
Best of all it is in Steeler country.
Janus58
Valued Senior Member
Not sure, I'd guess later generations and not homesteaders building new homes. ( For early Finnish homesteaders, the sauna was so important that it was the first building built.) I had one Uncle on my Mother's side who lived in Georgia. We visited him once, and I don't remember them having a sauna.
I know that the farm we lived on was pretty old. It had an old dilapidated root cellar, and there was any old wall built from rocks cleared from the land. The sauna had been built into the corner of an old garage. It was pretty rustic. Bare cement walls, a wood stove in the corner and grey faded bare wood two tier bench. A far cry from anything like this:
When we moved out West, we ended up living near friends of my parents who had a sauna, so it remained a ritual through high school.
The vast majority of Finns immigrated between 1880 and 1910, in part driven by a push by Russia towards the Russification of Finland. By 1929 new laws put a limit of 529 Finns per year allowed to immigrate. This, and the fact that Finland had won it's independence in 1917, plus improving conditions in the country slowed the influx.
Not sure, I'd guess later generations and not homesteaders building new homes. ( For early Finnish homesteaders, the sauna was so important that it was the first building built.) I had one Uncle on my Mother's side who lived in Georgia. We visited him once, and I don't remember them having a sauna.
I know that the farm we lived on was pretty old. It had an old dilapidated root cellar, and there was any old wall built from rocks cleared from the land. The sauna had been built into the corner of an old garage. It was pretty rustic. Bare cement walls, a wood stove in the corner and grey faded bare wood two tier bench. A far cry from anything like this:
When we moved out West, we ended up living near friends of my parents who had a sauna, so it remained a ritual through high school. The vast majority of Finns immigrated between 1880 and 1910, in part driven by a push by Russia towards the Russification of Finland. By 1929 new laws put a limit of 529 Finns per year allowed to immigrate. This, and the fact that Finland had won it's independence in 1917, plus improving conditions in the country slowed the influx.
Didn't Finland push back , and won the war against Russian invasion .
Janus58
Valued Senior Member
That was in the early years of WWII, when Finland held back Russia's first invasion attempt, however, they eventually ceded territory.
Russia did ?
Janus58
Valued Senior Member
Finland ceded land to Russia.