Day 91 - The North-South Divide

If you haven't heard of the "North-South Divide", here's a quick definition: "In the United Kingdom the term 'North-South divide' is used to refer to the divide between the wealthy South East of England and the less affluent industrial areas of Scotland, Wales and northern England."

That's a nice way of saying it. But to be blunt, there are some in the north who think people from the south are unfriendly and snobby, and some in the south who think people from the north are less civilized. It's not unlike many of the "divides" in America, even the one between the eastern & western U.S.

I've always found it easier to talk to people from west of the Mississippi than east. Easterners to me often seem unfriendly, snobby, formal, and uptight compared to people from the West (there are many exceptions of course). At OU, at least in the Meteorology department, I think there's an approximately equal number of people from the East and the West. Yet the vast majority of my friends are from the West.

Something similar is true about Reading. Even though I live deep in the south of England, and have some great friends from the south, I generally find it easier to talk to people from north of a line from Cardiff to Birmingham to Lincoln. I think I even have more friends from northern England, Scotland, and Wales than from southern England, even though I know more people from southern England.

But is it really because the people are different, or is it mostly just me? The moment I hear one of the many northern accents, I start out thinking the person is friendly and I might even act friendlier toward them than toward someone with a posh southern accent. The same might be true with people in the eastern & western U.S. When I hear one of those sandpaper-in-the-throat East Coast accents, I might subconsciously assume some of those eastern stereotypes on them. But when I hear someone from the West Coast or Southern Plains (both of which are fairly easy to distinguish from other parts of the U.S.) I might automatically think "this is someone I can relate to".

posted by Matt @ 11:59 PM