So it's come to this...

[trashcanman]

Which of these signs is not like the others? Well, the Peanuts one is animated, but other than that, they all represent prejudices that are pretty much confirmed Grade A scumbaggery (or would if dogs were sentient like Snoopy). But one of them is only days old. Yeah, that last one is from Portland, Oregon where people are declaring homes for sale off limits to Californians. So the government makes discriminating by race, gender, nationality, sexual preference, and now gender identity against the law so now we've moved on to discriminating based on what state you were born in.

The funny thing is this has been going on in Oregon for a long time now. Californians who visit Oregon come back wiith horror stories of being yelled at as they wait at red lights, refused service at gas stations, and general assholishness if anybody should see they have Cali license plates on their car. I've always kind of laughed it off, but is seems to be getting louder and louder. Like, I was reading the latest issue of The Walking Dead and in the letters section, one of the letters suddenly started bitching about California zombies invading Oregon out of nowhere.

It's kind of funny because we have no fucking idea what this is all about. I mean, California is made largely out of immigrants from other states and countries so it doesn't really occur to us to discriminate. Why bother? Like, literally nobody gives a shit. Oregon is constantly screaming about how much they hate Californians coming to their state and we're like:

For you, the day California graced your state was the most important day of your life. But for us, it was Tuesday.

Living where I live I'm mere hours from awesome mountains, ancient forests, glorious beaches, and plenty of other great things to do and places to be. I can't think of a single reason to go to Oregon, but if I got a great job offer there or something I'd hate to have to deal with this kind of bullshit just trying to find a place to live. The sticker was placed there by the neighborhood residents, apparently, and not the company, but still. If I moved in would they burn crosses on my lawn or what?

Anyways, anybody here know about anything else like this? Any weird one-sided state/province/region rivalries that grow so loud you can't get away from them?

[The Curmudgeon]

Wow. I have never even heard of anything like this. The closest I can think of from my end is the divide between Scotland and England, but even then it's largely a thing of the past unless there's a football game on or you're a complete moron (weirdly, those two often go hand in hand). I guess there's a slight rivalry between Edinburgh and Glasgow but that's the slightest of margins.

Is this even legal? I'd have thought that was discriminatory, which last time I checked when it came to housing or employment was absolutely not allowed. And is there any reason for the bias? What's the story there?

[trashcanman]

They say it's because they're mad that Californians are moving up there and it's our fault that liberal policies (marijuana legalization, gay marriage, etc) are spreading. But Oregon is more liberal than Cali if anything and often leads us in these policies so that's crap. Rumor has it that a lot of the people doing it actually came from California themselves and have that "I was here first" mentality. I've seen interviews on the news and radio where Oregon residents discussed it and it was pretty much a bunch of ad-hominem gibberish that applies to all people everywhere, so I'm going to say it's just one of those weird prejudices that takes hold without any real logic and spreads just because enough people are vocal about it and anything that gets repeated enough gets absorbed by idiots eventually.

[Ben]

We don't have anything that harsh in the Midwest, but there are some minor prejudices. I've lived in Minnesota and Iowa, and Minnesotans have this strange rivalry with Iowa that is entirely one-sided. Like, at University of Minnesota football games fans will chant "who hates Iowa, we hate Iowa" when they're playing nobodies like Mississippi Tech in September and the University of Iowa isn't on the schedule until November. I always tell my pals who went to U of M that it's pretty sad their entire season lives or dies based on how they perform against a school that doesn't give a single shit about them. But beyond the sporting world, I got ribbed a lot by buddies and acquaintances for moving to Iowa, and it's the same sort of deal you're talking about as far as no one being able to explain why it's a bad thing. The typical response is "Because it's Iowa!" as if there's something self-evident about why Iowa is inferior. I've never understood it, but it definitely also isn't on the same level as this Oregon/Cal thing you've outlined. No one is putting stickers on signs or telling Iowans to go back south and stay out.

To a lesser degree, there's some Iowa/Illinois bad blood too, but I take that at face value: everyone everywhere hates Illinois.

[trashcanman]

"Because it's Iowa!"



I know Iowa has kind of a reputation as this bland white bread kind of state, but it's not like there's any heat about it this far West. It's just kind of like thought of as the Fresno of Midwestern states. Big, but nothing to recommend it.

[Ben]

It's reputation as nothing special is deserved, but I still don't understand the Minnesota beef. I bet there's some rivalries in the south, too, though I've spent very little of my life in that part of the country so I can't say so firsthand.