New England is a State of Mind

Hey pill fans,

So we were well into the 80s yesterday here in New England which is rare for early April but not unheard of in a region where the temps can fluctuate 40 degrees in a day and people are well known for wearing shorts when their is still snow on the ground. As a way to help those who don't live in this area understand this "state of mind," I will share this:

New England is a State of Mind
By Sue Tabb

I heard myself saying the words just yesterday: “It’s way too hot outside.”

This from a girl who claims, at least for nine months of the year, that we live in the most forsaken territory in all the land – the frozen tundra, the land that Mother Nature forgot with its blizzards and hurricanes and springs that sometimes never come.

I spend much of the year complaining about the cold, rain, wind and snow. Now I have the audacity to grumble about the abundant sunshine and warm temperatures. My friend, a West Coast transplant, can’t understand such behavior. She is utterly bewildered by my hypocrisy.

“Don’t you hate the winter?” she asks.
“Yes,” I reply without hesitation.
“Don’t you dread the cold, the rain, the wet springs?”
“Yes, yes and yes.”
“Then why don’t you move out to California? You’d love it there.”
“And leave New England? Are you crazy? Why would I ever leave New England?”

The thing that people who didn’t grow up here fail to understand is that native New Englanders have a love/hate relationship with this region. We consider it our Yankee right to whine about the weather, New England sports teams, and crazy out-of-town drivers. But despite our critical diatribes, we really can’t imagine life any other way. And we don’t appreciate other people criticizing these same things. It’s like when you were young and you would make fun of your little brother. That was fine, but if someone else started doing it, you’d threaten to pummel them to the ground. It makes little sense, but it’s a universal trait for those of us who survived the blizzard of ’78, the ’86 World Series heartbreak and the Big Dig debacle.

Others may see this behavior as irrational, even obnoxious and the thing is … we don’t care. That’s the true beauty of it.

We are not afraid to display our New England-ism. We do so in a myriad of situations that may sound familiar to you. If they don’t, you are either a mutant or not from these here parts:

• We will call the driver in front of us – and behind us – an “idiot” while talking on our cell phone, drinking our regular coffee and trying to switch out the DVD in the portable player in the back seat. Oops, didn’t notice that red light but, really, who would?

• We’ll curse the snow while shoveling out from under 12 inches, then jump into the car and go skiing. On the way home we’ll remark how lucky we are to live so close to the mountains. No one in the car will pick up on the irony.

• We will boast to friends in other parts of the country that the fall foliage in New England is spectacular – like no other place on the planet, then curse every $@! leaf as we rake our expansive lawns.

• We consider ourselves the most loyal, patient baseball fans in all the universe (we waited 86 years didn’t we?) but we’ll give up our first born if you let us cut in front of you while pulling out of one of the Fenway lots.


• We will spend a considerable amount of cash to travel to warmer locales during the winter months and then retreat to our air-conditioned houses during the summer, trying to escape the “awful” heat.

• We’ll make certain we don’t even glance in the direction of the person standing in an elevator with us and then, maybe the very same day, talk about how unfriendly those New Yorkers can be.

Do you see a pattern here? If you are from New England you’re response is fairly predictable: “No I really don’t, and what’s your point anyway?” (I am so proud to be among you!)

I’m hoping that this column will help my West Coast pal understand the psyche that is at work here. She really thinks that I would move to California where every day is 70 degrees, the people are laid back and the livin’ is easy.

Are you kidding? And miss the opportunity to wear flip flops and a parka on the same day?

Not on your life.