Interesting thoughts on Wisconsin

Now, I must first put a disclaimer on this post by saying I loved the time we spent in Wisconsin. Everyone we met was so friendly and open and just plain nice. Maybe they were just nice because they had to be, but really, everyone was so welcoming. From the store clerks to the airline employees, I really was impressed by how friendly everyone was.


Another thing I am now SO jealous of, is the fact that Wisconsinites (is that really a word) don't have to water their lawns. I look at my paltry patch of half-dead grass and just cringe. I almost want to move to Wisconsin just for the fact that my lawn and plants would be green and I wouldn't have to do a dang thing. I really could almost pack my bags and move there. Almost.... Except for one thing. In Wisconsin, people love to par-tay. All. the. time. Maybe it's because we were there over the 4th of July weekend, or maybe people there just like to drink. I don't know, but we literally could not go anywhere without getting smoke blown in our faces or bumping into some one's beer cup. Maybe I'm just sheltered living in Utah, but really I was amazed by the amount of drinking/smoking/partying that we witnessed.


I was feeling really judgemental and thinking maybe I just had a "holier than thou" attitude. But then, I saw this article as we were getting ready to fly out of the Appleton, Wisconsin airport. Click on the interactive U.S. Map part and you'll see that Wisconsin ranks #1 in how prevalent alcohol is in its resident's lives. Utah is #49.


I found that very interesting. Not interesting in a bad way, just interesting. And after seeing that article, I felt somewhat validated in the way I felt that weekend. Wisconsinites do place a greater importance on alcohol than Utahns. It's part of their culture and way of life. That's fine by me, but I was really glad to make my way back to Utah. Now, if you take the alcohol out of Wisconsin, I'd love it there. But then maybe alcohol is what makes its people so friendly. Food for thought...