You know you live in Oregon when...

[JeannieOR]

I just came back from my kids' old cooperative preschool. I got paid to watch 11 kids during the parent meeting. I had help though from a midwife named "Moonstar".

:butterfly

I'm sorry but the whole thing struck me as funny and I couldn't really laugh about it until I got home.

Nice kids though!

[AnnW]

Lot of hippies up there??? LOL

[KarlaB]

ROFL! :lol:

[Amy]

Moonstar huh??? Wouldn't you just love to have her be your midwife-responsible for bringing a child into the world??? LOL

[Amy2]

Actually, I think it would be great to have some earth mama type as my midwife! Careful of judging books by their covers, girls!
Oh, I grew up in Oregon. Amy

[Leigh]

I think that I have to admit that is a pretty unusual name. One I've never heard of before. LOL!

[Lynda/WA]

My *I knew I was in Oregon* bit would have to be the first time I saw someone drink a grass shake (grass & water blended). She offered me a taste and I politely declined. Then she went on to tell me all the health benefits of *purging* and how I have tar in my intenstines. She told me about how its good for cows so it must be good for us. Boy, did my dairy farming relatives get a kick out of that!!

[JeannieOR]

Moonstar seemed like a prefectly nice, capable woman. I just felt like I was walking into some sit-com stereotyped coop preschool. I know a nice couple who still have a child there. They drive a '72 VW bus but Moonstar was just iceing on the cake.

The are also people there who appear quite conventional. (You know their probably the freakiest.)

No... I'm not making this up!

[Lynda/WA]

Don't get me wrong. I like Oregon (as much as any other state I've visited/ lived in) as well. And I like the grass shake drinker as well. (Sometimes she adds in alfalfa sprouts) She is my SILs best friend and origionally from Napa Valley. I did find it irritating when she kept trying to push her set of beliefs (dietary) on me but since she's stopped I get along with her. I can't say anything about her vehicle since it's a Chevy S-10 that we sold her years ago! She plays guitar and sings in a two person folk type band. She looks very 70s.

DH grew up near Klamath Falls and there was a commune nearby. How many people can say they crew up near a commune? Probably more from California and Oregon than anywhere else!

I have found a big difference between people in different parts of the country. The west coast (mainly from above San Fran and up) has more of a hippie mindset then anywhere else. The University of Oregon was ranked number one for activism because they held more protests than any other college. Shortly after that I saw a news report where reporters were interviewing the protesters. They asked some of the students about the protest and half of them couldn't even say what the protest was for! Right after USA Today printed the map of the nation that showed what counties voted Republican/Democrat an analyst went over the map on MSNBC. He described the Oregon/Washington coastline as the Enviromental Belt since there are more enviromentalist here than anywhere else. More Enviromental terrorism has been commited in Oregon than any other state.

Now, I'm not saying any of that is bad (that's for the debate board!) but I am agreeing with the bit about knowing you are in Oregon (or Washington, or Northern Cal) when you see/hear something you would normally equate with the 70's hippie era.

[JeannieOR]

and their is certainly a differance in the underlieing culture there. I think people tend to gravatate to an area were they feel comforable politically.

I actually do have a friend who grew up in a commune in South America. He is a very non-judgmental person. But he earns a lot of money and turned out to be pretty middle of the road politically. (Eats meat and everything) He lives in Colorado now.

[Amy2]

Having grown up in Eugene, I can tell you that while it is a "college town" it is also a "logging town" and there is a lot of debate between the two factions. If you go there, you see the clear cutting that makes you cry! And politically, well, that is where the Citizens Alliance formed. So I think while there are lots of counter culture folks around, there is definitly many, many other thinking folk there as well!

[JeannieOR]

Yes Amy, Stereotypes are just that.

I didn't start the post to affend anyone. I guess I should have known better. I'm sorry. :o

[Amy2]

Jeannie, no offence taken here! Happy Easter back at ya! Amy