1 Comment

I’m a New Englander like Mike and he grew up in the same county I did and in which I live. I am increasingly convinced that New Englanders have our own brand of humor and self expression that defies most of the cultural categories of the rest of the country, and so everyone else either loves us or hates us.

I’m very intrigued by the “blue collar” epithet; someone from Texas described me that way a couple of months ago--also as direct. I took both descriptions as a compliment, but also as hilarious, because I am married to a “blue collar” guy and pastor a church in a blue collar area and I don’t think I fit those descriptions as they actually play out here. I told my husband about them and we both laughed uproariously. Birbigs went to a prep school and I have a Master’s and...it’s all very funny-weird to me.

Expand full comment