[MJemison]

I am from WESTERN New York. Grew up on a dairy farm, still live on a farm. In our county (Wyoming, after which the state is named), there are more cows than people. Our town has no stoplight. It does have gaslights. And two coffee shops where carharts and tingleys (coveralls and boots to the un-initiated) are welcome. Turkey season and deer season are the biggest social events of the year. Our lakes are filled with walleyes. The biggest industry in New York is ------------- agriculture. But somehow, everyone seems to think that New York is just one big city. FYI

[EBUCK]

And Oregon isn't chock full of terrorists either. But we have to bear the bad name of our countrymen just the same.

I don't know who has it worse tho.. New Yorkers have to live with being called elitists, and I have to live with the eco-terrorist-green smear.

EBUCK

[mamelukesabre]

The biggest industry in New York is ------------- agriculture. But somehow, everyone seems to think that New York is just one big city. FYI

~~~~~~~~

Ill tell you why. The population of NYC is what? 12 million? And the population of NY state excluding NYC is what?

[genefromjersey]

I hear you ! I grew up in rural Orange County-next door to the Ulster County line. When I was in HS, the principal used to allow any one-who had a hunting license, and permission from parents- to bring unloaded, cased rifle or shotgun to school for Opening Day .

The hunters had to stay in school for 2 hours ( so the school would get the per diem State Aid allotment for them ),and were then free to go hunting.

Can you imagine the uproar and outrage such a policy would create today ?

[balls]

Western New York, i.e. the Buffalo area, and upstate are a complete shock to tourists who expect those areas to, somehow, reflect a relationship to NYC. They are not even remotely related and have more in common with the Midwest. The contrast between the state and NYC is an amazing phenomenon that highlights the extent to which they exist totally independent of each other.