We stood up as the two pretty blond women stepped in front of us to get to their seats next to us.  As they got themselves situated, the lady to my right asked me how I had talked my husband into going to this particular show.  (The show was “War Paint” – check it out). I explained he wasn’t my husband but a good friend and I hadn’t given him much choice honestly.  She then asked me where we were from, to which I responded, Lincoln Nebraska.  She hesitated, took a breath and said “Oh. (pause) I suppose someone has to live there.  We’re from SoCal.”.  Which for me completely explained the California blond look with the designer outfit, including jeans with designer rips and the blank valley girl looks on their faces.  Just kidding.  But had I perceived them the way they apparently perceived me, that’s what I would have said.

This isn’t the first time I’ve received this type of response from someone outside of Nebraska, especially as it pertains to either coast.  People in the middle of the country “get it”.  However, for those on the perimeters, the middle is apparently a wasteland, suitable only for gun toting farmers, corn, cows, and flyover country.  And I’ll be honest with you, I may have thought the same way before I moved here 17 years ago.  I mean, after all, New York is the “City that Doesn’t Sleep”.   Los Angeles is “The City of Angels”.  Boston is the “Cradle of Liberty “and San Francisco is the “Golden Gate City”.  My city of about 300,000 has no particular name, however, our state motto is “Nebraska Nice”.  Nice.  That’s it.  Nothing more.  Just “Nice”.

But you know, the longer I live here, nice pretty well describes it.  I’m not talking about the wind chill in the winter.  It will never be “nice”.  However, I have found the people to be amazingly nice.  And kind.  And thoughtful.  And selfless.  And hard working.  And it’s a great place to raise kids.  Seriously.  They take pride in their public schools here. And, as I look at it, it can be not so nice elsewhere.  Sure, the big cities have great arts venues and restaurants, but I can’t afford to live in most of them.  They’re exciting and energizing – to a point.  They’re great for a visit, but when it comes to actual “living”,  I now prefer going home to beautiful sunsets.

In fact, I believe the rest of the country could learn a little something from us.  The friend I was with holds a PhD and serves on a national board within his field.  As do I.  Not the PhD part, but I do have a college degree.  And we were in New York at the invitation of the Metropolitan Opera.  Educated. And our people have a social conscience.  We too hold protests against things we disagree with and for those things we support.  Peacefully.  We attend college football games where, win or lose, the home crowd applauds for the visiting team at the end of the game as they head to the locker room.  Nice.  Our state government is a unicameral which has one legislative chamber so that members must work together and not separate by party lines.  Not that they don’t disagree, but they have the freedom to work outside of party lines.  Collaboration.  People from Nebraska have become astronauts, presidents, billionaires, actresses, scientists, and musicians.  Achievers.  We have the 5th lowest unemployment rate in the country. Hard working.  Shall I go on?

And sure, there are more people in New York City than the entire state of Nebraska, but quantity doesn’t always mean quality.  Now, I shared that I am not a native Nebraskan, and during my life I have lived in eight different states and traveled to most of the others. And my idea of Nebraska was a little bit of wild west with lots of corn.  Well, there IS a lot of corn, and soybeans and more cattle than people.  But once I really met the people, a lot of my previous perceptions disappeared.

As an aside, let’s talk oh so briefly about politics.  Very briefly.  In looking at a map of the United States based on red or blue states (if you take these things into consideration), the vast majority of the map is red.  The right and left coast are blue with a few other things scattered in between.  This in itself tells me that we perceive life and people very differently depending on where we live.  And that in turn contributes to the misconceptions people have about each other.  Recently I had a friend who shared on social media that she sat next to someone who said something she disagreed with.  After a little hesitation, she spoke up about how she felt.  This person explained why he felt the way he did.  While they still did not agree at the end, they each expressed themselves and the why they felt that way.  I wonder what would happen if people in blue states would do that with people in red states.  A little like applauding those football opponents, even if we lose.  Relationships with all people should be bigger than politics.  Nice.

Now, I’m not sure I could convince someone from beautiful southern California that where I live is better than where they live.  I wouldn’t mind a little more warm weather and palm trees myself.  But if they wanted a good life with good people, I would no longer hesitate to suggest they stop just flying over Nebraska and maybe stop in and check us out.  Most people are surprised at just how nice it can be.