When we last met, I gave you a set of very tongue in cheek questions for a possible Yooper citizenship test. And then something strange happened…
I started to have people get in touch with me to answer one particular question: about how many counties the U.P. has and which one has all the weird people.
Not for the part about the number of counties in the U.P.– fifteen, if you’re curious– but for the bit about the “weird” people.
I had someone from Iron River call me at work to let me know that all the weird people live in Marquette County.
Another person from Houghton e-mailed to say the weird people were in Menominee County because– and I’m quoting here– “they’re all cheesehead wannabes.”
And then there was the guy who stopped me on the street and joked that we should make a few bucks by selling Chippewa and Mackinac Counties to Traverse City.
I know they’re joking. At least, I think they’re joking.
Tourists seem to have this image of all 300,000 of us as deer-hunting beer addicts who eat pasties for breakfast. But we’re not. We know that a person who lives in Marquette County has different hobbies & beliefs than someone who lives in Ontonagon.
Don’t believe me? Just look at a map of voting patterns. We all live on the same chunk of land, but we’re in no way all alike.
That, however, is our strength. If we were all alike we’d be boring. You could drive around the corner or visit a new town, and you’d know what to expect. That’s not the UP. The UP is a wondrous, magical place filled with a variety of sights and things to do and yes, a variety of different people, from artists in Marquette County to farmers in Luce County.
That’s what makes us, us. That difference defines who we are. And you know what? It’s okay that we joke about the ways in which we’re different, because in the end, there’s one way in which we are all the same, and that’s the most important.
We’re all Yoopers.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts with me.
I’m Jim Koski, one of the weird people of Marquette County, and that’s another slice of “Life in the 906.”
