Here’s where we just take it in, Product Managers. Share this link with folks outside our org for their opinion on anything that we are doing or not doing to strengthen community. Time to grow a set of ears.
Now, keep in mind… this space was originally intended to just collect information for the product planning and development group, and it has my name on it (… admittedly a lame move…) I DO reserve the right to remove comments that are profane, completely inappropriate… or legally slanderous. Otherwise… let’s hear constructive information from our communities.
Invitation open. Are you ready?
For the purpose of iowa.com I’d like to see how many items we can come up with:
UNTRUE THINGS ABOUT IOWA
i.e. We do not, in general, grow potatoes.
I am sure we can come up with things much more creative and funny, but you need to start somewhere. Please help.
This may not be relevent to now since it was in 1972 but Belive it or not but when we moved to St. Charles Missouri from Indianola Iowa I was actually asked if we still had Indians roaming on horseback!
Iowans are not all farmers who don’t know any better, as my dad thinks. And we’re not all conservatives, as our caucus results show!
This might not be what you’re looking for?
We say purse, they say pocketbook.
We say turn it off, they say cut it off.
We say hello, they say hey now.
We like our tea straight, they like it with a bunch of sugar.
We do have friends in MO and these are my observations so far.
Where did you come up with Viral Marketing?
It sounds like a something I don’t want to catch, IMHO.
Only thing I remember hearing…as a former Missourian…is that you could donate the lower third of Iowa to Missouri and raise the cummulative Iq’s of both states.
One other observation: Driving from MO to IA it noticed MO pick-up drivers have camo and gun racks with guns. IA pick-up truck drivers wear more hunter’s orange and have fishing poles in the gun racks.
Some think we all live on farms and wear bib-overalls
We all get around with horse and buggy
IOWA does not stand for Idiots out wandering around!
Untrue things people say about Iowa:
Iowans are ignorant and uncultured. Iowa is flat. There is nothing to do/see in Iowa. Iowa is boring. Iowa is solely corn and pigs.
Proof that this is untrue (not necessarily in corresponding order):
RAGBRAI, Iowa State Fair (listed in the book “1000 Places to See Before You Die”), Mississippi River Valley, Loess Hills, Iowa’s Scenic Byways, National Czech & Slovak Museum, Iowa Speedway, Meredith Willson, Arthur Collins, James Van Allen, Grant Wood, not to mention the way people have pulled together for disaster recovery.
Some of the untrue things that people say about Iowa we might just want them to continue believing… we don’t want all our secrets out. Do we?
An Iowa grasshopper walks into a bar. The bartender says, “Hey we have drink named after you.”
The grasshopper says, “You have a drink named Vern?”
Verg and Bernie, two elderly Iowa friends, met in the park every day to feed the pigeons, watch the squirrels and discuss world problems like how fast the corn is growing.
One day Bernie didn’t show up. Verg didn’t think much about it and figured maybe he had a cold or something. But after Bernie hadn’t shown up for a week or so, Verg really got worried. However, since the only time they ever got together was at the park, Verg didn’t know where Bernie lived, so he was unable to find out what had happened to him.
A month had passed, and Verg figured he had seen the last of Bernie, but one day, Verg approached the park and — lo and behold! –there sat Bernie! Verg was very excited and happy to see him and told him so. Then he said, “For crying out loud Bernie, what in the world happened to you?”
Bernie replied, “’I've been in jail.”
“Jail?” cried Verg. “What in the world for?”
“Well,” Bernie said, “You know those cute Hawkeye cheerleaders that jump and around and yell at the games where I go sometimes?”
“Yeah,” said Verg, “I remember them. What about them Hawkeye cheerleaders?”
“Well, one day they filed assault charges against me; and, at 79 years old, I was so proud that when I got into court, I pled ‘guilty’! The darned judge gave me 30 days for perjury.”
They might say: “Iowa stole our honey!”
Apparently – a while back – the two states nearly went to war over a plot of land on which honey bees were raised.
True story:
When I was working for Bechtel Engineering and traveling all over the country, I met a woman from Iowa and a relationship blossomed. One night she called my hotel room in Chicago and said “if you are going to sweep me off my feet, then you better start sweeping buster!”
I think this epitomizes the strength and fortitude of Iowa women! I know, because I did eventually marry one and I have been sweeping ever since.
A positive spin…. “Is this Heaven? No, it’s Iowa” from the movie Field of Dreams
We’re not Idaho or Ohio. When in college at the University of Iowa there was a joke and even a t-shirt that read…”The University of Iowa, Idaho City, Ohio” since many people mixed up Iowa with Idaho or Ohio.
Thanks for the great submissions! I have recently wondered how an Iowa HAIKI or LIMERICK might look here. That could be a lot of fun… feel free to add more.
– Stephanie Heck