Whenever I tell people that I am from Ohio, the first reaction I usually get is: “Ohio? Where’s that?” The second most popular question from the majority of people here at RPI—who have never traveled farther west than Pennsylvania—is “Are there a lot of cornfields and cows there?” So then, I suppose the subject of my little rant this week would be to inform the masses—as I like to do—of the great beyond. I can understand how many of you must be thinking “Oh my gosh, no! There can’t possibly be anything further than Buffalo! Doesn’t the world just end there?!”
In response to people’s lack of knowledge about the state of Ohio, I’ve had to use my hand to depict Michigan in order to relate its position to Ohio. This usually amuses people, but tends to get the point across. Why is it people know where Michigan is? Is it because it looks like a mitten? Or maybe that its so close to Canada, like New York. I don’t want to be misunderstood, because I was born in Michigan, but what makes it more significant than Ohio?
I think possibly that many people don’t know how important Ohio is to holding together our great country. Looking at American history, more of the United States’ former presidents are from Ohio than any other state. Granted the majority of them were Republicans, but that can’t be held against them.
In addition to pumping out presidents, Ohio is also a great place to find corn. Yes, there are an abundance of corn fields in Ohio, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. If you had some sort of corn-based cereal for breakfast this morning, there is a chance that it might have come from Ohio. Now wouldn’t you be sad if you couldn’t enjoy your favorite cereal? I thought so. An even better question would be what about all the popcorn millions of Americans consume? What would they all do if Ohio didn’t exist?
Now, I can understand why someone might think that Ohio would be a boring place to live, surrounded by all that flat land and corn, and at times I agree. It bothers me, though, that many people who live farther east think that anyone who is from that region of the country was raised on a farm and goes cow-tipping for fun. First of all, while there may be many farms in the area, there are definitely not an abundance of farm families. In fact, the entire country has slowly moved away from being a farming country in favor of industry. Most people know this, since it’s taught in high school American history, but for some reason people still make this assumption.
So then, I hope my discussion has maybe helped some people realize that there is something beyond New York, and that states like Ohio, no matter how small or insignificant they may seem, have just as much value as larger more popular ones. In fact New York and Ohio share the same state insect, the ladybug—which is completely laughable—but somehow strangely uniting.
