So this weekend I’m off to re-visit my former home in Rhode Island. The island itself is not large and the ferry to get there is always on time. I will be spending time at the worldwide headquarters of American Power Conversion, a subsidiary of Schneider Electric. APC, as we like to call it, sits smack dab in the middle of the sod farms of Rhode Island and frankly, if you could find the exact middle of nowhere in such a small state, APC is there.
Rhode Island is a strange place. I love it for a lot of reasons, my son was born there, my daughter was born there, my wife is from there…the list goes on, but I gotta tell you the place drives me crazy too. In Rhode Island there is an entirely different language, culture, and driving rules. Let me share with you some of my observations so that you don’t ever have to go there yourself and if you do, you have a heads up.
Language – There is an entire book devoted to the idioms and craziness of the Rhode Island dialect, but I was actually confused the first time I heard some of the terms, such as.
- Bubbler – One day a kid walked up to me in the halls of the APC world headquarters and asked me where the bubbler was. I thought he was looking for the CEO’s office, but as it turns out he meant the water fountain. Bubbler? (Correction – the pronunciation is “bubblah” as pointed out to me by long time RI resident obgram. I put it in the other way so you could figure out what the heck I was writing)
- Carriage – Yet another day I went to the grocery store with Jen and Sara and Jen yelled at Sara to get a carriage. Sara spoke the language, so she returned with a shopping cart. I thought to myself…well isn’t that dumb.
- Hot – I know what you’re thinking. I know this word, what’s the problem with that one? In Rhode Island this is the thing in your chest that keeps your blood pumping.
- Wicket – The spelling of this word can be seen a thousand ways, but it is a exclamatory statement put in front of other words to punch up the importance of what you just did or saw. “Dude….that was wicket cool!” Sometimes it can come after the event. “Them forttajuly fyahworks was wikkit!"
I could go on and on…check this page out. (Rhode Island expressions) I literally heard almost every one of of these expressions. There was a commercial on the radio for the first 6 months that I lived there that I could never understand what they were saying until I drove by the place at the exact same time the commercial played…something like “Supah quiky maht” I’ll take a picture of it when I’m there for you.
Driving - Since this post is already quite long I’ll give you my single favorite RI maneuver and pick this up later if anyone is interested.
- Since Rhode Island is in New England and New Englanders are rude, then you will understand why this happens. There is no turn taking in Rhode Island. If you want to join the flow of traffic in any location you basically have to keep edging the nose of your car into that traffic until someone either hits you or chickens out. I would never join this game while I lived there and sometimes had to sit and wait for an opening for what was possibly hours. I’ve never seen anything like it. Oh…New Englanders aren’t necessarily rude, they just can’t be bothered.
This is my first trip to Rhode Island since starting this blog, so I will share with you yet another strange land. More later. Send ferry money!
