During the first week of my new job in 2002, my coworker (let's call him “Mike”), struck up a conversation with me. Knowing Mike as well as I do now, I can only assume we were comparing our caffeine intake habits. I probably said something about that fact that I don’t like coffee, but I do drink pop. I will never forget Mike’s reaction:
“Are you from Sheboygan?”
I was aghast. Shocked. Speechless.
Did this person actually think I was from Sheboygan or was this some sort of Cheesehead slur?
By the look on his face, I realized he was questioning my hometown! Another wave of revulsion came over me.
Couldn’t he see that I was more “deep dish pizza and the White Sox” than “bratwurst and snowmobiling?” That I was more “Southside” than “Up North?” Was I starting to assimilate into this culture? Was my entire Chicago attitude fading away?
After I set Mike straight with some response that surely included eye rolling and the words "let me tell you somethin'," “southside,” “Chicago,” and “temporary resident of Wisconsin,” I realized he was challenging my use of the word “pop.”
Apparently, Milwaukeeans like to use the term “soda” when referring to carbonated beverages, but they are misguided. Soda is a type of pop. Specifically, "cream soda” and “soda water” (seltzer) are varieties of pop. I know people like to ride the fence by using the term “soda pop” but that’s like saying you’re neither a Sox fan nor a Cubs fan, but rather a Chicago fan. Nope, not possible. Pick one side and jump off the fence.
My use of “pop” really, really bothers many Milwaukeeans, much to my delight. I recall a standoff at the Oak Creek Lions Fest one Labor Day weekend. I asked one counter person where I could buy a “pop.” He gave me a look like “Yer not from around here…” and pointed to the bar area and told me that I could find “soda” over there. And I said, “Thanks. I really need some POP.”
“Are you from Sheboygan?”
I was aghast. Shocked. Speechless.
Did this person actually think I was from Sheboygan or was this some sort of Cheesehead slur?
By the look on his face, I realized he was questioning my hometown! Another wave of revulsion came over me.
Couldn’t he see that I was more “deep dish pizza and the White Sox” than “bratwurst and snowmobiling?” That I was more “Southside” than “Up North?” Was I starting to assimilate into this culture? Was my entire Chicago attitude fading away?
After I set Mike straight with some response that surely included eye rolling and the words "let me tell you somethin'," “southside,” “Chicago,” and “temporary resident of Wisconsin,” I realized he was challenging my use of the word “pop.”
Apparently, Milwaukeeans like to use the term “soda” when referring to carbonated beverages, but they are misguided. Soda is a type of pop. Specifically, "cream soda” and “soda water” (seltzer) are varieties of pop. I know people like to ride the fence by using the term “soda pop” but that’s like saying you’re neither a Sox fan nor a Cubs fan, but rather a Chicago fan. Nope, not possible. Pick one side and jump off the fence.
My use of “pop” really, really bothers many Milwaukeeans, much to my delight. I recall a standoff at the Oak Creek Lions Fest one Labor Day weekend. I asked one counter person where I could buy a “pop.” He gave me a look like “Yer not from around here…” and pointed to the bar area and told me that I could find “soda” over there. And I said, “Thanks. I really need some POP.”
Of course when I got to the bar, I realized they were only serving Black Bear products, which are made right here in Oak Creek, WI. Now, I generally try to support local businesses, but this stuff is…well, let's just say I don’t care for it. My husband and son will drink it, but I refuse.
My daughter, who doesn’t like carbonation, and my son will slip and say soda because that’s what their friends say. We’re working on correcting them, but sometimes it seems futile as they were both born in Milwaukee and have been surrounded by Wisconsin culture their whole lives.
To me, it’s pop. It was pop when my parents would buy 8 packs of Pepsi in glass bottles and return the empties to the Jewel. You had to drink the whole bottle in one sitting or else it would go flat in a few hours. (But you would never drink from the bottle. That would be trashy.) It was pop when I mixed it with schnapps and drank it in the woods as a teenager. And it’s a big fountain pop that I need every weekday morning on my drive into work.
Don’t hassle me about it. I call it pop and I probably always will. I’m still coming to terms with the fact that I am a long-term resident of the state.
To me, it’s pop. It was pop when my parents would buy 8 packs of Pepsi in glass bottles and return the empties to the Jewel. You had to drink the whole bottle in one sitting or else it would go flat in a few hours. (But you would never drink from the bottle. That would be trashy.) It was pop when I mixed it with schnapps and drank it in the woods as a teenager. And it’s a big fountain pop that I need every weekday morning on my drive into work.
Don’t hassle me about it. I call it pop and I probably always will. I’m still coming to terms with the fact that I am a long-term resident of the state.
(And I know there is a whole segment of the population that says "Coke" for everything. No one does that here. That's just silly. For futher research on this subject, check out the Pop vs. Soda map. Or just google Pop vs. Soda. There is an alarming amount of research on this devisive subject.)
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I must point out something you said in this post that is a total Chicago thing..."the Jewel." I say it, too: "I am going to the Jewel after work." When I refer to Dominick's, however, I say: "I am going to Dominick's after work." Why is this? Do people in Wisconsin say "I am going to the Pick 'n Save?"
ReplyDeleteGood catch, Deb! I giggled when I wrote that. And you know how much I miss the Jewel since they closed all their Wisconsin stores a few years ago. No, they don't say "I'm going to the Pick N Save." But I have heard, "I'm going to the Pick." "Where did you get these chips?" "At the Pick." So it's used, but only as a nickname. For the record, I never say "the Pick." I call that place "Bitch n Slave," but not in front of the kids. And now I shop at Woodman's whenever I can.
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