In 2007, I was in line for Pinstripes in the Park (a Yankee rally at Bryant Park). I spoke with the couple standing behind me for a moment. They heard my accent. Minutes later, the female in the couple, told a story to her friend about how she used to lend out her ID to her younger friend and how it always embarrassed her when she did. Why? Because her friend had 'that God awful Staten Island accent!' And now all the bouncers saw her name on the ID but heard her friend's accent.Meanwhile, I have the Staten Island accent, spoke to this person and she didn't realize she was standing behind an Islander. Does she really even not know what our accent sounds like, is she exaggerating her friend's accent, or did she just not realize she was in the middle of NYC and was near other Staten Islanders? (She was from Long Island, by the way.)
This is only the latest I personally heard. If you pay attention, you will experience comments like this everyday when you are in the city. People in the other four boroughs and other section of New York and New Jersey are relentless when it comes to making fun of Staten Island.
Please send in your OVERHEARD ABOUT STATEN ISLAND stories to info@postivelystatenisland.com.
I will never forget a co-worker from Long Island mentioning that her father had always negatively referred to Staten Islanders as being "a breed all their own". Naturally offended, I looked at her and said "You do know I'm from Staten Island, don't you?" She just shrugged her shoulders with indifference. Why is it that Staten Island is considered fair game for these kind of pot shots?
ReplyDelete