One of my co-workers has one of those "someecards" things at her desk that says "I'm wearing an NC State shirt because I went to NC State. You're wearing a Tarheels shirt because you bought it Walmart."

Speaking of the things that drive me up the wall:

It's Tar Heel, not Tarheel.

Ditto to this! I know several obnoxious UT fans that didn't even graduate from high school b/c, as they put it-"I was having too much fun and dropped out." I don't get it :confused:and maybe it wouldn't get on my nerves if they weren't so freaking obnoxious about a school they never attended.

I don't see how the use of boyfriend or girlfriend could be a "pet name". A pet name is like, babe, honey-boo, pookie, sweetie, etc.

I just think using "friend" is too ambiguous in these modern times. Adult male/female platonic friendships are much more common today then say, 30-40 years ago where you could introduce someone as your "lady friend" and people could read between the lines.

I don't either.

Then don't use it. :) If you and the woman in your life are comfortable referring to each other as "boyfriend" and "girlfriend", then by all means, practice what the two of you agree on, and work on the small things you don't. I just think that couples who operate on the same wavelength maintain a consistent balance that increases productivity and the overall satisfaction with life and longevity in the relationship. It simply takes too much energy to try to get along with someone you don't agree with. This is why agreement is important.

What "people" have said about relationships "30-40 years ago", what is now socially acceptable today, and what "people" will change it to "30-40 years" from now, or whether they're able to "read between the lines" or not really isn't important, to me.

But like I always say, "to each its own". :p

I think I posted this in another thread. I can't remember, but I think I'm going to scream the next time my boss says "but, there again"....Oh, dear God! He says that all the time.

This post made me realize that I was speaking in very broad terms and should clarify.

People who root for a school that is not their own doesn't necessarily bug me, depending on how far it goes. I am okay with people casually cheering for a team. For example, I cheered for Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl last year; my uncle went there, they're a Big Ten team, etc, etc, yay, go Badgers.

What I am NOT okay with, is someone who has no connection to a team and is ALL. ABOUT. THAT TEAM. A co-worker is like this with Ohio State. He went to college in Indiana and has no other ties to Ohio State except that he lived there. WTF?! Another example is I have a friend who is a BIG fan of both Alabama and Florida even though she went to Illinois. Her only logic is that she lived on both states for a little bit when growing up. Again, wtf!

Yes, it can be made, but I don't agree with it ;) (As I mentioned before, I know it makes me sound snobby. I've accepted it.:p)

See, I guess I just don't get the whole "becoming fans before you go to college thing", but maybe I'm a special case because I grew up in a big city with professional sports teams. I really didn't have any friends growing up who supported a college team before they went away to school. We didn't need the cheer for the Illini football (partly because there's not much to cheer about) because we had the Bears. We didn't need to cheer for Illini basketball because we had the Bulls (the 90s Bulls, nonetheless!!!) So maybe my perception is a bit warped and it's more normal than I realize for people to be big fans of their local college.

I still don't like it ;)

This may be a Southern phenomenon. Down here college > professional sports for most people. Somebody from Mississippi is going to root for which nearby professional team, exactly?

Edited to add: I love that I posted "down here" when I am currently in Chicago. Guess I know where my heart will always be!

That's just it. You grew up in an area with a glut of professional teams. In the South, especially, college sports are MUCH bigger than pro sports. Don't get me wrong, I love the Saints, but for the majority of my formative years, I couldn't even watch any games on TV because Baton Rouge fell into the black out zone when the Super Dome didn't sell out. Cheering for the local college sports team is part of the culture. You might not understand it, but it is what it is.

ETA: I was just watching LSU football as a kid. I got to see Shaq play many times in person at the PMAC when I was in HS. My whole family follows LSU baseball as they've won their College World Series Titles, and I'll be on Omaha next time they make it to the tournament since I live out west. Being an LSU fan is part of being Louisianian.

"Can I turn my paper in late?"

"Why don't you want to transfer to UD? It's one of the best colleges in the country." I visited the school twice and it just wasn't exciting for me. People need to understand that sometimes people don't want to go to colleges based on their ranking.

I can see that.

LOL. Snobbery aside :p, see additional point below.

This, this, this! Things have changed some as more and more people from "away" have moved in and as the Panthers, Bobcats and Hurricanes have come along, but in NC, college sports -- basketball in particular -- have always been a much, much bigger deal than professional sports.

The Super Bowl? A good reason for the church youth group to get together at someone's house for a party. The World Series? Is that on tonight? The NBA (outside Charlotte)? The place where we can follow what those who played here did after college. Otherwise, pretty much irrelevant.

But the ACC Tournament? A reason for TVs in every office in the state. Yes, I remember in 7th grade when the teachers gave us busy work and the school played the ACC Tournament over the PA system on a Thursday afternoon. Yes, I've been to wedding receptions in church fellowship halls where TVs were set up in discrete places so that guests could keep up with the games.

The traditional question has never been "Do you root for any college teams?" It's "Who do you root for?," because it's assumed everyone roots for someone. And it starts at a very early age. Usually, it's a family thing -- "They're State fans" is kind of on a par with "They're Baptists."

And I wonder a little if attitudes about public universities vary from region to region. Here, the historical understanding was always that the University of North Carolina (the consolidated system, not just UNC-Chapel Hill) belongs to the people and has an obligation not only to provide educational opportunities but to serve the state. So I think there is some degree of stake-holding in and identification with those schools, even by people who didn't go there.

And looking at the bigger Southern conferences, I note that all but one of the schools in the SEC are public schools, and all but four of the schools in the ACC are public schools. (And two of those four are relatively recent additions to the ACC.) So, the conferences that many people follow are public-school heavy.

"Are you guys open 24 hours?"
Yes
"So if I wanted to ship a package after 10 tonight, you'd be open?"

Basically, people asking me questions they already know the answer to.