It's natural to be homesick or to be used to something different, but that works both ways. A Californian in Utah could be homesick for California and a Utahn in California could be homesick for Utah.Whistler wrote:I'm sounding like a whiny Californian again, but some of us are just homesick or used to something different. And by some of us I mean me.
What's different about the Utah stereotypes, in my observation, is that it they only work in the anti-Utah direction and that they come from all sides to gang up on Utah.
An example of the first issue is that I've never heard anyone say nasty stereotypes about Idaho Mormons or Arizona Mormons, even though there are significant Mormon populations in those states, so if it's a mere matter of homesickness, there should be just as many Utah Mormons making nasty comments about Mormons in other states.
An example of the second issue is that a Hawaiian who comes to Utah and a Mainer who comes to Utah will probably both be very homesick, but each of them should be homesick for completely different things, since Hawaii and Maine are as different from each other as each is from Utah. And yet, I've heard many people from backgrounds that don't have much in common with each other gang up to make anti-Utah remarks.
I will acknowledge that there are some serious observational biases at work, here. For starters, I grew up in Utah and did my undergrad there, so I had a lot of exposure to non-Utahns coming to Utah and very little experience with Utahns going to not Utah. And I have definitely heard stories of Utahns (or people from the greater Mormon Corridor) making disparaging or naive or unappreciative comments when they had to move outside of that area. So, just because I don't think I've acted like a jerk as a Utahn moving to the Midwest or to New England, that certainly doesn't mean everyone in that position has behaved well. And it's reasonable that people who are sick of hearing about Utahns complaining about living in the "Mission Field" or having to move out of "Zion" would have some negative stereotypes about Utahns. (Although then I have to point out the selection bias and confirmation bias at play there, too. Selection bias in the sense that you're more likely to be aware that the annoying Utahns are from Utah, because they're the ones who won't shut up about it. And confirmation bias, of course, because once you have it in your head that Utahns are annoying, you'll find a lot of evidence to back it up.)
Also, people will make disparaging comments about how terrible it is to live in Utah and in the same breath say that Utahns are all soft and weak, without acknowledging that the very things they think are hard about living in Utah also affect Utahns. E.g., I've found an apartment to live in when I get to Provo, but I'd really rather live in a different complex about six blocks away that won't be open until the fall. In Maine, that half mile wouldn't make any difference in terms of my Church activity. (After my first year here, I moved to a completely different town about four miles away and still stayed in the same ward with the same calling, etc.) In Utah, by contrast, moving those six blocks will probably put me in a completely different stake, and so, although I'd love to live in the new complex, I also have to weigh that against pulling up ward roots after only six months. So, small ward boundaries in Utah lead to high ward turnover which affects one's ability to make meaningful connections at church but that affects Utahns as well!
