No, Not There
I’m very proud to be from Delaware, but I quickly discovered when I left in 1997 that I had to be very, very careful when people asked where I was from. I was used to simply saying Delaware, or Delaware, Ohio, but if I said the later people either had no idea what I was talking about or seized upon the Delaware, shut their ears to the rest of it, and proceeded to tell me what an awesome time they had at Dover Air Force Base (state of Delaware), or that they’d never met anyone from the state of Delaware.
I’m sure the sigh I emitted has been echoed by generations of Delaware residents.
After years of trial and error, and a long stint of saying “Ohio” then “Just north of Columbus – the city of Delaware” if I was asked for details, I settled upon “The city of Delaware in the state of Ohio” (For Americans, anyway. Other nationalities just got “Ohio – right below the Great Lakes. Kind of in the northern eastern middle”. We are not the only nation bad at geography).
My solution, while remarkably specific, works very, very well for conversations in person and on the telephone. I thought I had the issue solved.
You would think that with the widespread use of the internet now that things would be easier (History lesson – we did have internet in 1997 but most Americans did not have it in our homes, nor did we have smart phones). Most shopping in 1997 was done either in person or by catalog, and it really wasn’t an issue either way. And most internet shopping or address changes I made were a snap. Once I got the new address in my browser as my home address, auto fill took care of the rest of any addresses I had to enter. It’s a lot easier now to change addresses than it used to be.
I’d almost forgotten about the no, not there problem until I needed to order a new laptop. I sourced one, bought it and waited. All was well until I got a notice my laptop was coming to Ohio, Delaware USA via a national carrier. I contacted the carrier, who told me they couldn’t see the details of the shipment without the manufacturer entering it, and to contact the manufacturer. I did so via chat, so I’d have a record of the conversation in case things went horribly wrong. The rep told me it was coming to Ohio, Delaware, USA and didn’t understand that Delaware and Ohio are both states. They wouldn’t coordinate with the carrier but would cancel the order. And so that’s what I did. I wasn’t going to take a chance at it being delivered to some random address in another state.
Of course, the laptop circled my house for hours on the truck before being diverted, and it took the manufacturer 21 days to refund my money. I bought a laptop from another manufacturer who understands US addresses. And I thought that surely this was an anomaly I’d laugh about someday.
And then I got in touch with county veteran’s affairs.
Apparently, they get so many calls from veterans in other Delawares who have the wrong webpage and contact information, including Delaware, Pennsylvania, that they confirm you have the right office prior to making an appointment. I think they finally believed I was from here when I noted I grew up here and asked if they were in the old county courthouse next to the old Carnegie Library.
The struggle is real and continuing.
I got curious and looked it up – apparently there are places named Delaware in Virginia, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, New Jersey, Missouri, Michigan, Louisiana, Kentucky, Iowa, Indiana, Arkansas, and New Zealand. There are places called Ohio in Texas, New York, Missouri, Illinois, Georgia, Colorado, Chad, the Philippines, Nigeria, and Australia. I’m sure all of them have similar stories and struggles of “no, not there”. In that we are not alone.