yanks want in , page-62

Bob Gashunter,

You said:

"I'm a Yank and proud of it!"

And elsewhere you said you came from New Orleans.

Passing strange. I thought all yankees came from the North. And I'll tell you why:

In days gone by, I had occasion to live in Texas (for about 6 years!) Naturally I was an avid tourist taking in the sights & sounds & culture of the US.

One time I was driving through the South (Alabama, I think it was) when I stopped by a gas station to fill up. This was the days when gas jockey came out and filled you up.

He listened to me talk and looked at my plates and said:
"Where you frum?"
I said: "Texas"
He said: "You not frum Texas"
I said: "Look at the plates."
He said: "Waaal, I'm thinkun you from Up North."
I said; "Is that right?"
He said: "You a yankee" (with some distaste)
I said: "Well, no, I'm from Australia"
He said: "That's yankee" (!!!)

After the usual: "Y'all come back now"
and my reply "Shore will"
We parted on the best of terms.

And now that I've got the ear of a true United Statian (& Ifeel obliged to mention SSN on this thread before I get moderated) I want to ask a simple question:

How do you pronounce Niobrara? (I still shudder to remember what a mess I made of "Arapahoe" when I first tried to pronounce it.)

This is not a trivial question. Whenever I'm around the BBQ & want to tell someone about the wonders of SSN, I stumble on saying the name of their greatest venture.

Can you help?

Regards, Gung