Is There A “One Size Fits All” Coloradan?
By Kelsey Lindsey
I’M A BIG FAN OF COLORADO. But being born and raised, I sometimes think I suffer a lover-shaded bias to the Centennial State, no doubt won over by its shower of mountain sunsets and craft-beer-infused dinners. It was only after I moved away for a few months — to the dark and scary EAST COAST, full of all those cynical types no doubt suffering from some mild, sun-starved depression — that I acquired a more retrospective look on my land-locked lover. It is, as I’m told, a natural cycle in long-distance relationships. And while many of my macro musings reinforced my distanced longing for Colorado, some harsh realities came about from this time away.
This being Colorado, two common East Coast misconceptions I ran into time and time again provoked my reevaluation: 1) Colorado is a cloudy haze occupied by stoners and hippies (but, like, really nice stoners and hippies) and/or 2) over-enthused health freaks that long for a new brand of protein powder the same way all the rest of the US longs for a cronut or margarita. We’re healthy, lovable, type-Bs that willingly put our bodies through Ironmans all while wearing a stupid happy-go-lucky grin.
I know that Colorado isn’t alone in being branded state-specific stereotypes. Texas has its gun-loving cowboys and Florida is supposedly full of old people and uneducated alligator wrestlers. And sometimes stereotypes are there for a reason — there seems to be some resemblance of truth in a fraction of them. But sometimes I wonder if Colorado takes it too far, creating too many requirements to slap a “Native” bumper sticker on the back of your car.
What if you don’t enjoy a hit of marijuana, even socially? And what if your idea of having fun is binge-watching Netflix all day rather than waking up at 6am to climb a fourteener? Are we shaming our residents, both old and new, into becoming something that helps us hold on to the “skinniest state in America” moniker or hash-tinged allure?
Both of these caricatures — the obsessed health freak and stoner — can be harmful if taken to the extreme. It raises the ultimate questions in a piece, I’m aware, with far too many of them:
Should we be fighting back against these stereotypes in an effort for wider acceptance?
It’s something to consider, going into the New Year. Some may say that without these personalities, our state will lose the appeal that attracts new residents every day. But I say, in an expanding population, the more the merrier. After all, we Coloradans are just too unique to be tied down to stereotypes. That’s one characteristic I’m more than happy to promote any day.
