r_ness got it right - the ambiguity is deliberate. The reason for the question is that I consider myself *from* boston and always will. But I know people who, for whatever reason, consider that far more mutable. So even if they spent the first 22 years of their life living in the same place they are happy to say they're *from* where they live now. It strikes me as wanting to shed the past*, and I think there's probably a correlation between that and how likely you are to keep your cell phone number**.
In a similar vein, I call 3 places home, boston, my university despite graduating many years ago, and then wherever I pay rent, which is currently chicago.
*I say that without judgment about whether shedding the past is good, bad, or neutral. **Okay, probably not a high correlation, but I bet it's there.
Wow, I feel like I'm having this conversation with everyone lately! I "grew up" in 4-5 different places, depending on how you count, from Florida to Pittsburgh and assorted spots in between. I chose Providence for college -- very deliberately choosing Providence as much as I chose the school -- and have not left New England since.
So at this point, I've lived twice as long in the 1-hour Providence-Boston radius as I lived anywhere I "grew up." I'm from here, in every way that matters to me. (Convert zeal and all that.) But it is handy to be able to say "I'm going home" to mean "I'm going to visit my parents," so I do use "home" sometimes to mean Pittsburgh.
By my definition (which I would note is not as important as your definitions for your point of you) that means you have two homes. I think having a hierarchy is fine, which it sounds like you definitely do.
I'm not arguing that cell phone numbers are always an indication of where people are from. I'm arguing that since cell phones are portable (even before the numbers were), your cell number can identify where you're from, and if that matters to you you can make an effort to keep a number, or make a point of changing it.
Free long distance, having a 'home' area, and pre-number portability made it harder to retain a number, but it didn't make it impossible, so it creates noise in the data, but correlations are rarely perfect.
I guess I'm confused about the point of the question if there's no way to actually know how any given person interpreted it, so the answers are kinda meaningless.
Despite my peeve about the use of the phrase, I don't think it's actually indicative of wanting to shed the past. I think it's just widely-accepted language abuse.
The answers aren't meaningless - they just need to be correlated to figure out whether or not they support my hypothesis. Someday I may even get around to putting this into SPSS and finding out.
As for shedding the past, I'm not making any claims about you. I'm saying that I have observed people going out of their way to change cell phones when they didn't need to and when it cost them money to break a contract - it struck me as a need to identify as being from somewhere other than where they grew up.
ah! i just realized why i had trouble answering your second question before! (i think i commented on it then...)
specifically because i consider two places to be "home" (and because i consider myself to be "from" both of them, in different contexts) i can't answer accurately.
now, if the question had been worded "I consider the area code of my cell phone number to be one of the places I'm from" it would have been okay...
(no criticism of your poll here -- this is all personal. just a little realization on my part...)
I assumed people would insert the 'one of the places' themselves if they needed it. Although I also think that 'where I'm from' is 'where I grew up' even though there are 3 places I call home. And couldn't phrase it that way because not everyone equates 'where I'm from' with 'where I grew up'.
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(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-15 11:19 pm (UTC)In a similar vein, I call 3 places home, boston, my university despite graduating many years ago, and then wherever I pay rent, which is currently chicago.
*I say that without judgment about whether shedding the past is good, bad, or neutral.
**Okay, probably not a high correlation, but I bet it's there.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-15 11:39 pm (UTC)So at this point, I've lived twice as long in the 1-hour Providence-Boston radius as I lived anywhere I "grew up." I'm from here, in every way that matters to me. (Convert zeal and all that.) But it is handy to be able to say "I'm going home" to mean "I'm going to visit my parents," so I do use "home" sometimes to mean Pittsburgh.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-16 05:14 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-15 11:46 pm (UTC)(I will always be "from" NJ, but I now call Florida "home" as well because I am raising my own family here.)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-16 05:21 am (UTC)Free long distance, having a 'home' area, and pre-number portability made it harder to retain a number, but it didn't make it impossible, so it creates noise in the data, but correlations are rarely perfect.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-16 01:49 am (UTC)Despite my peeve about the use of the phrase, I don't think it's actually indicative of wanting to shed the past. I think it's just widely-accepted language abuse.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-16 05:26 am (UTC)As for shedding the past, I'm not making any claims about you. I'm saying that I have observed people going out of their way to change cell phones when they didn't need to and when it cost them money to break a contract - it struck me as a need to identify as being from somewhere other than where they grew up.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-16 01:59 pm (UTC)specifically because i consider two places to be "home" (and because i consider myself to be "from" both of them, in different contexts) i can't answer accurately.
now, if the question had been worded "I consider the area code of my cell phone number to be one of the places I'm from" it would have been okay...
(no criticism of your poll here -- this is all personal. just a little realization on my part...)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-16 02:58 pm (UTC)