From fry sauce to social mobility, here’s a closer look at what Gov. Cox says makes Utah ‘weird’
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From the higher-than-average rates of social mobility to burgers sporting a pastrami crown, Gov. Spencer Cox used his State of the State address to list off ways that Utah is unique.
“We’re different. We’re weird. The good kind of weird. The kind of weird the rest of the nation is desperate for right now,” Cox said Thursday night. “And I’m praying that we can keep it that way. So, stay weird, Utah.”
It rings similar to the phrase “Keep Portland Weird.” Terry Currier, originator of that slogan, told his local CBS station that he noticed “big-box retailers” going up all across the country and within his city. While watching this happen, he decided to start a campaign aimed at buoying up Portland’s local businesses.
“When I was coming up with the phrase in the beginning, I was trying to think of something to say, keep Portland unique,” Currier said. “But keep Portland unique didn’t really have a ring to it. And ‘Keep Portland Weird’ definitely did.”
A friend of Currier’s in Austin, Texas, inspired him to take a page out of the city’s book and amend the phrase “Keep Austin Weird” to fit his own city. The phrase “Keep Austin Weird” has similar origins, according to the local NBC station. It was created to encourage celebration of local businesses and quirks that make Austin what it is. Asheville, in North Carolina, is another city that has adopted a similar slogan.
During his speech, Cox explained what he thinks makes Utah weird, ranging from the silly, like the Bear Lake Monster, to the serious, such as Utah being named the best state in the country. Here’s a closer look at seven of the silly and serious “weird” things Cox mentioned about Utah.
Bear Lake Monster
Correspondent Joseph Rich wrote an account of locals claiming they saw serpent-like monsters swimming in Bear Lake. Published in the Deseret News in 1868, Rich wrote, “All lakes, caves, and dens have their legendary histories.”
From there, the legend of the Bear Lake monster grew and more sightings were reported.
“While on the way from Fish Haven, a number of the party saw what they supposed was the celebrated Bear Lake monster,” one account published in the 1881 Deseret News read. “It was described as a large, undulating body, with about 30 feet of exposed surface, of a light cream color, moving swiftly through the water at a distance of three miles from the point of observation.”
For a couple decades in the late 1800s, onlookers claimed to have spotted the Bear Lake monster several times. These claims died down and the Bear Lake monster morphed into the space it currently occupies — a cultural phenomenon and a folk tale.
The most charitable state
A report from WalletHub ranked Utah the most charitable state in the nation, noting that the Beehive State has high rates of volunteer hours and philanthropic donations.
“Utah is the most charitable state, boasting the highest volunteer rate at 40.7% and the most volunteer hours per capita at 39.42 hours,” the analysis said. “The state has a high population of religiously devout individuals, and these spiritual beliefs provide the foundation for Utah’s philanthropy.”
Dirty diet sodas, fry sauce, crown burgers and funeral potatoes
For those unfamiliar with the dirty soda phenomenon, it refers to a drink served up at Utah’s soda shops. Diet Coke mixed with a squeeze of fresh lime, Torani coconut syrup and a splash of half-and-half is the original dirty soda, but there are other combinations, too.
And then, there’s the fry sauce. At its base level, fry sauce is mayonnaise mixed together with ketchup, but fry sauce aficionados can tell you that fry sauce is so much more than that. Some sauces incorporate barbecue sauce, different spices and other twists to beat out the rest. Alongside your fries and fry sauce, if you’re in Utah, you might be having a crown burger. It’s a burger that sports pastrami on top and it’s a delicacy here.
We can’t forget funeral potatoes. A cheesy, potato casserole with a crunchy top frequents the Utah state fair, religious gatherings and family potlucks.
Rejecting zero-sum thinking
Zero-sum thinking is a worldview that “implies that the gains of some are invariably the losses of others, based on the underlying assumption that societal output is limited and that efforts and exchanges, rather than creating value, merely reallocate it,” Harvard study authors explained.
Cox referenced this study, which found that people who live in Utah were the least likely of all respondents to engage in zero-sum thinking. He said that zero-sum thinking is associated with a scarcity mentality.
“This scarcity mentality also leads to false choices,” Cox said in his address. “You either care about the Great Salt Lake or you drive a John Deere tractor. If you want lower taxes, then you must hate public schools. If you have concerns with a federal regulation, then you definitely want to start drilling for oil under Delicate Arch.”
He explained that Utahns reject binary thinking and false choices, and “see abundance in place of scarcity.”
Related
Best state in the nation
Utah was ranked the best state in the nation in a U.S. News and World Report.
“We have something very special here and that special thing is we care about our families and we care about our neighbors” Cox said about the ranking. “And that’s what makes Utah different. And the minute we forget that, we become a second rate city, a second rate state, just like anywhere else.”
Utah ranked first for fiscal stability and economy on the U.S. News and World Report score card. The state ranked fourth for infrastructure, fifth for education and seventh for health care.
Unique spelling of names
If Katherine is spelled Katharine and Madison is rendered Madysen, you might be in Utah.
The unique naming phenomenon has been subjected to academic studies. Brigham Young University professor David Eddington dug into some of the unique traits these names have, according to KSL.com. It’s common for these names to end in “lyn” or “ee” or “ie” giving examples like Breklyn, Bentlee and Hadlie.
“While many of us have a grandfather named LaVar or LaVaun, now each of us has a niece with names like Saydee and Lakynn with extra E’s and N’s and Y’s just strewn about willy-nilly,” Cox joked during his speech Thursday.
Social mobility
For around the last decade, Utah has had a particularly high rate of social mobility, or the ability of people to progress financially and socially in an environment. Social capital and economic mobility rates are also some of the best in the nation.
In 2014, Nancy Cook and National Journal published an article in The Atlantic analyzing why it is that low-income children in Salt Lake City have a high upward mobility rate. “Salt Lake City still possesses two of the major strengths that made it one of the best cities in the country for upward mobility: a strong middle class and a less extreme gap between the rich and the poor,” the article said.
A report from Archbridge Institute released late last year found that Utah had the highest rate of social mobility overall. What the rates ultimately boil down to is how many opportunities there are to move up from one economic class to another and the health of the overall society.
“The American dream lives here. You see, in Utah, we still care about our communities. We still care about our neighbors,” Cox said Thursday. “We still believe that we can solve problems and help those who are struggling. We know that we have a duty to give back and lift others.”
