Re: Wow. VA sounds like a shithole.
Posted by:
diggDeeep
()
Date: September 04, 2014 02:19AM
Interesting take on the whole NOVA lifestyle current day. I'm a native and former resident, grew up and lived here 'til the early 2000s. Sounds to me like most of you are a bit unfamiliar with our delicate subculture; every area of the country has one, and it's patently misunderstood by newcomers and transients. That said, an explanation:
Shabon Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Is it me, or are people rude and snobbish here? I
> was visiting a family member San Fransisco and the
> people there in general are nicer. While walking
> down the sidewalk, I simply greet people with a
> hello when extended eye contact is made, and lo
> behold, they greet back, with a warm smile to top
> it off, almost without fault! Here in NOVA, when
> I do the same thing, I occasionally end up being
> ignored or i'm given the stank eye. What gives?
Nope, it's not you Shabon, and there's a reason for it. Keep in mind, your residing in the nation's capital. Your neighbors live in NOVA, but many of them work in DC; could be The Hill, The Pentagon, or a myriad of other agencies. With that comes some level of security clearance. First and foremost, we're not to reveal that we hold a clearance AT ALL. We're further briefed on how to conduct ourselves in public or among a circle of friends, but many are still stricken with a bit of paranoia, especially new or newly upgraded clearance holders. Thus the stank eye. Same question was posed to me by my then-new wife years ago. She was a transplant from Dublin who'd only lived in the country for 3 years at the time. She'd go out of her way to befriend a neighbor 4 doors down who eventually took to walking across the street just to avoid her. It was later revealed that the young lady was a captain in the Air Force working at The Pentagon. I told her to drop it from that point forward, and she's cursed the day she moved to NOVA ever since, hence the reason we moved (among others).
Bill.N. Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Get a life Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > This area has turned into a shit hole. If you
> > can't see that your part of the problem.
>
> If it has turned into a shit hole, it is because
> of people like you. Get off your ass and get
> involved. Stop with the "I'm too busy", "That's
> what I pay taxes for" and "That job is beneath me"
> bullshit. Part of what made this area a decent
> place when we were kids was that we had parents
> and others who were willing to do crap they didn't
> want to do in order to make this a better
> community to live and raise families in. There
> are still places and groups like that in NoVa, but
> like then it takes work.
Oh, here here Bill! My Mom was staunchly against us becoming part of the Washingtonian “haves” clique. We did alright, actually very well, but Mom was always about dropping my sister and I at Washington Hospital Center or National Wildlife Federation for volunteer work on the weekends in high school. It was either that or church on Saturday. My guess is there's not much of that going 'round in the area nowadays.
RonO Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Moved to Fairfax from Cambridge 6 years ago.
> before Cambridge, we were in NYC, Detroit,
> Chicago, and Nairobi over the past 25 years.
> Really resisted the whole suburban vibe at first
> here, but it's ok now. My neighbors are all really
> nice people; hell, the whole block is spot on.
>
> My kids can walk to school. The schools they
> attend seem to have few problems and all their
> friends at school are great. Their friends parents
> are all also very nice, down to earth and
> responsible people.
>
> Yes, the traffic sucks, but I ride my bike at
> least 50% of the time and take the VRE to work, so
> I rarely deal with traffic. When I do, I simply
> plan ahead for it.
>
> There are downsides, of course. It's freaking
> expensive here and wayyyyyyy too many mansions and
> rich clowns with their noses in the air putzin'
> around in Jaguars. AND suburbia literally has
> nothing to do in it. I can walk up to the Safeway
> or whatever... that's it. Fairfax City? LOL! It's
> a joke town that's slowly stripping away it's
> older businesses in favor of new, shiny empty
> buildings! Stupid!
>
> That said, I never thought that I'd end up in
> suburbia, let alone the greater DC area when I was
> younger... But, now that I have, I can handle it.
> We have a nice small yard with a massive garden.
> We really like working on our house and
> volunteering around the 'hood. One can really make
> it a decent place. It certainly isn't half as bad
> as people in this thread make it sound.
>
> In fact, I'd venture to guess that most of the
> whiners here are trapped in unhappy homes, with
> crappy parents (yeah, it's that obvious that they
> are young).
Well said, RonO, and what an interesting life you've lived! The contributors do seem a bit young and, sadly, jaded. It troubles me that their viewpoint is such when they're just starting out. Can't say much about the rich clowns. They're everywhere and always will be. Not against the odd Jag in the parking lot either; you earned it, you want it, go get it. But just realized you've been blessed, and you could lose it as easily as you got it. MCI Worldcomm and Arthur Andersen had just fallen hard when I left; wonder what happened to those “haves”.
Just my take on it.