Are Austin residents pretentious? (Houston, Dallas: buy, live in, groceries)

[bungalowbob]

Is there competition in Austin to appear more liberal, enlightened, tolerant, and caring than your neighbor? Austin seems peculiar.

[love roses]

Yes, sometimes I think so. But not too,too often.

[infinity & beyond]

No, it's really not very pretentious. It's extremely accepting and liberal - people are so nice, it's easy to strike up conversations and make life long friends from in the most mundane instances.

Dallas is more pretentious than Austin, but Dallasites are just as friendly in my opinion.

[GreenPlastic]

Yeah, it's a bit pretentious. If you live Central, there is some holier-than-thou, but not the religious kind...it's more of a who is more green, more PC, etc. It's not so bad that it's unbearable though...more like something to laugh at. One of my neighbors complains that another neighbor only fills one recycle bin, instead of the two we do. I was thinking maybe that guy doesn't consume as much junk we do, but oh well...

[austin-steve]

Originally Posted by bungalowbob

Is there competition in Austin to appear more liberal, enlightened, tolerant, and caring than your neighbor? Austin seems peculiar.

In what way does Austin seem peculiar to you?

[atxcio]

Originally Posted by bungalowbob

Is there competition in Austin to appear more liberal, enlightened, tolerant, and caring than your neighbor? Austin seems peculiar.

Eh, perhaps a little. Like if you drive an SUV, you park it in the garage... if you drive a Prius, it stays outside so everyone can see. Something like that?

I still prefer that attitude to the "Keeping up with the Joneses" pointless displays of wealth (real or not) that you might see in LA, Dallas or Houston..

[DeadInSuburbia]

Originally Posted by atxcio

Eh, perhaps a little. Like if you drive an SUV, you park it in the garage... if you drive a Prius, it stays outside so everyone can see. Something like that?

I still prefer that attitude to the "Keeping up with the Joneses" pointless displays of wealth (real or not) that you might see in LA, Dallas or Houston..

Indeed, what you're describing sounds attractive, not "a little peculiar" in a bad way.

[Raskolnikov]

Originally Posted by bungalowbob

Is there competition in Austin to appear more liberal, enlightened, tolerant, and caring than your neighbor? Austin seems peculiar.

Yes. I'd say liberal and enlightened and tolerant, but not necessarily caring. (Like you don't really have to care about people, you just have to express the right amount of outrage towards oppressors). But the final competition is also attached to other things like what part of town you live in. Where you buy clothing, shoes, coffee and groceries also matters a great deal, as does your occupation and level of education. Cool points are awarded in every category, and getting a zero in any area will result in a failing grade.

[austin-steve]

Yes. I'd say liberal and enlightened and tolerant, but not necessarily caring. (Like you don't really have to care about people, you just have to express the right amount of outrage towards oppressors).

That's well said. I think it describes a lot of people, not just in Austin, but everywhere. It's easy, for example, to express outrage about the plight of homeless people, but how many of us personally perform a caring act, or volounteer service that would further a remedy for that of which we complain?

And even the occassional act seems grounded in some other motivation. I cringe when I listen to people at a holiday party (with way too much food) who do go on about what a great time they had during their annual 3 hours of dipping soup for the homeless (always near Thanksgiving or Christmas) at some church.

Underneath the rose cheeked ebuliance of their gushing self praise is what I would call true pretentiousness. Like a social ornanament that says "I care" to hang upon one's persona.

There is nothing wrong with helping out in such a manner once a year, but doing so doesn't save the world or warrant repeated recounting of the experience to others.
Steve

[Trainwreck20]

Where you buy clothing, shoes, coffee and groceries also matters a great deal, as does your occupation and level of education. Cool points are awarded in every category, and getting a zero in any area will result in a failing grade.

I am sure this is true for some people, but I have never asked (or cared) about any of the above, nor have I felt I have ever had anyone judge me on the above. I have waited tables, I have been an engineer, and I have been a teacher, and I still 'mix' with all those people. To tell you the truth, I have much more respect for people that can forgo the big bucks to do something that they like. Definite cool points for teaching or waiting tables , not so much for my current job, engineering....