Why Are People in SoCal So Rude? (Pittsburg, Nice: mattresses, neighborhood)

[ZebraCrossing]

I left Southern California several years ago and now live in SW Florida. I have never lived in a place with so many rude and miserable people. Granted the majority are certainly 'snowbirds' but even people working in shops and the public sector have forgotten, or perhaps never learnt, how to interact with customers. When I read postings about this in forums for other cities like Portland, OR similar comments are made so maybe it's a national malaise. A smile and a 'good morning' goes a long way into making someones day.

[scratchNsniff]

I'm originally from Phoenix and people THERE are rude compared to Southern Californians. I think it's the heat and the general desperation of the times, and that sentiment is creeping into CA too, the ocean breezes and weather and sunshine don't seem to be dissipating it much when you have to work 3-4 jobs to get by and have no time to enjoy anything.

I noticed something between the IKEA in Phoenix and the IKEAs in SoCal a few months ago and pointed it out to my friend. Being a young single woman trying to load boxes into my car at the Southern CA IKEAs, I can always count on someone to lend me a hand with a big box, either an IKEA worker or a fellow customer loading their car.

At the Phoenix (Tempe) IKEA, my friend (also a young woman) and I were attempting to load a particularly heavy couch, in many pieces, into my car. In the 30-45 minutes we were there struggling to get this thing in there, no workers showed their faces and a couple loading their truck next to us gave us some advice about how to fit the couch in the back of my car before driving away. I've never been at an IKEA in California where somebody didn't at least offer to lend a hand with something.

[HSP1161]

Originally Posted by MountainBiking

California isn't for me anymore. I've lived in So. California all of my life. I started my shortlist of out of state cities/towns I would like to relocate to and have even visited a few of them this summer. At the end of the month I'll visit some more.

The traffic, graffiti, the illegal immigration problem, high unemployment, high workers comp rates and the cost of living here leaves a lot to be desired. Its very hard to set up a small business. Landlords will only talk to you if you have a chain and most are really arrogant about it. The state is broken and has major hurdles to clear. The quality of life is evaporating. If you want to enjoy the outdoors like rivers, lakes, mountains etc., everywhere you go its crowded. Climate wise its one eternal summer. I want to experience the changing of the seasons.

Yes, California is not for me anymore. Its time for me to leave.

You caught the "I want out" bug! Good luck.

[HairyMan]

To be honest, as a San Diegan, you're right SacalaitWhisperer. I work on the UCSD campus as a lab assistant and most students I know, with two as an exception, are very cut throat. They are more interested in their own acheivements then they are with being kind to others. In fact, I'm that way.

Also, other San Diegan I know are easily offended. If you bring up a veiw point contrary to theirs, they will go on a whole speel on how you're wrong and they're right. Sadly, they use emotional thinking and cheap superficial logic. And since I'm saying this, I might have proved myself correct.

Now, keep in mind I just decribed a small percentage of Sds: UCSD students, children of university faculty, those who live in La Jolla, the elite, you get the picture. The Clairemont people I met are very kind and quite- Pacific Beach people are fun and polite- and Oceansiders are chilled. Again, I only met a few handfuls of these people, so take this with a grain of salt.

But the facts are that alot of San Diegans are rude, especially hotties: they know they are desirable and try to keep up competition for them (see YoungSanDiegoDude).

[City Data Guy]

Probably for the same reasons people anywhere else are rude. You wake up to an annoying alarm clock at the butt crack of dawn, get ready for a stressful day at school or work, deal with that stress for eight hours, then drive home in sluggish traffic, then watch TV for the rest of the night while stuffing yourself with fast food. Rinse and repeat. And then you got relationship problems, family problems, Facebook problems (LOL), debt, and a lot of other first world problems that pee on everyone's faces every day.

Not really surprising. Modernization and the consumerist culture have pretty much divided people, making a lot of people self-centered. Everyone is irritated by each other, I guess. I'm sure most people will agree that misanthropy is running rampant in some areas more than others. Back then, family and friends were top priority. Now, it's getting the latest iPhone or iPad or whatever. Empathy is very well an "endangered species". I'm sure you've all heard the expression, "Chivalry is dead". Well, it's not dead but it is probably rare in urban areas. Small towns generally have a friendlier vibe because most people know one another and care about each other. But you can't get to know all 50,000 people in your suburb or 200,000 people in your city, so of course, people are gonna be giving each other the finger a lot more often in crowded, stressful spaces like New York, LA, and Chicago than in Small Town USA.

[yowps3]

Originally Posted by City Data Guy

Probably for the same reasons people anywhere else are rude. You wake up to an annoying alarm clock at the butt crack of dawn, get ready for a stressful day at school or work, deal with that stress for eight hours, then drive home in sluggish traffic, then watch TV for the rest of the night while stuffing yourself with fast food. Rinse and repeat. And then you got relationship problems, family problems, Facebook problems (LOL), debt, and a lot of other first world problems that pee on everyone's faces every day.

Not really surprising. Modernization and the consumerist culture have pretty much divided people, making a lot of people self-centered. Everyone is irritated by each other, I guess. I'm sure most people will agree that misanthropy is running rampant in some areas more than others. Back then, family and friends were top priority. Now, it's getting the latest iPhone or iPad or whatever. Empathy is very well an "endangered species". I'm sure you've all heard the expression, "Chivalry is dead". Well, it's not dead but it is probably rare in urban areas. Small towns generally have a friendlier vibe because most people know one another and care about each other. But you can't get to know all 50,000 people in your suburb or 200,000 people in your city, so of course, people are gonna be giving each other the finger a lot more often in crowded, stressful spaces like New York, LA, and Chicago than in Small Town USA.

I have to completley agree with you..

[MB8abovetherim]

I'm from SoCal and yes I run into rude people often. But I don't automatically associate that attitude with the area. I just know that there are rude people around that's all. A lot of people automatically make this connection and it's not really true. Sure there are more stressors in the city and in more populated places but for the most part throughout my experience (living my whole life in CA) the atmosphere is pretty friendly with exception to those few bad apples of course.

[415_s2k]

Originally Posted by MB8abovetherim

I'm from SoCal and yes I run into rude people often. But I don't automatically associate that attitude with the area. I just know that there are rude people around that's all. A lot of people automatically make this connection and it's not really true. Sure there are more stressors in the city and in more populated places but for the most part throughout my experience (living my whole life in CA) the atmosphere is pretty friendly with exception to those few bad apples of course.

The larger a sampling of people you have, the more nice, rude, rich, poor, tall, short, stupid, smart people you're going to have.

I still maintain that anyone who laments the "rudeness" in Socal needs to go to NYC or Boston for a few weeks.

[Elle Oh Elle]

I often heard people say that Californians are ruder than any other state. Actually, I don't think that's entirely true. Except for traffic, probably. Chicago and New York are also pretty bad in some parts, and if anything, they can be colder and ruder than people in LA. There's rude people everywhere, you just have to know where to look for the good ones.

[Levity90]

Originally Posted by OCWX

I have to chime in on this one. I relocated here a few years ago from Oakland and was immediately struck by the huge difference in peoples' behavior. I came here (OC) before the economy went sour so that can't be the reason, but it seems that lots of people here (not everyone, of course) are bursting at the seams with anger, and the smallest issue will send them into a rage. And there seems to be a message of "don't you dare inconvenience me, even for one second" from people. I had an accident on my bike in a major intersection, and the reaction from everyone who watched me go down sliding and rolling on the ground was to honk and shout for me to get the */@#$ out of their way, as I was lying in the street unable to move. Very different than where I came from. I have witnessed probably 15 public obscenity-laden screaming matches between strangers in the 3-4 years I've been here. I'm just not used to seeing that.

I do realize that people back east are considered rude, but to me they're easier to deal with. Yes they're abrupt. If easterners get mad you know it right away and you know why. But because they're so direct it's easier to meet strangers in a positive way. There seems to be less of the silent superior attitude. Hard to explain, I guess, unless you've experienced both coasts.

Yes...THIS