Describe stuck-up, materialistic and snobbish... (Houston, Dallas: fit in, sales, purchases)

[BstYet2Be]

Great post nD!

Reminds me of my first trip to NYC for a training seminar back in the 80's (this Southern girl's first trip to the big city, 'though that's a whole 'nother story... suffice it to say, NYC taxicab drivers do NOT appreciate it when you tell them they'll have to wait to get paid while you go into the hotel lobby to get a traveler's check cashed!)

Anyway... everyone there had the same perceptions of Texas and Dallas in particular... all based on the Dallas TV show... i.e., we were all rich, oil people that lived out in the middle of nowhere with horses and cattle and all we wore was western garb unless we got dressed up to go "into town".
The main question I was asked over and over was what it was like living in a city like that, that was so far out in the country away from everything (i.e., the rest of the world, civilization and highway systems, they seemed to mean), all based on that first shot of Dallas from the show where it zoomed
in on downtown!

[ladysrodgers]

Originally Posted by new2sa

Great post nD!

Reminds me of my first trip to NYC for a training seminar back in the 80's (this Southern girl's first trip to the big city, 'though that's a whole 'nother story... suffice it to say, NYC taxicab drivers do NOT appreciate it when you tell them they'll have to wait to get paid while you go into the hotel lobby to get a traveler's check cashed!)

Anyway... everyone there had the same perceptions of Texas and Dallas in particular... all based on the Dallas TV show... i.e., we were all rich, oil people that lived out in the middle of nowhere with horses and cattle and all we wore was western garb unless we got dressed up to go "into town".
The main question I was asked over and over was what it was like living in a city like that, that was so far out in the country away from everything (i.e., the rest of the world, civilization and highway systems, they seemed to mean), all based on that first shot of Dallas from the show where it zoomed
in on downtown!

It just goes to show you, you can't base reality on a TV/movie show.

[nativeDallasite]

Originally Posted by ladysrodgers

I wouldn't have liked the questions they asked you either. Brits do have a reputation of looking down their noses at Americans in general.

Yeah, tell me about it. Glad to be back here!

[CMDallas]

Originally Posted by socketz

Even entire counties like Collin get painted that way....which is bizarre in my opinion. Everything here seems to revert to an 'Us vs. Them' (just look at the discussions here) mentality and I'm puzzled as to why that happens.

Its not that I don't agree, Ido in fact. But out Human Nature is that way. First its Irving vs Garland, then Dallas vs Fort Worth, then DFW vs Houston, then Texas vs CA, then The South vs the Northeast, US vs Canada, etc...it goes on...
It is pitiful, and I can say i am somewhat guilty of this.

as for Dallas being snobby and Materialist etc..
How can you generalize like that?
I mean do people honestly believe everyone here in Dallas own 15 oil rigs, lives in a 3 story mansion with a Hispanic baby sitter who says 'si senora' is all 6 million of us?
Please don't believe everything you read, its like saying everyone from the northeast says 'New Joyseey yo'. People for the most part are the same, people over exaggerate how it is 15 miles west of where they live or for that matter how people across the country are that much different then they are.
Sure there are materialistic snobby people here, but if you think there are anymore here then NYC or LA then you are wrongly mistaken.

[BstYet2Be]

Originally Posted by ladysrodgers

It just goes to show you, you can't base reality on a TV/movie show.

Well, at the time, it was the only medium to base perceptions on, other than books, magazines, movies or word-of-mouth until you visited a place. Thank goodness for PC/Internet technology!

To be fair, I had some preset opinions, too, i.e., that NYC was nasty & dirty (true, but also a very exciting city) and that New Yorker's were by and large rude (did not meet one unfriendly person there ('though I did have to repeat what I said a few times until I realized this was just a ruse to hear the southern accent)... nice, hardworking people... even the cabbie (even I wouldn't try to drive there!)

Since then, I've travelled all over the U. S. and abroad... and I can second what CMDallas has said... people are the same whereever you are... some good, some not so good... it's all in the attitude you put out there how you'll be met and accepted!

[ladysrodgers]

Originally Posted by CMDallas

Its not that I don't agree, Ido in fact. But out Human Nature is that way. First its Irving vs Garland, then Dallas vs Fort Worth, then DFW vs Houston, then Texas vs CA, then The South vs the Northeast, US vs Canada, etc...it goes on...
It is pitiful, and I can say i am somewhat guilty of this.

as for Dallas being snobby and Materialist etc..
How can you generalize like that?
I mean do people honestly believe everyone here in Dallas own 15 oil rigs, lives in a 3 story mansion with a Hispanic baby sitter who says 'si senora' is all 6 million of us?
Please don't believe everything you read, its like saying everyone from the northeast says 'New Joyseey yo'. People for the most part are the same, people over exaggerate how it is 15 miles west of where they live or for that matter how people across the country are that much different then they are.
Sure there are materialistic snobby people here, but if you think there are anymore here then NYC or LA then you are wrongly mistaken.

It's also like saying all southern Californians, are like the bimbos in the surfer movies, and OC wives, or any of the other bimbo celebs!

Stereotypes are fictional, IMO......and unfair. The sooner people get over the in-your-face, I'm better than you, stay in your place, better behave like we say attitudes, the better.

[challenge01]

if you have the money to buy what you want, a big house, fancy cars yourself or your kids then do it. People will judge you regardless especially if they can't afford what you have

[SoCalTransplant]

Originally Posted by aceplace

Sure, I'll try... if you label others as stuck-up, materialistic, snobbish, etc., you're actually revealing something about yourself.

Stuck-up means that your social behavior is so inappropriate people treat you as an inferior.

Materialistic means you can't handle your finances and you resent people who can.

Snobbish means that people recognize you for a jerk at first glance, and don't need to spend time to get to know you before they reject you.

I always thought stuck up and snobbish were simply two ways to say the same thing. That's just me. I share my definitions with the dictionary:

dictionary.reference.com/browse/stuck%20up

dictionary.reference.com/browse/snob

dictionary.reference.com/browse/materialistic

I once convinced this girl at a sushi bar that there couldn't be anything that interesting on the ceiling (in order to bring that nose back down to planet Earth), and while I was mentioning my fascination over how many different characters there are in the Japanese alphabet, I noticed those pretty eyes of hers were trying really hard to see the emblem on my car keys.

Now, I could've peeked a guess at the cost of her rack she'd intentionally spilled on the counter, but that's not my style.

I drive a little 2-door VW Rabbit. I'm a driver. Vroom.

[EasilyAmused]

stuck up and materialistic= new money or the 60k a year millionaire
snobbish= those that have and have always had and don't care that you hate them for it.

[infinity & beyond]

Why are there so many threads about Dallas being materialistic? There's obviously enough money in Dallas that it can support a wide variety of luxury goods and services, and if people want nice things, why do you care if they have them?

I don't understand the obsession with others people's wealth or lack of wealth. Live and let live.