Is Los Angeles Unfriendly? Just bought a house here and... (London: live, move)

[Beans&Cornbread]

Originally Posted by Fontucky

Or males in berets.

Originally Posted by yamota

Back in New York the only guys I see in berets are the Guardian Angels

There are some fine folk out here that wear them. They are green and they are earned.

[JosephPorterPitt]

LOL, yes, berets on men can be terrifying.

Another observation I've made: People here pronounce the T in "often." Most don't back east.

[yamota]

Originally Posted by Beans&Cornbread

There are some fine folk out here that wear them. They are green and they are earned.

Well, wether it's red for Airborne or tan for Rangers or yes, green for Special Forces, it is all well earned

[Fontucky]

The Army's diluting the whole beret thing by issuing them to just about anyone these days. One must go by color to determine how special they are.

[Troof]

Marilyn to it to the streets on yo azzes ;p

Though her delivery would've been more effective had she concluded with a closing salutation of "Real Talk".

[Miss Pip]

Originally Posted by Troof

Marilyn to it to the streets on yo azzes ;p

Though her delivery would've been more effective had she concluded with a closing salutation of "Real Talk".

Hahaha!

I can't believe this thread is still going on though...

[calvinbama]

When I was in LA for the Alabama football national championship game last year I was very surprised at how friendly everybody was. I'd pay more attention to where I park if I was you. I'd say its pretty rude to park in front of someone else's house. Especially if parking is scarce in the area. My neighbor gets on to me for it even though were good friends

[Fontucky]

Originally Posted by calvinbama

When I was in LA for the Alabama football national championship game last year I was very surprised at how friendly everybody was.

So much for the stereotypes, huh?

[mayalevi]

Having lived on BOTH coasts--I am from Boston, MA, spent most of my life there (I just turned 33 and moved away from E. coast permanently at 25), lived in Hawaii(Kona coast) for almost a year, lived in Los Angeles for about four years, and have lived in San Antonio for just two years now (moving back to Los Angeles for work related reasons this year). I can tell you that on balance, California is decidedly unfriendly--but to be fair, the E. Coast doesn't do much better either. Hawaii comes just behind Texas in friendliness in my book.



Part of the reason why people get nasty on the E. and W. Coast, I think, is that people are working so hard for so much less(in CA and on the E. Coast). The cost of living is high, and you don't get jacksh*it for what your'e paying in terms of rent and other things. On the E. Coast, you can't help but be pissed off for part of the year, because, let's face it, the weather sucks. Don't tell me it doesn't. I lived there. I GREW UP THERE. I appreciate the prettiest parts of the E. Coast, hell, I am part Wampanoag Indian, and my family owns property on Martha's Vineyard(Aquinnah/Gay Head).

Yes, fall is pretty with the change in leaves and all, and spring is nice, but in the dead of winter when its 10 degrees with a windchill in the negatives and you are out there scraping ice off your car and shoveling out to get to work on time as you run in and out of your small overpriced rental unit (and perhaps, slip on some ice while going up the steps of your "triple-decker") and shake your cold, frostbitten fists at the grey, wintry sky, you can't tell me that you wouldn't be pissed off at the world too. Thats why I got away. Far away.

In California the weather is decent--most of the time (there is no "Perfect" weather--ANYWHERE, lets be real folks, and what's perfect to one, may be horrible for another) aside from the occasional mudslide, rains, and/or earthquake--but you pay so god***** much for it that you work, and work, and work, to pay for that wonderful weather, and your overpriced rental unit, and your car note (because you need a car in Los Angeles) and then get home and just want to find some parking so you can rest your sorry head and get your a** up and work some more--and some pain in the butt has parked in your parking space--and parking is at a premium, what with parking enforcement coming around and ticketing relentlessly and all--yea, you would probably be a little less than polite too.

Now, Hawaii is expensive--but wait--there's something called "Aloha spirit". And yes, it is alive and well. Now maybe its a little more alive and well for those of us who have more pigment in our skin, like myself (The stories you may have read about so-called discrimination against "haoles" aka, white folk, are true--one lady actually called my friend a "stupid haole" when she was out of earshot, and lamented the "haoles" coming over) but I got on well in Hawaii. Again it is expensive, but 20 times prettier than California, very laid back, and people were overwhelmingly nice to me--went out of their way to be sure I got what I needed and then some. Drawbacks--unfortunately, Hawaii does suffer a lack of jobs--particularly in the rural areas--and people tend to take their pissed off moods inwards instead of being unfriendly toward their neighbors. Where I was, on the Kona coast, there was an "ice" epidemic(meth)-no jobs, no prospects for jobs(except maybe in the hospitality industry, and even those were harder to come by because they were filled up) so...smoke your life away.

And Texas...good lord, I have never seen anything like it. I can only speak for San Antonio really, but I have been all over while I have been here and havn't seen outright unfriendliness. When I first moved here, I would walk down the street and people would look up from their gardening, or mowing, or whatever the hell they were doing and wave and smile. Freaked me out at first. Now I'm used to it. Driving, people actually stop and let you get in when you signal in traffic. Just wave you on in. Maybe its because what passes for rush hour here is light traffic in Los Angeles, but still....
It's not a fake friendliness either. The cost of living is extremely reasonable (I've got a luxury 1,208 sq foot apt with granite countertops, balcony, black appliances, washer/dryer, pool, jacuzzi, gym with towel service, valet trash, and garage parking for 995.00) and I am actually making more than what I did in Los Angeles(AND paying less! imagine that) generally, the cost of living is about 70-80 percent less, while salaries average only 30 percent less and no state taxes... So you do the math...you make out better. Jobs are more plentiful, and people are pretty laid back. The weather is pretty good--about an 1.5 hrs inland from the Gulf, so hurricanes don't reach here, and people who have lived here their whole lives have never ever seen a tornado. There are palm trees in S.A., if that's your thing, so yea, people seem pretty happy here, even the transplants (most of them are from CA, all of my neighbors are from L.A.) Parking enforcement is non-existent, at least in residential areas--most people live in complexes/subdivisions anyway, downtown you could get a ticket, but parking is plentiful and its cheap(usually 5-8 dollars flat rate to park) compared to most other places in the country, so I don't see why you would get one. I think that's probably why they're friendly here...happy happy Texans, lol.

Anyway, cheers, just my .02 cents.

[Lovehound]

Originally Posted by marilyn220

Go to NYC and try leaving a "note" without identifying information and see what happens. Even though that's how YOU guys do things HERE, it's not done other places.

It's life. Deal with it. A person will either leave a note or not. They will either sign it or not. When you receive such a note you can either ignore it or not. Life goes on...