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Old 02-09-2011, 01:12 PM
 
8,518 posts, read 15,595,546 times
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Someone sent this snippet to me in regards to DC and I wanted to hear from actual DC area residents on whether they think it's accurate.

High stress level. Generally, residents of the Washington, DC area work long hours. A majority of the people are highly educated and motivated to succeed professionally. Many tend to sacrifice their personal life. They don’t know their neighbors and are too busy to socialize. It can be difficult to meet and get to know new people. (Possible Solution: Be assertive and seek out new activities and opportunities. There are lots of interesting people to reach out to, but it can take some effort to make new friends. Plan regular family activities and take long weekends or vacations as often as possible).

This is not meant as a criticism. I'm just interested in separating fact from exaggeration.
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Old 02-09-2011, 01:23 PM
 
Location: Censorshipville...
4,374 posts, read 8,053,771 times
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It's true to an extent. I do work long hours and I am motivated to succeed, but it doesn't mean I don't have a personal life. I figure, work hard play hard. I go on shorter vacations mostly, but that's because I bank my vacations until I can go on longer ones. Every 2-3 years I go back to the Philippines and that's normally a 3 week affair.

My last job was very high stress and I worked a ton of hours. It did allow me to bank a huge amount of "comp time". So much that I took a 3 week vacation consisting entirely of "comp time". When I left, I had a huge payout because I had over 300 hours of vacation.

I don't let my job define me. Heck I don't even like to talk about what I do at social gatherings as Information Technology is too geeky. I'd rather talk about any other subject than work.
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Old 02-09-2011, 01:34 PM
 
Location: Maine
2,489 posts, read 3,384,121 times
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Positively NOT TRUE. You won't find one shred of evidence supporting these exaggerated claims on NoVA city-data.
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Old 02-09-2011, 01:37 PM
 
Location: somewhere
4,264 posts, read 9,244,029 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by oneasterisk View Post
It's true to an extent. I do work long hours and I am motivated to succeed, but it doesn't mean I don't have a personal life. I figure, work hard play hard. I go on shorter vacations mostly, but that's because I bank my vacations until I can go on longer ones. Every 2-3 years I go back to the Philippines and that's normally a 3 week affair.

My last job was very high stress and I worked a ton of hours. It did allow me to bank a huge amount of "comp time". So much that I took a 3 week vacation consisting entirely of "comp time". When I left, I had a huge payout because I had over 300 hours of vacation.

I don't let my job define me. Heck I don't even like to talk about what I do at social gatherings as Information Technology is too geeky. I'd rather talk about any other subject than work.
I wish everyone felt the same way you do, I hate social gatherings for my husbands job, all they want to talk about is work, as if being there 10 to 12 hours a day isn't enough.

To answer the OP's question, I agree to a certain extent, but in the DC area you also have to take into account not only do alot of people work long hours they also have commutes. It is definately an area where people are on the go all the time.
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Old 02-09-2011, 01:40 PM
 
5,125 posts, read 10,044,891 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DennyCrane View Post
Someone sent this snippet to me in regards to DC and I wanted to hear from actual DC area residents on whether they think it's accurate.

High stress level. Generally, residents of the Washington, DC area work long hours. A majority of the people are highly educated and motivated to succeed professionally. Many tend to sacrifice their personal life. They don’t know their neighbors and are too busy to socialize. It can be difficult to meet and get to know new people. (Possible Solution: Be assertive and seek out new activities and opportunities. There are lots of interesting people to reach out to, but it can take some effort to make new friends. Plan regular family activities and take long weekends or vacations as often as possible).

This is not meant as a criticism. I'm just interested in separating fact from exaggeration.
I don't get it. Where's the criticism?
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Old 02-09-2011, 01:51 PM
 
5,391 posts, read 7,196,218 times
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I think that's a fair assessment, since it says "generally". Maybe it's more accurate to state "many residents..." rather than claim a majority.

I work 40 hour weeks, but I see many people walking home from the Metro at 7, 8, or later in the evening. It's unlikely to be due to a long commute - I live close to DC - so I assume it's long working hours. Most people I know are highly educated professionals. Some often have work projects that they have to work on at home, extra hours, due to deadlines.

I disagree that people don't socialize. Impromptu socializing might be the exception, but people do get out of their homes and socialize. In my experience it can be very scheduled. Even the kids are scheduled, with their numerous activities, sports, private lessons, etc, that make it difficult to get together. Getting a group of people to commit to a repeated activity is difficult because everybody is so busy with different schedules. Expect people to commit to something and later cancel due to a conflict - even if they knew about the conflict in advance, they'll commit. If you get a group of 10 people together for a repeated activity, expect that any given week two or three will not show due to other commitments. A lot of people take on a lot here, "take off more than they can chew."

I agree it helps to be assertive, don't wait for neighbors to come knocking or else you'll keep waiting.
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Old 02-09-2011, 02:31 PM
 
2,612 posts, read 5,564,339 times
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I would agree with that completely. I've been here for 15 years and haven't made any friends, and it's not for lack of trying. My husband has had better luck, however. I guess he's just more outgoing. I also find that one obstacle to making new friends is that this area is so big, and traffic makes traveling so difficult, that often it's hard to get together with people because it's just too much trouble to make the drive. Whenever I meet someone I'd like to spend time with, it usually turns out they live in Arlington or Leesburg or somewhere that is always 40 minutes from me and undo-able in traffic. Other times I've met someone nearby and never managed to get together with them because they are too busy (usually with work).
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Old 02-09-2011, 02:58 PM
 
Location: In the woods
3,315 posts, read 10,054,551 times
Reputation: 1525
Quote:
Originally Posted by DennyCrane View Post
Generally, residents of the Washington, DC area work long hours.
True
Quote:
A majority of the people are highly educated and motivated to succeed professionally. Many tend to sacrifice their personal life.
True. I think this area has the most educated people in the country.

Quote:
They don’t know their neighbors and are too busy to socialize.
Not always true.

Quote:
It can be difficult to meet and get to know new people. (Possible Solution: Be assertive and seek out new activities and opportunities. There are lots of interesting people to reach out to, but it can take some effort to make new friends.
True. There are several threads already on this topic.

Quote:
Plan regular family activities and take long weekends or vacations as often as possible).
Great advice and a definite must. It's easy to get sucked into the momentum of things and forget about one's self.

Ambition isn't always a dirty word. This area attracts alot of recent graduates and professional because of the opportunities available. But I do believe it is a challenge to find a good balance between a professional and personal life.
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Old 02-09-2011, 03:19 PM
 
Location: Springfield VA
4,036 posts, read 9,207,658 times
Reputation: 1522
There are definitely people like that in the DC area but I'm not one of them and I don't associate with folks like that. I work to live I don't live to work.
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Old 02-09-2011, 04:16 PM
 
2,879 posts, read 7,752,413 times
Reputation: 1183
I think saying everyone likes Daniel Snyder is a more accurate statement.
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