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Old 10-16-2009, 02:55 PM
 
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
9,767 posts, read 15,739,138 times
Reputation: 10865

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Quote:
Originally Posted by car54 View Post
Man, you got that right!

But when I'm out with my drop-dead gorgeous (and considerably younger) wife...
Gosh, I hope my husband describes me so glowingly.
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Old 10-16-2009, 03:02 PM
 
Location: Marshall-Shadeland, Pittsburgh, PA
32,613 posts, read 77,432,847 times
Reputation: 19101
Add me to the growing list of transplants who has noticed this. There's something in the Pacific Northwest known as the "Seattle Freeze" that's been quite readily identified by newcomers as an icy barrier that is difficult to break through in order to make new friends (even though the locals are quick to defensively dismiss it). I feel the same is true in NoVA as well.

People here are generally friendly to your face but like to keep their distance socially. I think it is generally just because so many people are so stressed from the traffic, their fast-paced careers, trying so hard to one-up each other with their "stuff", etc. in this area that few have time to just shoot the breeze over the backyard fence or wave from across the cul-de-sac. When I first moved down here I posted a similar thread about how unfriendly people in Herndon/Reston generally were due to nearly NONE of them returning my polite greetings as I passed them on my runs, and I received a lot of "heat" for it from people who were making up excuses as to why someone isn't supposed to say "Good morning" back to a passer-by. For God's sake I had better luck in "snooty" Georgetown of all places getting people to return my greetings as I passed them, and Reston isn't supposed to have nearly as high of a "smug" factor (although sadly it does seem to).

With that being said I've had limited difficulty making new friends here thanks to my workplace and church. However, if I didn't have those two connections I'd be in trouble.
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Old 10-16-2009, 03:05 PM
 
139 posts, read 292,512 times
Reputation: 58
Thanks Caladium! I could argue in favor GeneGreene's comments all day about the diversity of the area. But the fact is that there is a real big bad mojo. It's not just on the psychotic roads or in competetive marketplace, but something that's finding its way into people's personsl lives.

There's a book called Bowling Alone that talks about modern withdrawl from civic involvement. It makes great points about how people have stopped entertaining at their homes and go out less. I buy that, but not most of Putnam's (the author) points. People on this message board know why they don't socialize, which is better than that academic study to me. Much talk has also been made about suburban isolation, but I see more of it in condensed (condo) environments. I'll figure it out, but many reading this already know what's gong on.
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Old 10-16-2009, 03:07 PM
 
Location: Marshall-Shadeland, Pittsburgh, PA
32,613 posts, read 77,432,847 times
Reputation: 19101
Quote:
Originally Posted by robbobobbo View Post
Funny thing is, I've been reading the Seattle forums and they speak of the "Seattle Freeze". I read those posts and think, heck, we've got that here!
Wow! Great minds think alike! I didn't even see your reference to the Seattle Freeze before I brought it up myself. I, too, am a regular "lurker" on the Seattle forums as I figure out where to move next since I know I'm not going to like NoVA long-term.
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Old 10-16-2009, 03:11 PM
 
Location: Marshall-Shadeland, Pittsburgh, PA
32,613 posts, read 77,432,847 times
Reputation: 19101
Quote:
Originally Posted by jaunespinoza View Post
If I had a 4000 Dollar mortgage payment on a vinyl siding tool shed; I would be stressed, also.
LMAO! Now, now, now! Let's not tick off the folks in Loudoun County too much!
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Old 10-16-2009, 03:29 PM
 
139 posts, read 292,512 times
Reputation: 58
Quote:
Originally Posted by ScranBarre View Post
Wow! Great minds think alike! I didn't even see your reference to the Seattle Freeze before I brought it up myself. I, too, am a regular "lurker" on the Seattle forums as I figure out where to move next since I know I'm not going to like NoVA long-term.
I don't blame ya. I almost moved to SC last year. Other places have their problems too though. Decided to go with the devil you know. The public realm here is absolutely viscous. But the DC metro area has so much to offer culturally, with education (if you can afford the school district), politics, and jobs. I just wish I could hide from the ugliness more. Who can when the frustrated blood monger drivers are right there when you pull out from your driveway?
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Old 10-16-2009, 05:00 PM
 
257 posts, read 564,520 times
Reputation: 80
Quote:
Originally Posted by GreenGene View Post
I'm reminded of the annual complaint - if we're lucky, it won't surface until sometime in January - that nobody around here can drive in snow. I think the people making this observation fail to realize that many, many people living in the area came from someplace else. Did they not know how to drive in snow in Montana, or New York, or Maine?
Or SoCal, Texas, Florida...

Truth be told, I think the real problem is that snows so infrequently here, that people forget how to drive in by the time it finally rolls around.

Quite frankly, the plows around here suck too.
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Old 10-16-2009, 07:46 PM
 
3,650 posts, read 9,480,554 times
Reputation: 3811
dlumpen - I agree EXACTLY - your experineces are the same as mine - and I am a nice, friendly person.
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Old 10-16-2009, 07:55 PM
 
239 posts, read 640,917 times
Reputation: 84
Here is a good story. A friend of mine went to Potomac Falls High School to exercise on the track. There was some kind of Lacrosse practice on the field (not a game). There was a group of parents and for some reason they all had their chairs set up on the track. Not because they were worried about getting hit by the ball, because they could have been behind a backstop on the infield. So he politely asked them to yield an inside lane to him, and a group of Fred Flintstone look-a-likes, with Judy Federer bumper stickers, and OBX decals on their mini-vans fed him a whole bunch of crap. Where is the Taliban, when you need them? This was not a big deal, but it is indicative of some of the strange, unfriendly, irrational attitudes lots of people have around here. The story about the kids jacket reminded me, which I though was a great example. I squirted out this wonderful, spoiled brat, now the whole world revolves around me and my gifted (lol) kid.
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Old 10-16-2009, 09:16 PM
 
3,650 posts, read 9,480,554 times
Reputation: 3811
What is that OBX decal? It annoys me. And why do all the Moms I meet look the same - same "Kate" haircut and dumpby sweat pants and blah shirt and nose up in the air?

It is so sad that so many have their own little social group and no time for newcomers -
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