Do Wyoming residents like or hate Californians (Cody: rental, selling a house)

[shadowwalker]

I been thinking extra on this question. I would like to ask you one.
How do Californians think and act towards outsiders?

[YOU-CANT-EAT-SCENERY]

Originally Posted by shadowwalker

I been thinking extra on this question. I would like to ask you one.
How do Californians think and act towards outsiders?

That's a good one shadow. I'm not the original poster, but living in Ca. I would say the answer is as diverse as our population. I'm not going to use the term "we" welcome everyone here, but rather "they" welcome everyone here, which in my opinion is not a good thing. I say that more towards the illegal population rather than in-migration from other states. I personally like when folks from out of state come to my employer (outside machine techs/service reps), because I like asking them questions about the states they live in....plus they speak english

The city I work in (Santa Ana) is probably about 70% hispanic. Our newspaper does a lot of spanish print. Heck we even do junk mail inserts in spanish...i.e. Home Depot, Target, etc. It is getting to the point where I hear more conversations in spanish at work, than I do english. It's almost impossible to get a job here anymore unless you're bi-lingual.

I have a lot of deep discussions about this topic with the hispanic guys at work. I will admit that they do work hard for less pay. They are all just looking for a better life, but I think a lot of the problem from an economic standpoint is, that they send a lot of the money they make here, back to their home town in Mexico, which means that money is not going back into our economy. I'm sure it adds up to billions of dollars a year.

Also the language thing. I ask them about guys that have lived here and work at the company I work at. A lot of them have worked there for well over 25 years, yet they can barely speak a lick of english They tell me I should learn spanish I said well that's just great, and I suppose that I need to learn Korean, Chinese, Philipino, etc. etc. so I can communicate with everyone that moves to english speaking America....I don't think so. I tell them, if I move to Mexico, you better believe they will expect me to learn spanish.

Sorry to be so long winded, and maybe one-sided, but these are just my opinions, and observations. YMMV

[shadowwalker]

I did a contract tour of one year, in El Centro California in 1989. I knew alittle spanish. I had never lived that long in a place that I was the minority and treated as second class. I had people in stores and resturants turn around and leave or refuse to wait on me because I didn't know spanish or that haitian/boatpeople/mexican slang the spoke among themselves. I also worked in mexico in the steam fields and oil fields. I had a interpretor, but if I didn't have him along I was expected to know spanish because I was in mexico. I had people in california ask me "what are you doing here?" more than once. In southern california. I had mixed welcomes in southern Ca. I didn't leave anything there when I left. If you know what I mean. I did have to go back to work for asignments but they were mostly just a few weeks. On my last trip I found out our company was getting pressure to only have california people work these asignments. But they never told us who was doing this. I know we did it for less than the people that lived in california for some reason.

[jdavid93225]

Originally Posted by johns65vette

That's a good one shadow. I'm not the original poster, but living in Ca. I would say the answer is as diverse as our population. I'm not going to use the term "we" welcome everyone here, but rather "they" welcome everyone here, which in my opinion is not a good thing. I say that more towards the illegal population rather than in-migration from other states. I personally like when folks from out of state come to my employer (outside machine techs/service reps), because I like asking them questions about the states they live in....plus they speak english

The city I work in (Santa Ana) is probably about 70% hispanic. Our newspaper does a lot of spanish print. Heck we even do junk mail inserts in spanish...i.e. Home Depot, Target, etc. It is getting to the point where I hear more conversations in spanish at work, than I do english. It's almost impossible to get a job here anymore unless you're bi-lingual.

I have a lot of deep discussions about this topic with the hispanic guys at work. I will admit that they do work hard for less pay. They are all just looking for a better life, but I think a lot of the problem from an economic standpoint is, that they send a lot of the money they make here, back to their home town in Mexico, which means that money is not going back into our economy. I'm sure it adds up to billions of dollars a year.

Also the language thing. I ask them about guys that have lived here and work at the company I work at. A lot of them have worked there for well over 25 years, yet they can barely speak a lick of english They tell me I should learn spanish I said well that's just great, and I suppose that I need to learn Korean, Chinese, Philipino, etc. etc. so I can communicate with everyone that moves to english speaking America....I don't think so. I tell them, if I move to Mexico, you better believe they will expect me to learn spanish.

Sorry to be so long winded, and maybe one-sided, but these are just my opinions, and observations. YMMV

I'm with John on this. In my own experience, I've know many wonderful folks whose ancestry was from the area we call "South of the Border," along with many other places, and I never even realized that's where they came from. They just blended in to the "melting pot" that we call Los Angeles.

On the other hand, there are many that have been here for years that haven't ever tried to learn to assimilate into our culture or learn our language, and they become indignant if we even suggest that they do so. As John also stated, they are sending much of what they earn here back to where they came from, so our economy suffers. These same folks are living with multiple families in a one or two bedroom apartment, so they can afford to send the money south.

I can't speak for other Californians, but I can say what I think and feel. I personally feel that anyone that wants to come here, who does so legally, and wants to assimilate into our culture, and learn our language, and contribute to our way of life, should be welcomed with open arms.

Those that want to become sponges, living off the overburdened social taxation plan we call welfare, should just stay away. We can't afford to have them here. Likewise, those that want to come here to prey on the honest, hardworking middle class, by committing any of a variety of criminal acts, should also stay away. Gang members, drug dealers, welfare sponges (quite a few of which are called politicians), illegal aliens... these are the folks that seem to be attracted to SoCal, and are the largest reason I want to get out.

[wyjoe]

I believe the original query was WY attitude toward CA. CA's dont take this personal if your feelings get hurt easy, but, some of the replies are rather subdued. Not really dishonest but say not very qualitative of general attitudes
toward outsiders. At present the large influx of gas and oil workers dilutes prevailing attitudes. If you are moving to WY shed your truck tags ASAP. You avoid road rage and appear inconspicuous to locals. Go slow in work and socially,eg. slow to open up and reserved until you are better acquainted. Humility is a virtue and love and respect of environment. CO dito +2!
WYJoe

[wilkermoo]

Originally Posted by sunsprit

There's no prejudice against Californians just for being Californian's.

People here tend to be much more satisfied with their lives and being themselves, so they don't need to flash what they've got to impress everybody else to assure themselves that they've "made it". We simply don't care about all that stuff. What's a lot more impressive is how you maintain your property, your livestock, and how you treat others. What you do is a lot more important than what you say or how much money you've got.

I thought this quote was interesting. I am from California and I have lived here my entire life. It is very common for people to buy cars and houses to "keep up with the jones'" I live in the San Francisco Bay area and it is really sad sometimes because kids grow up in school and learn from their other class mates that you are more important in the world if your dad drives a BMW.

Not everybody in CA is like this, but it is very common. I know some people that live outside of the urban area and they drive old beat up trucks and have 5 acres with horses and cows. Many people in the bay area would consider them white trash or not good enough, but these very people own all of their land and have millions in the bank. They just do not flaunt their money or feel the need to prove anything to anyone. I do not know how people can equate success with drowning in debt because you bought that overpriced home and flashy car.

[jhutchison]

I'm a Californian and would love to leave and raise my children around "down to earth" people. I live in Santa Ynez Valley (30 minutes north of Santa Barbara). It used to be beautiful farming/ranching/horse country. Now it's turned all to grapes, with new wineries popping up all over. The people moving here are either very rich or from Mexico (work for cash and do not pay taxes). The pretensious people who have moved here have destroyed the small town feeling. I miss the "good old boy" mentality that used to predominate the valley. I would leave in a minute, but we own a home and values have dropped significantly over the past 1 1/2 years. I fear if I wait too long to purchase property out of state I will be priced out.

[Kele]

This Californian cannot wait to get out of this godforsaken state. I was born here, moved away when I was younger, came back twenty years later after living in a small Texas town of 20,000 and I do not recognize the state I once lived in. It's horribly overcrowded, it takes two hours on any given freeway to go thirty miles, and nearly everything is in Spanish. I left a So-Cal paradise twenty years ago and came back to Tijuana. That's bad enough if you're childless but my now ten year old son has already been run out of one school because of an overabundance of ESL kids who wouldn't speak English to him and picked on him mercilessly when he was only six! If we were not living where we are now in an upper middle class enclave of Redondo Beach, I shudder to think of what his educational experience would have deteriorated into.

I cannot get used to the overpopulation or breathing brown air. When we sell this house in a few months, I will gladly leave behind So Cal weather for even the bitterest of cold winters in one of the most beautiful states in the union, Wyoming. We are hoping to settle close to or in Laramie. My husband has a Ph.D. in English Literature and teaches at the University of California Irvine. He is applying at both the University of Wyoming and Colorado State in Fort Collins. We will buy a house outright with the proceeds from the sale of our home here. The utility bills there sound like a dream since our electric has been running $400 a month and the gas over $250. It's likely you aren't paying over $3.00 a gallon for regular unleaded either. We're taking a trip to Laramie in two weeks to look around, although my husband has been to Wyoming numerous times. He loves Wyoming and his enthusiasm is infectious.

Yep, to this Californian, the state of my birth is a hellhole. Believe me, I'd rather do things your way. There isn't one thing about this state I want to bring with me other than my Tinkerbell t-shirts.

[janie_k]

You will find that in places like Gillette, people are actually from all over the United States. When I worked in Gillette during the "boom" of the early 1980's, it was rare to find someone who was "native born". The only thing that I can say about Californians is that we gave vehicles with California license plates a wide berth while driving in the snow! People who used to live in snow-less areas didn't know how to drive in snow and we avoided them like the plague!

Generally speaking, Wyoming runs at a much slower pace. If you grew up in New York City, you would have definitely feel like a fish out of water. I grew up in a fairly large city in Michigan. The weather in the winter in Gillette was more extreme than in Michigan. I really had a hard time with the slower pace of Wyoming. I was the "Easterner", even though I had grown up in the Midwest. I was told that I had an accent. It was funny to hear someone imitate me. I guess people in Michigan draw out their vowels!

My advice to you is to try and fit in. The less you talk about where you USED to be from, the better off you are with the locals. Wait until somebody asks you about your home town before your talk about it. In my opinion, what drives the locals crazy is making comparisons between Wyoming and where you USED to live. I think that it gets them wondering why you moved to Wyoming instead of staying back home. Go with the mindset that Wyoming is now your "home".

[-CM-]

Look at all the post from the original poster, and you will see that this is another in a series of troll posts, intended to stir things up. Don't fall for it.