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How would you describe your own personal culture? Do you feel that you are a "product" of the area you grew up in...or other places that you have lived in throughout your life?...Have you ever felt like a misfit? Have you been a "rolling stone?"
I grew up in "early Southern California" before everything got so "materialistic." When the culture started to change I felt outnumbered and moved to Arizona to get out of the "rat race."....Now Arizona seems like a "carbon copy" of California and I am searching for "greener pastures" way out in the "boonies" someplace.....far away from the "maddening crowds."....I'd have to say that I am a "down-home" type of person who doesn't want to be surrounded by "social climbers."
Location: New Albany, Indiana (Greater Louisville)
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I'm really an oddball, being very Liberal on a lot of issues while being very traditional in others.
I abhor the unnecessary waste of the American lifestyle - wasting gasoline mowing huge yards, spraying gallons of pesticide to kill a couple dandelions, 5 foot tall soccer moms driving 4X4 SUVs to go to the grocery store, people spending hundreds of dollars per month to lose wait when they should spend hundreds of dollars less on buying food they obviously don't need - all these things drive me bonkers!!
At the same time I'm very traditional on a lot of social issues (excluding race, where I'm super Liberal). I think it should be against the law for anyone other than a married man and woman to adopt a child, I abhor people who put their parents in nursing homes rather than taking care of them at home, I think birthing a child out of wedlock (when the choice is there to marry) is an abomination that brings shame upon the child for the rest of its life.
Georgia gets a bad rap from alot of states. This is where I am from, and am ultimately a product of it. I love a banjo, a beer, my VW camper, and I don't go to church. Funny thing is, this culture in Georgia that gets projected nationally is really not what it's all about. There are very many people like me here. Sure, there are the ultra religious, sure there are the good old boys, but y'all don't know them. Start a conversation with one sometime, and you'll be surprised to hear that they were at Piedmont Park to hear the Allman Brothers play for free in 1970, or something like that.
I grew up in North Georgia having my daddy take me up into the mountains backpacking and fly fishing. I have a southern accent, and some pretty southern mannerisms. I know how to build a fire without any tools, was taught how to shoot at an early age, and was taught the importance of knowing how to think, not what to think. I sometimes have a hard time communicating with folks from other places, because I feel like other parts of the country look down on us. They always expect me to say something funny, or seem to try to slow down their dialect when talking to me. This website can reenforce that too, with alot of threads that are south bashing.
Overall, I'm a pretty happy person, content with my homebrew, instruments, campfires, and campfire songs. I'll never make a million dollars a year, but then again, that will never be a goal of mine either.
A mix of things. I would say the place I lived since age 5 was somewhat less significant than one would think and I have relatively little in common with people here. I'd say my family and their friends were more significant.
I always felt like I didn't belong, and still do. Being an immigrant, I knew I didn't belong and so did everyone else. I couldn't be part of my own culture because I still assimilated in some ways even if i wasn't accepted, and so I wasn't "traditional" enough to be accepted at home or among "my own" either. I never felt like a product of either of my cultures, just kinda pushed away by both and lost in between. Sometimes that makes me sad, and sometimes, I don't know.
I am probably a "misfit" in the suburbs...Living in a "master planned community" just isn't my "bag." I don't want to live in a tract of "look-alike" homes...There is no way I would ever wrap my identity around being a "soccer mom.".... Spending my days "hanging out at the mall" gets boring. I don't want to feel obligated to "shop 'til I drop" or "keep up with my neighbors" when it comes to remodeling or buying new cars etc....Side-by-side suburbs full of chain store and fast-food outlets doesn't "turn me on" or excite me....I enjoy nature and open spaces and uniqueness......things that are hard to find in the suburbs....To be honest I am not sure where I belong anymore......Maybe I should find a nice "cave" out in the middle of "nowhere."
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