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I got my father in laws truck towed in Falls Church. I parked in the wrong place. I called the tow shop and I told the guy that I parked in the wrong place and my truck got towed. He exclaimed on the phone you must not be from around here because you admitted you were wrong. I told him I was not and he gave me a discount. The nice guys at the American Legion building gave me a lift. I found everyone who was not white collar to be nice. Everyone was very pleasant. Even on the metro. I did not mind that people kept to themselves. The worst place I went was the musems. People were very rude their. I assumed they were not locals. Overall I think I will like it when I move out there next month. And now I know where not too park now lol.
I got my father in laws truck towed in Falls Church. I parked in the wrong place. I called the tow shop and I told the guy that I parked in the wrong place and my truck got towed. He exclaimed on the phone you must not be from around here because you admitted you were wrong. I told him I was not and he gave me a discount. The nice guys at the American Legion building gave me a lift. I found everyone who was not white collar to be nice. Everyone was very pleasant. Even on the metro. I did not mind that people kept to themselves. The worst place I went was the musems. People were very rude their. I assumed they were not locals. Overall I think I will like it when I move out there next month. And now I know where not too park now lol.
I have a feeling that it's not the area that sucks, it's white collar workers in general who suck. Back in my hometown in upstate NY, I also found blue collar workers to be more friendly on average.
Oh by the way I am white collar but I try to not follow the normal path here.
Location: Huntersville/Charlotte, NC and Washington, DC
26,709 posts, read 41,868,111 times
Reputation: 41441
Quote:
Originally Posted by tsuric
I have a feeling that it's not the area that sucks, it's white collar workers in general who suck. Back in my hometown in upstate NY, I also found blue collar workers to be more friendly on average.
Oh by the way I am white collar but I try to not follow the normal path here.
But why is this? Why do white collar people suck?
Money tends to go to people's heads. I definitely felt that there were more down to earth people in South Alexandria and Landmark (which are more blue-collar based) than in Old Town and North Arlington.
Let me interrupt this blue collar love-fest for a minute. I think I've alluded to my experience in South Arlington to some extent here....
I also lived in South Arlington, in a neighborhood that wasn't one of the skyscraper cities (Parkway, that little triangle between S Glebe/395/Four Mile Run. Yeah, it has a name.)
I was bummed for money within two hours of meeting my neighbor and then put up with drunken/high fights involving my neighbors and members of their extended family. Police were called maybe once or twice a year due to the ongoing activity of my neighbors.
Over the years, an extended family moved in along the street. They acted blatantly hostile towards me/my wife. I swear, my wife would say "hi" and the kids would run like someone was brandishing a gun, and the only time they *would* actually talk to me was when I dared to park near their house on a public street, telling me to move. (And, no, I would only do that if the 3-4 spots near my house were all taken, as was often the case on Saturday nights.)
The 12-to-a-house folks and drug dealers across the street were among the *better* neighbors, as in, they didn't actively radiate hostility towards us.
Why didn't we move? I suppose it was a misguided belief we needed to be close in to experience the "real" life of Northern Virginia and a belief that we were conveniently situated. That, and who wants to admit they screwed up on a decision as monumental as buying a house?
For what it's worth, the folks we sold it to -- renovated the heck out of the place (*) and ended up selling less than a year later, taking a bath on the sale between Realtor fees and the cost of renovations. Given that they had an infant son, I'm thinking they had much the same reaction my wife and I had to the area, seeing as their flipping couldn't have worked that well.
(*) As in, added an attic bedroom and combined the kitchen/dining room, then put in new appliances, etc. Ours were under 10 years old and perfectly functional.
Maybe there's blue-collar areas of Northern Virginia that are better than where I lived.
I'm really and honestly glad other folks had better experience with the less glamorous parts of Arlington/Alexandria. We wouldn't go back if you paid us.
Last edited by FindingZen; 03-17-2011 at 12:05 PM..
Reason: competing site
I have a feeling that it's not the area that sucks, it's white collar workers in general who suck. Back in my hometown in upstate NY, I also found blue collar workers to be more friendly on average.
Oh by the way I am white collar but I try to not follow the normal path here.
But why is this? Why do white collar people suck?
Good luck with that one. You may end up with no friends at all - the white collars will think you are stand-offish, and the blue collars will think Mr./Ms. Diploma is patronizing them ("Gee, it's great to be back among you real people. A round of beers for my friends and I'll take a white wine, please.")
OK, why do we/those (decision time - which side are you on) white collar workers "suck"? Because we/they tend to trade in information and connections; we/they are every bit as fungible as blue collar workers; and if we/they lose our jobs, we/they don't have the comfort of knowing that we/they can build things and survive in the wilderness for months. Massive insecurity, combined with innate competitiveness, large outstanding debts and periods of high income, have been known to lead to unpleasant social behavior.
Good luck with that one. You may end up with no friends at all - the white collars will think you are stand-offish, and the blue collars will think Mr./Ms. Diploma is patronizing them ("Gee, it's great to be back among you real people. A round of beers for my friends and I'll take a white wine, please.")
I might have went too far by saying white collars suck.
Let me be clearer. Let's form two groups here. Group #1 is every blue collar worker that I've met in my life and Group #2 is every white collar worker that I've met in my life. For each group, here is a calculation: friendly or easy going in the group divided by the total number of people in the group, which gives me a percentage result. That result I found to be quite higher in #1 than #2. That's all I really meant.
Of course there are some white-collar workers who I think are awesome. I have friends from both the white-collar and blue-collar world so I think I'm qualified to at least give an opinion about my experiences.
I might have went too far by saying white collars suck.
Let me be clearer. Let's form two groups here. Group #1 is every blue collar worker that I've met in my life and Group #2 is every white collar worker that I've met in my life. For each group, here is a calculation: friendly or easy going in the group divided by the total number of people in the group, which gives me a percentage result. That result I found to be quite higher in #1 than #2. That's all I really meant.
Of course there are some white-collar workers who I think are awesome. I have friends from both the white-collar and blue-collar world so I think I'm qualified to at least give an opinion about my experiences.
FYI I don't like white wine
I'm just giving you a hard time because you said you were a white collar worker and it reminds me of the old cartoon line - "we have met the enemy and it is us."
We could riff indefinitely as to why many blue-collar workers seem friendly or easy going compared to white-collar workers. Maybe the work isn't as stressful, or maybe less competitive types gravitate towards that type of work. Or maybe they aren't really as friendly as you think but they have to be friendly to you because they are trying to get you to hire them. If the guy who just painted my house was a jerk - instead of the very friendly guy he seems to be - I probably wouldn't hire him again even if he did a good job with the windows.
Anyway, this is a white-collar area, so you better learn to deal. Staying away from the white wine is a start.
Location: Huntersville/Charlotte, NC and Washington, DC
26,709 posts, read 41,868,111 times
Reputation: 41441
Quote:
Originally Posted by stpickrell
Let me interrupt this blue collar love-fest for a minute. I think I've alluded to my experience in South Arlington to some extent here....
I also lived in South Arlington, in a neighborhood that wasn't one of the skyscraper cities (Parkway, that little triangle between S Glebe/395/Four Mile Run. Yeah, it has a name.)
I was bummed for money within two hours of meeting my neighbor and then put up with drunken/high fights involving my neighbors and members of their extended family. Police were called maybe once or twice a year due to the ongoing activity of my neighbors.
Over the years, an extended family moved in along the street. They acted blatantly hostile towards me/my wife. I swear, my wife would say "hi" and the kids would run like someone was brandishing a gun, and the only time they *would* actually talk to me was when I dared to park near their house on a public street, telling me to move. (And, no, I would only do that if the 3-4 spots near my house were all taken, as was often the case on Saturday nights.)
The 12-to-a-house folks and drug dealers across the street were among the *better* neighbors, as in, they didn't actively radiate hostility towards us.
Why didn't we move? I suppose it was a misguided belief we needed to be close in to experience the "real" life of Northern Virginia and a belief that we were conveniently situated. That, and who wants to admit they screwed up on a decision as monumental as buying a house?
For what it's worth, the folks we sold it to -- renovated the heck out of the place (*) and ended up selling less than a year later, taking a bath on the sale between Realtor fees and the cost of renovations. Given that they had an infant son, I'm thinking they had much the same reaction my wife and I had to the area, seeing as their flipping couldn't have worked that well.
(*) As in, added an attic bedroom and combined the kitchen/dining room, then put in new appliances, etc. Ours were under 10 years old and perfectly functional.
Maybe there's blue-collar areas of Northern Virginia that are better than where I lived.
I'm really and honestly glad other folks had better experience with the less glamorous parts of Arlington/Alexandria. We wouldn't go back if you paid us.
Okay, one good knock deserves another, I'd take my changes on moving to "crime-filled" PG County or "The Seven Cities of Crime-ola" before I'd ever consider moving to Vienna or McLean with a bunch of stuck up stuffed shirts.
Okay, one good knock deserves another, I'd take my changes on moving to "crime-filled" PG County or "The Seven Cities of Crime-ola" before I'd ever consider moving to Vienna or McLean with a bunch of stuck up stuffed shirts.
How long did you live in the less glamorous parts of South Arlington or Alexandria? I was in South Arlington for eight years, two years in a TH complex west of Glebe Road and six years in Parkway.
Did you actually live among these so-called "stuffed shirts?" Or are you knocking what you don't know?
I know you can share your heartfelt experience in the DC area without resorting to witty one-liners.
Location: Huntersville/Charlotte, NC and Washington, DC
26,709 posts, read 41,868,111 times
Reputation: 41441
Quote:
Originally Posted by stpickrell
How long did you live in the less glamorous parts of South Arlington or Alexandria? I was in South Arlington for eight years, two years in a TH complex west of Glebe Road and six years in Parkway.
Did you actually live among these so-called "stuffed shirts?" Or are you knocking what you don't know?
I know you can share your heartfelt experience in the DC area without resorting to witty one-liners.
Six years, buddy. I was in customer service and those stuffed shirts made AWFUL customers.
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