Do Northern Virginians Define Themselves By Their Car? (Fairfax, Orange: house, living in) - (VA) - Page 5 - City-Data Forum

PBSG2 · 12-12-2009, 05:17 PM

Car talk: I drive a no frills Grand Cherokee (all factory, no add ons). I love looking at cars and seeing the newest and latest models. However I really am not impressed by someone who just pulls out their checkbook and buys what they think is a nice car. I am more impressed by someone who hunts down a classic GTO or Cutlass and takes their time fixing it up. A classic car with a frame off restoration is VERY tough work, and the owner would get my respect for completing the task.

Job talk: When I am at a party I hear so many people go to great lengths about what they do and how important their job is. My job is simple - I am an Airline Pilot, however I do NOT like revealing that fact nor do I like talking about my job. You get 500 follow up questions and stories about their last trip, all of which I don't feel like discussing. I'd rather get to know you as a person and not discuss what we do to earn a paycheck. Tell me your favorite resturant around the area, or talk about an event or festival upcoming. To me that is how you can tell the real people from the mindless drones.

Teebyrd86 · 12-12-2009, 06:32 PM

I met a guy who lives in my building, he invited me out with him and some friends for drinks the other night.. I must say I was shocked when I saw his car (new cadillac suv) the seats were nice and heated, what a great car! He didnt try to really bring any attention to his car other than the fact that is was paid off haha. My point is.. I think a lot of people around here have nice cars, it dosnt mean they nessasarly drive them to show off.

FastRider6 · 12-13-2009, 06:47 AM

This thread is negatively biased toward with people with nice cars. I drive a 07 civic now, but I hope to afford a brand new luxury car in the future. Does that make me an arrogant prick? Not really.

Whether people admit or not, there's a lot of first impression that takes place here and where someone 1) lives, 2) works and 3) drives are probably biggest factors that contribute. Anyone can find some examples of a dead guy or a miserable person and associate them with jaguars, but at the end of the day, if your car makes you happy, who the hell is anybody to argue?

Stuck up people are because who they are. People can choose to show off what they have or don't have, as long as they want it.

VRE332 · 12-13-2009, 07:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PBSG2

Car talk: I drive a no frills Grand Cherokee (all factory, no add ons). I love looking at cars and seeing the newest and latest models. However I really am not impressed by someone who just pulls out their checkbook and buys what they think is a nice car. I am more impressed by someone who hunts down a classic GTO or Cutlass and takes their time fixing it up. A classic car with a frame off restoration is VERY tough work, and the owner would get my respect for completing the task.

Yesterday I saw a blue '70 Chevelle SS at the Lowe's in Chantilly. Everyone in the parking lot was giving this guy the thumbs up. Must be a great feeling to drive one of them classics around.

athousandlogins · 12-13-2009, 09:12 AM

I think my 2005 Ford is the best car in the world, because it's paid off.

VRE332 · 12-13-2009, 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by athousandlogins

I think my 2005 Ford is the best car in the world, because it's paid off.

That's very good. Many people cannot say their cars are paid off because they're usually dumping a car every 3 years , or leasing, and dropping lots of money into an expensive car.

blu_monk · 12-13-2009, 10:24 AM

My car!

(is it really yours if you're leasing it, aka RENTING it and never pay it off)

blu_monk · 12-13-2009, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FastRider6

This thread is negatively biased toward with people with nice cars. I drive a 07 civic now, but I hope to afford a brand new luxury car in the future. Does that make me an arrogant prick? Not really.

Whether people admit or not, there's a lot of first impression that takes place here and where someone 1) lives, 2) works and 3) drives are probably biggest factors that contribute. Anyone can find some examples of a dead guy or a miserable person and associate them with jaguars, but at the end of the day, if your car makes you happy, who the hell is anybody to argue?

Stuck up people are because who they are. People can choose to show off what they have or don't have, as long as they want it.

You know they're leasing it, mommy and daddy bought it for them or they are in debt up to their eye balls!
There's no way they worked their ass off and then wanted to buy a nice car, BECAUSE THEY LIKE THE CAR. No way.

I think a lot of people are just jealous, I mean, if anyone had the money, wouldn't they want a nice car also?

Then there is my favorte group of people. Those people who drive ok or crappy cars and don't care about anything else. They have butt-loads of money and choose to just be more frugal and conservative with their spending.

SteelCityRising · 12-13-2009, 11:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PBSG2

Job talk: When I am at a party I hear so many people go to great lengths about what they do and how important their job is. My job is simple - I am an Airline Pilot, however I do NOT like revealing that fact nor do I like talking about my job. You get 500 follow up questions and stories about their last trip, all of which I don't feel like discussing. I'd rather get to know you as a person and not discuss what we do to earn a paycheck. Tell me your favorite resturant around the area, or talk about an event or festival upcoming. To me that is how you can tell the real people from the mindless drones.

You and I would mesh rather well I can tell.

You've summarized my exact thoughts. I was at a Christmas party last night with a bunch of co-workers, and what did everyone invariably start to talk about on a Saturday night? Work. Thankfully one other person and I would constantly ask "Why are we discussing the office on a Saturday night again?", and people would chuckle and mellow out a bit, only to once again start heading down the path of talking about work.

It's just frustrating to me. Someday I hope to have a job where I can make a wonderful and positive impact upon society. The smiling faces of those whom I've helped will be all of the "gratitude" and "praise" I'd need. I don't know why so many down here go to great lengths to *** about what they do for a living. IT applications developers, software engineers, network systems administrators, etc. are all a dime a dozen down here---not to sound too harsh, but nobody really cares what you do from the time you walk into the office to the time you leave the office (unless your job is truly radical or bizarre). I personally can NOT go into detail about what I do for a living, and I have a logical reason for it. I can give a vague description of what I do, but any sort of "details" are strictly confidential. I don't enjoy talking about what I do for a living, but whereas someone upthread said that if someone starts talking about work to just leave the conversation to go to another conversation with someone else I'd ALWAYS be an outcast because so many down here DO chronically talk about work. I find myself "burnt out" from the weekends down here because not only do I sit in traffic on Saturdays and Sundays trying to run simple errands but also when I bump into someone I know all they want to talk about is work, work, work. Then I go into the office on Monday in a horrible mood, just waiting for Friday to come. UGH!

Isn't there an old adage that goes "People on the East Coast live to work whereas people on the West Coast work to live?"

seiketsu · 12-13-2009, 12:48 PM

ScranBarre, it's NOT that serious. If you don't want to talk about work, change the subject. Quit comparing yourself to others; nobody is thinking about you as much as you think they are. I have a friend who always brushes off those "what do you do?" questions by saying she's a paper-pusher or gofer or something equally lame. I am convinced she is rappelling down buildings in the middle of the night, but the point is that she doesn't care to talk about work, and no one cares when she changes the subject. As others have said in this thread, you live in an area where a lot of people don't talk about work, and it doesn't automatically mean they spend their days asking if you want fries with that.