| Does anyone else feel like they weren't meant to be a Californian?
Posted: 7/11/2009 5:48:49 PM | I deal with rude people on a daily basis, most of which I really didn't realize were rude until I went out of state for a few weeks..
I remember the first time someone opened the door for me and smiled. I was completely blown away and thought "Wow, what a friendly person!" I realized later it wasn't just one friendly person, but several. People in other states are much warmer and personable than we Californians. I even got "cut off" while driving and when I rushed up to yell at them they just waved at me lol.
Why do you think it is that we as a state are unfriendlier than others? Frankly I am sick of the behavior here..it seems people here are more worried about themselves, their looks, what car they drive, their bed size, how massively and unnessicarily big their house is..
Anyone else feel lost here too? | |
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| Does anyone else feel like they weren't meant to be a Californian?
Posted: 7/11/2009 6:16:32 PM | I was born and raised in So Cal but I've been fortunate enough to travel all over the US and I'm in agreement Kendra.
People are certainly friendlier in the "south". Their driving habits aren't much better but they're generally friendlier in person in that they initiate greetings, make eye contact, etc..
Never really read much into it but yeah, you're right. California is home for me, mostly out of familiarity and business/work... well that and our beautiful weather and coastline. | |
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| Does anyone else feel like they weren't meant to be a Californian?
Posted: 7/11/2009 6:24:14 PM | | I'm a California native and I couldnt agree with you more. People are definitely not polite in this state unless of course they want something from you and even then thats kinda rare. A lot of arrogance and its all me this me that. I love our weather but if I had the chance to move out of state I would. Not sure where though. I've only been to North Carolina and Georgia but they definitely have that southern hospitality. Its a nice change. You definitely get kinda jaded living in LA LA land. | |
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| Does anyone else feel like they weren't meant to be a Californian?
Posted: 7/11/2009 7:09:33 PM | I don't feel lost here simply because I have plenty of nice friends here in CA.
Why do you think it is that we as a state are unfriendlier than others?i
I beg to differ. You are making a generalization in which Californians are rude versus folks from other states. You can find the bad apples here in CA just as you can find them in any state. No state is immune from rude people. It's easy to like the place you are vacationing. Where you live becomes cumbersome and easy to look down upon.
You're more likely to run into rude people here because we have more people. Does that translate into more rude people per capita? I don't think so. Go to Philadelphia where their football fans have thrown snowballs at Santa Claus in Veteran's Stadium.
This generaliztion doesn't keep in mind the atrocities committed by the South. We can dive deep into this. | |
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| Does anyone else feel like they weren't meant to be a Californian?
Posted: 7/11/2009 7:30:22 PM | Well Skooch, I'll disagree with you.
I travel with my father every year to a large business meeting in Texas and it's just freaking obvious... the people there are just friendlier. We talk about it every time we go there... same thing with Georgia, Louisiana, and a lot of other states.
"Atrocities" aside.. the people are just "different" there.
How many states have you actually spent a good deal of time in?? | |
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| Does anyone else feel like they weren't meant to be a Californian?
Posted: 7/11/2009 7:39:53 PM | psylocillin
It's great that you have travelled to a lot of States... and it is true that people can be friendly anywhere.
I have lived in many states... Idaho, Iowa, Mississippi to name a few that vary... and even though you can find nice people, It is the same here...
It's like in general small towns are more friendly then big cities... but in general...
Anyway... yes you can have great experiences traveling outside of the state... But like anything else... The longer you stay somewhere, like the longer your in a relationship or at a job.... You tend to start seeing the flaws and bad parts....
Any place is what you make it. | |
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| Does anyone else feel like they weren't meant to be a Californian?
Posted: 7/11/2009 7:47:27 PM | Oh I'm with ya Jack... you see where I live right?
Hell, that probably explains a lot of it right there but yeah I still have a love for this state and yeah... I could move anywhere but I still call Cali home, and probably always will. That's gotta account for something. :) | |
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| Does anyone else feel like they weren't meant to be a Californian?
Posted: 7/11/2009 7:53:53 PM | It is good, at least you have travelled... a lot of people never leave the town they were born in.
And yes... where you live... It would be easy to get jaded about the way people are in Cali.
But to be honest, you seem like a guy with his head screwed on straight..... and I do think you were right, You can meet some very nice people across this country.
Personally I love Idaho.... But, there is no place like home. | |
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| Does anyone else feel like they weren't meant to be a Californian?
Posted: 7/11/2009 9:26:23 PM | Ah definitely, there are lots of good/friendly people here.
Any time I ride (Ducati... don't hold it against me, I'm a child of divorce after all)... I always get waves from fellow bikers. Maybe it's just a biker thing but it always reminds me that there are friendly people here. 
Not been so successful with "thumbs up" at the BMW guys... go figure.
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| Does anyone else feel like they weren't meant to be a Californian?
Posted: 7/12/2009 10:28:15 AM | Southern California is over crowded in many places. Too many people and too much traffic leads to frustration. None of us are the most friendly when we're feeling pushed, shoved and rushed.
Most other busy, busy areas regardless of state, share this same lack of "sweet personality".
Small towns, though seemingly friendly, also have their down sides. Everyone knows everyone -- which is great! But everyone KNOWS everything about everyone... not always so great. Especially when gossip is the main event because there's not much else to do.
I wasn't born here, but I like it and choose to remain. Does that make me "meant to be Californian?" I guess so :) | |
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| Does anyone else feel like they weren't meant to be a Californian?
Posted: 7/12/2009 11:00:41 AM | I agree, people in Cali are so rude, it's ridiculous. Just the other day I had a guy in a truck follow to my house because he said I was driving too slow and he needed to teach me a lesson... ok? so the speed limit is slow? lol
And dating in this state is impossible if you not 6'2", look like a body builder and your a complete ***hole. But the girls love to **** about how they "hate" those types of guys but won't give anyone else a chance.
I swear as soon as I'm done with school I'm moving to Colorado :D | |
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| Does anyone else feel like they weren't meant to be a Californian?
Posted: 7/12/2009 8:41:27 PM | Be careful of those who follow you home because they don't like the way you were driving.
In the 70s my sister's fiancee was followed home in Highland Park (L.A.) by 3 gang members who did not think he had stopped long enough at a 4-way stop sign. A few "finger" gestures were exchanged, they followed them home and they stabbed him to death on his front porch. He died in her arms.
Just be careful! | |
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| Does anyone else feel like they weren't meant to be a Californian?
Posted: 7/12/2009 8:52:16 PM |
Anyone else feel lost here too? I'm from Finland, where we are notorious for being closed-mouthed. Not rude, just don't interact with strangers.
But I have found Californians to be either one or the other:
indifferent to the point of rudeness -or-
surprisingly engaging and friendly.
I also find that when I approach people with a friendly attitude and smile, they are usually 99% responsive. A few are shocked speechless LOL
Why do you think it is that we as a state are unfriendlier than others? It's expensive, congested and there's no real "town square" or sense of belonging. | |
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| Does anyone else feel like they weren't meant to be a Californian?
Posted: 7/12/2009 9:21:47 PM | | I don't know if it's a California thing as I'm originally from NYC and people from all over the world call us rude and obnoxious. And in many cases it's probably true for most people. I think the problem with a lot of Western cities(Seattle, SF, San Diego, Los Angeles, etc) comes from the fact that many people are from other places. So saying people in Southern California are rude more likely means people from all over the US are rude. | |
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| Does anyone else feel like they weren't meant to be a Californian?
Posted: 7/12/2009 10:18:13 PM |
I also find that when I approach people with a friendly attitude and smile, they are usually 99% responsive.
landra actually hit it on the head.... seriously... everyone is a mirror image of yourself... You smile they smile... You flip them off... they follow you home... Sorry to here that CBG.
I know myself for instance.... I'm not too talkative around people... especially ones I don't know... I'm also told I don't smile enough.... Well, it isn't that I'm not happy... just something must be on my mind. I'm told I would scare someone if they met me in an alley.... But I wouldn't hurt a fly.
If someone smiles at me, I smile back... If they ignore me, I probably am ignoring them as well... Guess I'm just in my own little world.
Although, I do try and say hi to people...
Anyway... California , LA... It is no different than anywhere else....
Maybe we should look at ourselves... as Californians... and be more friendly to others. Because we are who we are talking about... right?
And the guy that is skipping town after school... just about everything you said about people here... sounded like you... You don't seem happy... why would anyone around you be happy? Just food for thought. | |
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| Does anyone else feel like they weren't meant to be a Californian?
Posted: 7/13/2009 8:14:14 AM |
Be careful of those who follow you home because they don't like the way you were driving.
In the 70s my sister's fiancee was followed home in Highland Park (L.A.) by 3 gang members who did not think he had stopped long enough at a 4-way stop sign. A few "finger" gestures were exchanged, they followed them home and they stabbed him to death on his front porch. He died in her arms.
Oh jeez that's terrible! I'm so sorry to hear that! Ya this guy got mad at me because I slowed way down (maybe to 10 mph) because he was tailgating me so when he went to pass me I sped up and gave him the "what's up" shurgging the shoulders gesture. He then decided to keep revving his truck next to mine as we drove down the street so I ignored him. When I turned right at the next light he made a very much illegal right turn from the left lane to follow me. Once I got home I just told him that my neighbors surely were watching him (old folks, very sweet, just sit on their porch all day long lol) and that they probably have called the police. He just cussed and left.... looked like he was having a bad day and was taking it out on everyone around him lol | |
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| Does anyone else feel like they weren't meant to be a Californian?
Posted: 7/13/2009 10:02:19 AM | Dude.... The guy was tailgating you? You mean you didn't like how close he was so you slowed down to 10 mph and then when he could finally go around you, you speed up and gesture him?
You might want to check your attitude.... sounds like you were having a bad day.....
All of California driving is tailgating...
We all need to learn to get along better.... If someone else is in more of a hurry than you... Let him get around... don't slow down to 10 mph. | |
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| Does anyone else feel like they weren't meant to be a Californian?
Posted: 7/13/2009 11:53:11 AM | I feel bad for those of you who live those terrible big cities full of ***holes. You must be lonely in the absence of friendly people.
I, on the other hand, find plenty of friendly people in all the cities I've lived in around CA. Maybe it's because I present myself in a friendly manner, that leads others to reciprocate my behavior. It's less common for me to come across jerks than it is to come across people who are just going about their day in a polite manner. I don't see fingers flying out the window on a daily basis. I see far far more friendly waves than I do fingers.
I've noticed a commonality with drivers. Drivers believe that all other drivers are idiots because they are driving in front of them. They are being inconvenienced by the traffic in general but somehow it's the person in front of them's fault for their frustration. I doubt that this only happens in CA. | |
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| Does anyone else feel like they weren't meant to be a Californian?
Posted: 7/13/2009 1:16:45 PM | OMG, YET ANOTHER "CALIFORNIA IS A BAD BAD PLACE TO LIVE" THREAD!!!
I will personally help pack up all those that want to move to a "nice" state. no charge, but please provide your own packing peanuts, I seem to have run out of nuts...
I get what I put out--a lot of smiles to strangers and even some that aren't so strange.
oh wait! maybe that's it!!! are the strange ones the ones that moved here from those other nice states or the other way around? I also hold doors and offer to help when I can, but maybe I should stop doing that?? oh lordy, now I'm really confused. what's a California native to do?
maybe we need to close down the freeways coming into this nasty state. oh hell, I forgot about the airports!
*sigh* | |
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| Does anyone else feel like they weren't meant to be a Californian?
Posted: 7/13/2009 9:08:31 PM |
I beg to differ. You are making a generalization in which Californians are rude versus folks from other states
No, I am going off of what I found to be true in my own experiance. The majority of the people I ran into in other states are simply friendlier. I get almost ran into by crazy rude drivers on a daily basis here whom simply ignore I was even there and don't have the balls to even look at me after they nearly run me off the road. 9 out of 10 times the person in front of me will not hold the door open, and 9 out of 10 times they will knock me over to get in through the door before I can get out. It is COMPLETELY different from what I experianced in other states. | |
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| Does anyone else feel like they weren't meant to be a Californian?
Posted: 7/13/2009 9:55:38 PM | Jackdiamond...
We were on a 2 lane road (2 lanes going in each direction) in the country... so we were the only two cars out there... I watched him come flying up on me and not pass me like he coud have. I slowed down because he was on my ass for 5 minutes and I was tired of it. Sure maybe I shouldn't have sped up when he finally went around me but why should I when he was driving like a moron? Only serves him right.
Go adhead judge me more... tell me I have anger issues or road rage. | |
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