Re: Re: There's no X like...

[sauoq]

So, you would have chosen "an overcrowded paved desert" had it been an option?

. . . sigh . . .

I am, of course, a jealous displaced east coaster wistfully longing for home.

Home ++

-sauoq
"My two cents aren't worth a dime.";

[snafu]

Ahhh, indeed I would have. Different strokes and all...but I just could not stand the east coast (more specifically...the south). I think people from the west have a completely different point of view about just about everything than the folks on the right southern part of the country. They are more closed minded and believe it or not I felt they were more politically driven...you know? -- the "good-ole-boy" network and all.

I made a some very good friends there but I just couldn't take it anymore. So, home is definitely rockin despite the environmental downfalls which don't bother me in the least bit. Besides, beaches, mountains, girls...who needs anything else? (rhetorical question, folks :)).

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
- Jim
Insert clever comment here...

[sauoq]

I think people from the west have a completely different point of view about just about everything than the folks on the right southern part of the country.

Yeah, the U.S. is one country, but the cultures in different regions are significantly, sometimes vastly, different. There are the big things, like how conservative or liberal an area is, but there are lots of less obvious differences like how people drive and how strangers interact with you.

I'm from the Mid-Atlantic and living in the SF Bay area now (where drivers do so with incompetence and strangers act like they're your best friend.) After a few years of it, I've come to conclude that it ain't my cup of tea. I lived in the LA area (where people park their cars on the freeway¹ rather than drive and where strangers act like they're your agent) for a short stint in the mid-nineties and I liked that even less.

It seems to me that there is actually some significant cultural divergence even between the LA and San Francisco areas despite the relatively short distance between them. I imagine that I'd find the Southeast to be a new experience just as I would the Midwest, New England, or any number of other areas. (Texas would likely be the weirdest though.)

1. That probably explains why so many there spend more on their cars then their homes... they spend more time in their cars.

-sauoq
"My two cents aren't worth a dime.";

[snafu]

Yeah. I agree with you on the fact that people are so different between relatively little area between their regions of living. I've lived all over this country and even outside of this country. Funnily enough, I find LA the most to my liking than anywhere else that I have lived. I loved Oregon too. I would live there again without hesitation. So, I've been able to state without problem that I could live on the west coast. I do not *ever* want to live on the south east part of the country again (although, I do like Tennessee :). I can't really say if I'd like to live in the northeast. I have visited twice. I drove up to NY for 9/11. I also did some training in DC. I liked DC. But I can hardly make a decent decision on staying in a place for a short amount of time.

Your comments are very well understood by me, however, in regard to what you are saying about the differences of people in areas with little difference of area between them -- It cracks me up how true this is. I have to say, however, I find that drivers in Los Angeles are *the best* drivers per capita than anywhere else I've lived. North Carolina drivers are the worst. And Utah drivers are in the middle. These are just my findings based on where I've lived. I've lived in about 8 or 9 states and about eight or ten (averaged) places in each of those states and have spent significant amount of driving time in at least half of the country as a whole including several cross-country trips.

I love LA for its diversity and the friendship of strangers. A lot of folks in NC will stab you in the back (in my experience more than those in Los Angeles) without hesitation and without any reason. I found they were the most politically driven people I've ever had the experience to live around. I absolutely hate North Carolina and its weather and animal-sized bugs (I must say that there are some nice people in the smaller nether-regions of that state but I still prefer the concrete jungle -- but I hated Charlotte). Anyhoo, I need to get home now. :)

I do find our perspectives on this issue stimulating and interesting, though.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
- Jim
Insert clever comment here...