[floridarebel]

People move down here to escape their problems. In a newer area, you are less likely to be seen by others you escaped so there is a fresh start regarding their identity.

[LKJ1988]

Originally Posted by foodyum

Then you found your home in Florida, join the crowd who has gathered here to be mad - and proud of it.

I was born in Tampa bra.

[logybogy]

A lot of Floridians are suspicious of strangers and take time to warm up to you. For all you know you could be a scammer, drug addict, rapist. If you want friends, best thing is to find a group or cause you believe in and volunteer.

[cowpat5]

For clarification -- I was born in Florida, just lived in different areas. The place I've been at now, I've been here for several years. When the population was literally 5k. lol. Now it's 10,000's.

[MOforthewin]

Originally Posted by mwalker96

Florida is getting crowded so a lot of people in one area will cause some people to be moody. In my experience I seen a mix of friendly and hostle people. It's not too different from North Carolina in my opinion (at least North Florida).

North FL is a different animal though than Orlando on South. Don't have many from places like the NE that is fast paced.

[Sunbiz1]

Originally Posted by floridarebel

People move down here to escape their problems.

Correct, only; they're generally the problem they are trying to escape.
So it never works.

[beachmouse]

The fantasy of the endless tropical vacation quickly clashes with the reality of living in a disaster-prone low wage high COL area and people start to get cranky pretty quickly.

We went on vacation to the Portland, OR area in 2019 and despite that area’s reputation, we were just floored by how the majority of people out there seemed nicer and kinder (and were much better drivers) than how things were back home.

One thing I used to like about the state since we moved in here in 1998 was that it was always changing and the potential for those changes to be interesting interesting and fun but so many of those changes in recent years have been for the worse

So now the plan is to hang on here for a couple years for financial reasons and then hope there’s a greater fool willing to pay a decent price for the house at that point so we can pull off an early retirement to Colorado/Spain/the PNW.

[Ghaati]

Originally Posted by cowpat5

I'm being very serious here... I have lived in Florida almost my whole life. And various parts of Florida (never any further north than Ocala/not in the pan handle and as far south as Englewood). Florida seems to have a lot of narcissistic, angry people, wishy washy people. I love Florida because it's my home state... and I was born here. But another part of me really dislikes Florida because well tbh...

The people kind of suck. Honestly (as far as I can remember at this moment) I'd say almost every person whom I've known on more than just an acquaintance level, has either moved back to their home state or have kind of turned into a "Florida man/woman" type character -- has gotten into drugs/drinking/arrests/life seems to unstable.

I have gotten out of this sort of crowd (and I'm not married which most people my age are so I'm not in the "parent"/family crowd either). Never been arrested but did hang around this stuff/"scene" when I was younger. Nowadays I have no social life to be honest. I just work, come home, read, play a couple different instruments, and repeat the next day. Feels like ground hogs day to be honest. I don't know if that's just adult life and I've never really grown up... or if it's just Florida, man.

I've been to a few other states but I was just on vacation/visiting and the one thing I noticed is... people drive better, I don't recall ever hearing any blaring sound systems in traffic, and random people seem to talk to you like they kind of know you (I'm undecided if this is a good thing or not lol). As in they're not in "defense" mode.

Everything I underlined is "wishy washy." Also known as passive-aggressive. Things SEEM to be - you're undecided, you think this BUT something else is also true, "to be honest" implies that everything else you typed was probably a lie (or you wouldn't have to qualify the statement with "to be honest."

Meanwhile, you've used either "I" or "my" or "me" 27 times in your post. Your post only has 10 lines. So ask yourself: who are you calling narcissistic? Do you really understand what the word means?

[jvalens]

I noticed that some low-wage workers seemed angry and bitter. For example, some valet drivers at expensive places, or staff at other upscale establishments. I think they may be upset that they cannot afford the lifestyle of the customers.

[Ghaati]

Originally Posted by jvalens

I noticed that some low-wage workers seemed angry and bitter. For example, some valet drivers at expensive places, or staff at other upscale establishments. I think they may be upset that they cannot afford the lifestyle of the customers.

I don't notice that at all. Most valet drivers rely on tips. Maybe they seem angry and bitter *to you* because *you* don't tip them appropriately? I mean, if you can afford to notice this first-hand, then you're one of those "upscale" customers with a lifestyle that permits you to tip generously. If you don't, then you might find that your paid servants are a little grumpy with you, personally.

I've noticed a few folks at Burger King being especially horrible, but I blame their management for not properly vetting their applicants. They're getting paid $10/hour now to shove some fries in a box and send it to the drive-through window with a smile and a thank you. If they can't manage that, then they shouldn't be working at all.

On the other hand, the folks at McDonalds' tend to be pretty cheerful most of the time. They're getting the same pay as the folks at Burger King. So I credit the management for doing a good job at finding decent applicants.