Northern Virginia - The good, the bad, and the ugly! (An opinion thread) (McLean: home, neighborhood)

[FairfaxGuy73]

Moderator's Note: This thread is to be an opinion thread where people are free to express their sentiments on a particular aspect of Northern Virginia. Rather than having redundant threads that are generic to the sociology, culture, and living environments in the region, it may be better to have one continuous thread that contains those opinions, rather than multiple, generic threads that are not specific to any one area of the region.

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Several years ago, I would get so frustrated in traffic. I wanted to leave here so badly. Then after a job odyssey, I realized that I couldn't do much better anywhere else. After that, I accepted that I'd be pinned down at home during certain hours, that I couldn't shop discount stores unless I wanted to spend an afternoon getting to them, and that even a casual trip can take 45 minutes. I cured myself and am very seldom frustrated in traffic. I am a very rare exception.

Lately I have been out and about the county more instead of sitting an an office environment. Offices can be very specific and enjoyable or not depending on a number of factors. In the public realm, on the other hand, in Fairfax County, antisocial behavior is pretty universal. I walked past three different people, or sets of people, this morning. The first was two women walking on the other side of a small road. I waved and said "hi" and they just kept talking. I man jogging said hi to me first. Then finally, I was walked past a teenage girl in a neighborhood, said "hi" and she did not respond. Here, you can come out of a class with someone and get on an elevator with them, and ask a conversational question and not get a response.

When I hear them talk, they are always Yankees, but that's about all you get here any more. (It wasn't always that way.) More often they are from the Northeast. They are antisocial on many levels, which I won't get into for sake of space. If you move to NOVA, expect to only find friendly people in certain environments. Even in controlled ones, such as a church, I have found people to be aggressive, dangerous drivers, and rude.

So for me, I'm finally realizing that I have to accept it. These people are jerks anyway, so it's actually kind of silly to care. I've heard them talk, and they are not the kind of people I could stand being around anyway. The only problem is that the area is populated with them, but that's just something to be accepted.

Moderator cut: Off-topic comment

[kutra11]

Haven't encountered such rude jerks in Oakton and Vienna where I live or have lived. I work in McLean, but it's okay to expect the office crowd to be reticent since they are in a hurry. The Tysons Mall #1 is a different story altogether.

Disclaimer: I have nothing to sell. :-)

[CaliTerp07]

Mod Cut

This isn't an area where someone is going to invite you over for waffles after seeing you walking down the street. I have found that the majority of people return smiles and hellos when I offer them, though. And usually, I do...not always though. Many times, I don't--because I'm distracted, don't see them, am running and out of breath, etc. That doesn't make me rude or socially challenged, sorry.

[statecollege]

Bad day, huh? BTW, the Civil War is over. Do you always make sweeping generalizations?

[South Jersey Styx]

Originally Posted by FairfaxGuy73

. . .The first was two women walking on the other side of a small road. I waved and said "hi" and they just kept talking.

The majority of women I know will NOT respond to a stranger yelling at them across a street. Besides, it sounds like they didn't even notice you.

Then finally, I was walked past a teenage girl in a neighborhood, said "hi" and she did not respond.

She probably thought you were a stalker. Or has been taught not to speak to strangers.

When I hear them talk, they are always Yankees, but that's about all you get here any more. (It wasn't always that way.) More often they are from the Northeast. They are antisocial on many levels, which I won't get into for sake of space.

Sure, go ahead and blame everyone from up north. As if there aren't any rude people in the south, the midwest, the west coast, etc. There are rude people EVERYWHERE! And how can you say that "they are antisocial" when you obviously haven't socialized with any of them?

[normie]

But what about the Californians??????

[ngadude]

Everyone knows making sweeping generalizations like this is silly, even though some posters on this forum insist on doing so. By the way - how did the OP identify those people he mentioned as being northerners - does he have a special kind of detector where by looking at someone he can tell exactly where they come from? Moderator cut: Removed orphaned comment

[South Jersey Styx]

Originally Posted by normie

But what about the Californians??????

Hey I didn't forget about you Normie -- I just lumped everyone in under "west coast"

But maybe if the OP hears yours (or other's) California accent AND you choose not to wave from the other side of the street, then he'll consider you guys antisocial too!

[robbobobbo]

Social reticence or privacy may indicate poor manners, lack of social graces, or none of the above. But it certainly doesn't necessarily follow that the person is a jerk or egotistical. And aloofness does not equate to hostility.

If anything, it appears that some people come here with insecurities (perhaps because they are new here) and they read too much into the local residents' lack of an outgoing nature among strangers in public places.

As to elevators, different parts of the country (and world) have different accepted protocols for things like talking in elevators, public bathrooms, public transit, etc. It doesn't mean people are jerks when the protocol here isn't what you wish it to be or are accustomed to elsewhere.

Also, as a middle-aged man, I would not think to say hi to a teenaged girl in my neighborhood unless I knew her or her parents or we passed by each other enough times that we recognized each other. Perhaps that's a sad reflection on society today, and of the loss of innocently assuming people are decent with good intentions.

[robbobobbo]

Originally Posted by normie

But what about the Californians??????

They're just flaky.