Isn't it enought that you don't HAVE to live there?

The BBQ Pit
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This is a mildly worded rant, inspired by this thread about California. (But it could be any place - this time it just happens to be California.) On that thread, someone expressed an extreme dislike for California. That’s cool - fine. Don’t like it. Different strokes for different folks. But they act as if they almost wish it would fall into the ocean. (I’m sure they were being somewhat facetious, but still - the dislike is obvious!)

I don’t get that. Isn’t not living in this dreadful state enough? I’m not exactly trying to single out the person (FallenAngel, in this case) who expressed a dislike for the Golden State. I’ve heard other people, in other situations, express their intense hatred for Calif., or the South, or whatever. I am not sure where such exteme emotion comes from.

So - a person hates California (or Kansas, or Georgia, or Virginia, or wherever). So you think that it’s not for you. Aren’t you satisfied with not living there?

I am not trying to be hostile, or anything. I just don’t get it.

I am from California, but now I live in a Midwestern state. I am homesick, very homesick. Sure. There are things here in the state I’m in that I don’t like. But I don’t wish that it rot because I am not crazy about all of it!

One thing I don’t like about this state is the constant barrage of sports coverage on the local TV. So - what do I do? I don’t want the local news! I am much happier now. Out of sight, out of mind.

So I don’t understand how the the fact that California (or Kansas, Georgia, etc.) exists is so vexing. Just don’t go there.

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what state are you living in, perchance?

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A related observation: Folks who complain, “I hate XXX TV show! It’s so lame/insipid/fake/etc.” So don’t watch it! I’ve never watched Survivor. If I did, I would probably hate it for the above reasons. But I don’t watch it beacuse it doesn’t interest me. I have better things to do with my time.*

*Unlike my mother, who watches every piece of crap they put over the airwaves, and then complains. When I ask why she’s watching it if she hates it so much, she says, “There’s nothing better on.” Apaarently her TV’s OFF switch is broken.

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As a Midwesterner I think the reason to dislike the state is because they export more loony ideas than they do navel oranges or broccoli.

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I think that sometimes the middle states feel ignored by those who live on the west coast and the east coast. Since NY and CA are among the biggest players on either coast they bear the brunt of the hostility. And of course people in the south west hate everybody.

California qualifies as my favorite state that I’d never live in. California has a lot of good things going for it. And for the most part I don’t hear Californians bragging about how great they are. Well, not counting people from San Francisco. I’d never live there mainly because I could not afford the same life style that I could in Texas or Arkansas. I can live fairly well here with what I make but in most of the areas of CA I’d want to live in my standards of living would go down.

Marc

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Thank you for starting this, yosemitebabe. The recent bashing of California, not just in the thread you mentioned, but others that have been up recently bother me greatly. I’m honestly tired of people bringing up the same stereotypes when describing California:

What bothers me about these comments is that they’re all based on a small percentage of the entire population. Stereotype much, people?

What about the rest of us that live in California: people whose IQs register above 100 (considering we do have Cal Tech, USC and UCLA); regular folks living in suburbs raising their kids and going to church every Sunday; the thousands of farmers that take care that our major exports (fruits & vegetables) show up at your stores; the millions that live in the state and look absolutely like nothing that you see on TV. We make up the other 97% of the population, you know.

I’m not saying that California is perfect. We’re crowded, expensive, and smoggy (but that’s getting better). It may not be the place you’d want to live, but we’re probably no better or no worse than where you live.

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Don’t like people making negative comments about California (or any other state)? Here’s your solution: Don’t read the comments! :eek:

:):slight_smile:

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Fair enough. Please ask your fellow Californians (and, while you’re at it…the New Yorkers) to refrain from describing the midwest as “flyover country”…the term is just soooooooo '80s anyway…

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I agree with you, beag…as an old Talking Heads fan, I always refer to it as “The Big Country.”

*I see the shapes
I remember from maps
I see the shoreline
I see the whitecaps
A baseball diamond, nice weather down there
I see the school and the houses where the kids are
Places to park by the factories and buildings
Restaurants and bars for later in the evening
Then we come to the farmlands, and the undeveloped areas
And I have learned how these things work together
I see the parkway that passes through them all
And I have learned how to look at these things and I say

I wouldn’t live there if you paid me
I couldn’t live like that, no siree
I couldn’t do the things the way those people do
I couldn’t live there if you paid me to

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I don’t really care if people dislike California, and don’t want to move there. Who needs more people moving there, anyway? It’s crowded enough!

But some of the quotes Java Maven brought up were over the top. Come on, people. To reiterate what Java said, sterotype much?

Ronald Reagan was the GOVERNER of California. Do a bunch of liberal nuts and flakes elect Ronald Reagan? (OK, it was years ago, but still!) Pete Wilson was the Governer not too long ago. Richard Riordan was the mayor of LA. How did this happen? These guys aren’t granola-munching hippy-types. (You may or may not like or admire them, but you have to concede - they are NOT hippy-types!) Yet they were elected to hold office in the Golden State.

I have argued with a friend of mine from Georgia about this. He gets very upset about anyone bashing or sterotyping the South (and I think it is understandable that he would feel that way). But even though he’s known me for a long time, he’s harbored some incorrect stereotypes and assumptions about my family, since we’re from California. Like we’re all ultra-PC socialist types. (This would have been news to my late father, Mr. Archie Bunker Lite.)

I am from Glendale. And then I moved to Sunland-Tujunga (both in the Los Angeles area). Anyone else familiar with these areas? Definitely NOT going to be mistaken for Berkeley! They are both rather boring, middle-of-the-road, conservative areas.

That’s a mean thing to say. I have used it a few times, though, but only when some California-hating person starts in, bitching about my home state. I say, “Why should they care what you think? You’re just in flyover country!” Yes, I know it’s not nice to tell them that (I say it in jest) but I figure if they are going to trash another state, they’d better be prepared to have their state trashed too! Most people here in this midwestern state haven’t heard of the term before I mention it, so I doubt they have been emotionally scarred by it throughout their lives! :slight_smile:

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Just my .02.

I,too, live in California. But in a small “family” town. Population 50,000. Dairies and pumpkin fields surround our town. It smells of cow shit regularly. We are not hippie granola eating people. Cowboys are this towns kind of people.

I hate it so much when people stereotype California.No there is NOT palm trees everywhere. We ALL don’t live near the beach. Everyone DOES NOT surf. Everyone is not an actor/actress. Yes the pollution is bad at times but what do you freaking expect? Too many people come here to live,thus making it polluted. I’m proud to be a Californian. I get to see the redwoods, the beach, the desert, and the silly city of San Francisco.

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And Stanford!

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Transplanted Philadelphian living in San Diego here, and I’d have to agree - when I told my friends and family I was moving out here, it was either, “Aren’t you afraid of earthquakes?” or “Oh, I’d never live out there,” from people who’d never even visited the state.

I love Philadelphia - born and raised, lots to offer, love the history. I also love my new home - weather can’t be beat, people are great, lots of stuff to do.

I’ve also travelled around the country - Chicago, Boston, Atlanta, Florida, and so on. None of them struck me as partiuclarly nasty places to live, and I certainly wouldn’t badmouth someone for living there. (I will say I didn’t care for Chicago and wouldn’t live there, but that doesn’t mean I hate it enough to want it to drop off into the lakes or something.)

The new theme park at Disneyland, California Adventure, has a great attraction called “Golden Dreams,” and it’s a movie about the history of California (and, unlike a lot of Disney stuff, it is not whitewashed). They talk about the native Americans here, the invasion of the Spanish, the building of the railroad, the gold rush, immigration, and so on. At the end of the film they show a montage of famous Californians, and it’s amazing how many wonderful people have come out of this state (notably I remember seeing Harvey Milk in there, which always makes me cry). But by saying that, no one is saying that equally wonderful people have come out of other states. Sheesh - I didn’t realize all the states were in competition with each other. :rolleyes:

So, basically, shut your fucking yap and stay out of my state if it pisses you off so much. :wink:

Esprix

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Hey! I love CA(born in) and Alaska (in AK now) feh go figure…
TM “the Alaska guy”

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I didn’t just change cities to move to San Francisco, I changed countries…

And although I still love Toronto, I’ve also come to love living here in California - the people, the atmosphere, the diversity in this state…

It’s amazing how many friends and relatives from throughout the US and Canada ask if they can visit things in SoCal when they visit here in SF… So I’m not surprised that people totally stereotype the whole state as one culture…

The differences in Northern and Southern California are pretty dramatic… Culture, attitudes, styles and weather…

I think it’s a great place to live. I CHOSE to live here, and don’t regret that choice at all.

SFCanadian

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…and coming from a native of Toronto - there’s someone who knows what it’s like to live somewhere other people hate!:wink:

z

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Hey! I almost moved to Toronto, but San Diego won out. :slight_smile:

Esprix

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While I understand that the vast majority of Califorinians posess not a single ounce of snobishness in their being, your more obnoxious exports do tend to grate on the nerves.

If I hear one more band from SF make one more dumb crack about Deliverance while playing at the Southgate House in Newport, KY (directly across the river from Cincinnati), I’m going to start slashing van and/or tourbus tires. Don’t like it here motherfuckers? Well get comfy, cuz you’re spending the night.

It’s the ones who go on and on about how much better it is in CAAAAliiii that piss us off. The ones who act like there’s giant chasm that starts fifty miles west of LA and ends fifty miles east of New York City. The rest of the country would appreciate California for the wonderful place it is if only the rest of you would take it upon yourselves to tear those people’s vocal cords out. Please?

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One thing that gets me is the people complaining about Californians moving to their state and “ruining” it. Sorry, I’m allowed to move if I want. More to the point, though, the reason there are so many people in CA is not because we’re all breeding like rabbits, it’s because people from elsewhere move here. I never hear people here in CA complaining about all those outsiders encroaching on their turf, except in obvious jest. And that’s probably because they aren’t even originally a Californian. In any random group of Californians, it’s normal for at least half to be from somewhere outside the state. The majority (I believe) of the always-wonderful Bay Area Dopers are originally from other states. Historically, CA has been a Destination Place, so it’s accepted that people should move here, but those of us native to the state have to stay; heaven forbid we should ruin pristine lands with our foul presences.

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…fucking ignorant Midwestern yokels don’t understand basic geography…