California Politeness

[Jimmie Higgins]

I went out to enjoy some of the nice bay area weather today before going to work tonight and while I was out I witnessed a prime example of "California politeness".

I decided to grab something to eat and there was a really long line. There were two women in front of me in line and both had small kids with them - the one immediately in front of me looked like she was maybe the grandmother of the kids and was humbly dressed.

Another yuppie-ish woman with a baby strapped to her chest approached the first woman in line because she recognized her from something or other even though she didn't know her well or even her name. They spoke while the first woman's food was being made and then after paying the first woman left, but the yuppie woman then went straight to the register and began to order.

The grandmother immediately in front of me said to the yuppie: "hey I've been in line and these kids are hungry too, you know."

The yuppie woman turned around, put her hand on the grandmother's shoulder, looked at her with eyes full of empathy and said: "oh, I am so sorry". And then immediately turned back around and ordered her meal.

Damn I hate that fake California politeness! If she had turned around, looked the grandmother in the eyes and said, "Oh, I'm sorry, but you can go fuck yourself," then I would have had more respect for her and her frankness. I feel like I see this shit all the time with moderately well-off Californians - like they feel they can piss in your face as long as they giggle and say: "oops sorry" afterwords. I remember working at a store and this customer was watching and laughing as their kid messed up things on the shelf - I called the parent on it and he giggled and shrugged and then walked away.

So many yuppies here have an amazing combination of a sense that they are the most caring and empathetic people in the world and complete self-centeredness at the same time. Totally bizarre.
[/rant]

[Chimurenga.]

this is what should've happened:


JvUTtjsOemw

[praxis1966]

I feel ya, JH. I dunno, maybe it's because I'm a New Englander at heart (my mother's family lives in the Boston area and I've always felt more at home with their yelly, impolite and wholly inappropriate [by the standards of just about any other region of the country] behavior) but I still haven't been completely able to adjust to these kinds of attitudes. Just driving around Berkeley and having these so-called polite Northern Californian pedestrians with all their self-entitlement just walk out in front of my car with the expectation of right of way and against traffic signals is enough to make me want to go postal.

[Raúl Duke]

I think I got that fake politeness vibe in Florida too, so it ain't exactly limited to just California.

[Mindtoaster]

For all its flaws, that shit wouldn't fly here in the deep south.

[FreeFocus]

Yeah, what you're describing happens everywhere. People are assholes.

[gorillafuck]

I've never had that happen to me or seen it happen. Maybe that shit doesn't fly in New England.

[this is an invasion]

I don't think it's a California thing. I think it's just a piece of shit yuppie thing.

[DunyaGongrenKomRevolyutsi]

There is nothing wrong with being polite, you can still be honest with it, but yeah fake politeness is condescending and yeah, fake politeness is a very middle-class sensibility.

[praxis1966]

Well, the problem here is that it's really hard to describe faux California politeness to someone who hasn't seen it first hand. It's a really thin veneer dripping with condescension and false outrage when offense is perceived. Zeekloid's right, the kind of shit that people get away with here damned sure wouldn't fly in New England or New York, and I'd almost at this point prefer the company of Southern rednecks to NorCal yuppies because of it. Hell, at least the latter are honest about their bigotry.

[DunyaGongrenKomRevolyutsi]

But.. you get that here too.... like I already said....... why would I have to go to north california to experience something you get in a lot of places, a very middle-class trait?

[Lacrimi de Chiciură]

I think United Statesians just like to make generalizations/jokes about different states. Whether or not stereotypes like California Polite or Minnesota Nice are considered true, I don't know... but I think they mostly are considered true, at least on a subconscious level. Obviously there are exceptions for every stereotype but maybe there are cases where it is true. I myself must admit to often holding this sort of prejudice. Perhaps this thread is just reinforcing those types of stereotypes by recreating this ritual conversation where participants are basically being invited to vent their hatred towards "Californians." As if being from one state or the other determines the value of human being!

[this is an invasion]

America is such a geographically large nation that regions have their own cultures that are very distinct from each other.

[Jimmie Higgins]

I've been to Chicago and NYC a few times and I always love the casual rudeness - "Next in line! What do you want?". Ahhh, my people.

I'm sure if I was out there, it would annoy me after a while though. I'm a "grass is always greener" type when it comes to my petty complaints.

[¿Que?]

I think there has to be regional differences, even if at times they seem similar. The yuppies here in the South tend to be bolder and I'd say more in tune with their class position, so you don't get that faux concern with the "common folk" if you will. For example...

...I used to work the register at this shop where the owner kept a picture of Nancy Pelosy with some regular customers who worked in congress. Well, this yuppie asshole, complete with McCain bumper sticker on his SUV, gets his order, then asks me if I have any post-it notes. I don't think to ask why he needs them, I just give some to him. He takes one of the post-its and places over Nancy Pelosi's face, then looks at me, and sort of laughing says, "I hate that *****."

Now, I'm not a big Pelosi supporter, but you can imagine my frustration, mostly, because if I was a Pelosi supporter, as an employee, I wouldn't be able to say shit to him. In fact, I'm fairly sure I disagree wholeheartedly with that guys politics, but again, as an employee, I can't really express my disagreement.

Anyway, here in the south, the term douche (also douche bag, or d-bag) could be loosely applied to these sorts of people...