Cultural Quirks About Your Home Area

What are some cultural oddities and differences that make your city, state, province or country unique to visitors?


Here in the northwest, I hear people from out of state complain about how polite and unconfident drivers of Oregon and Washington can be. People around here really don't drive aggressively. Sometimes they will stop at intersections where there aren't any stop signs to be found. And they will drive a lot slower when it rains, which is pretty annoying. But on the plus side, fellow motorists will let you change lanes in front of them by slowing down and giving you plenty of space to do it. This is very much an Oregon thing. Once you cross into California, the more south you go the more aggressive the drivers. Up in Seattle the locals drive the city streets like salmon swimming up river.

 

This state has too many old people.

Correction, Florida has the right number of old people.

 

We're friendly.

There are a lot of northern transplants here now so we are losing some of that southern hospitality culture, but you can always tell who is from the south by who offers you a smile or a wave as you're walking down the street and who avoids eye contact and ignores you.

Once a few years ago I was in California and a guy signing people up for those Save the Children charities approached me. Naturally I stop and smile politely at him, even though I was grimacing inside..and he kind of stopped and was like, "wow, you're the first person to stop and smile at me all day. Where are you from?" And I told him and he said "ooh okay that makes sense." Lol

When I was a kid if you were walking down the street and a car passed by, you always waved at each other. Always. Now, not so much. I still do but usually the other person looks at me like I'm crazy. Damn Yankees

 

Sac County . Iowa : go away unless you really insist

 

we like cheese curds and gravy on our french fries


thats aboot it for weird quirks


also its a normal thing to see an atv going down the roads in the smaller towns..sometimes with guns if its hunting season ...i suppose thats not normal for most cities...

our lakes are safe to swim in...no pollution just sometimes algae problems at beaches depending on the weather

 

I grew up on the East Coast. My dad was obsessed with The Beach Boys. So, through him and his music, I learned about California surf culture.

When I moved out here, I was so stoked to learn that that was real! My first day out here in SoCal, I saw a VW bus with boards on the roof, tiki grass, and a hula girl on the dash. The cliches were accurate and that made me very happy--especially as a surfing poser from the East Coast .

But outside of that, Boston and LA are identical: a bunch of me first drivers obsessed with arrival and survival clogging the roads. At the end of the day, big cities are big cities, weather they are in Massachusetts or California

 

Appears nice on TV but is actually a shit hole

 

Pork roll on bagels and complaining about Benny's

 

Sagging pants. This is the most annoying thing, and it won't fucking go away. It's damn near everywhere! I couldn't wait for the 90s to be over, thinking that the bullshit would go away, but it's still here! Put a fuckin belt on already!!!

 

my state leads the nation in drug overdose deaths.

 

There's a lot of chuppers around.

 

I love how on TV prople just kind of coast through life. Meanwhile, if you're making less than 100k out here, you're in danger of going under.

Where's that show?

Instead were supposed to believe that a hairdresser lives in Bel Air or some shit. No way.

 

Side note: I'm from Southern California, and I can't stand the way most people drive. It's arrogant, rude, and lacking in intelligence. It's a belligerent fiasco! I have tried to drive the way you have described Oregonians; everything I can think of to try and get other people to catch on, but they continue to delight in darting around maniacally. Anyway...

I don't know of anything that stands out culturally about Southern California. There is a phenomenon called "vocal fry" that was discussed in a Cultural Anthropology class I'm taking which I believe some Californians may be guilty of. It's an elongation of the last word in a sentence. http://time.com/2820087/3-speech-habits-that-are-worse-than-vocal-fry-in-job-interviews/ (their definition doesn't really match up with mine, but interesting article)

 

My state is liberal to the point of absurdity


Hotwater

 

You're from Massachusetts? Massholes are a cultural quirk in and of themselves. I've met people from Mass who were so brusque it was offensive, but also kind of charming in a weird way

 

Pedestrians and drivers wave to each other around here only on dirt roads and in residential suburbs without sidewalks. I get waves from pedestrians when I'm driving my vintage Jeep. Other than that, I wish my area was as friendly as SC.

 

^^^ This

 

I thought that honor went to New Hampshire.

President Trump even mentioned New Hampshire by name during a rally a few months ago regarding the opioid crisis, unless he was referring to overdoses per capita white trash.

 

Well, I meant to clarify, this only happens in residential areas where a car only passes every now and then. It doesnt happen in cities or busy roads because you would never stop waving and you would look like Forrest Gump lol