Posted on 01/20/2012 5:00:41 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Edited on 01/20/2012 7:11:45 AM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]
Which is worse when you
(Excerpt) Read more at itineraries.msnbc.msn.com ...
AFAIC New York, Chicago, DC, and SoCal entire can sink into the sea or be swallowed up by the earth as the case may be...I’ll never willingly visit again. But Philly has one little lunch stand that makes the greatest meatball and cheesesteak subs...God will just have to sweep around it.
“My Cousin Vinny” starred Joe Pesci. Steve Martin wasn’t anywhere in that movie... by any spelling...
Phooey! My bad.
“My Blue Heaven” Vinny Antonelli, a mobster in the witness protection program.
The irony here is the Boston Globe got its start by being the newspaper for the catholic Irish and Italian immigrants. The old saw was that the Globe was the paper that went "up the back stairs," i.e., the maid's or servant's stairs, while a more august paper like the Boston Transcript went up the front stairs. The Globe's voice began to change in the sixties. Students caught on to it, it went anti-Vietnam, etc., etc., the same old story.
As for your other point, Boston is exceptionally tribal. If a person's great grandparents came from the same third- or second-world hell hole that your great grandparents came from, he or she can be excused for just about any anti-social behavior whatsoever.
Exactly.
New York’s #1! You godda problem wid dat?
And it's well deserved.
S. Cali is akin to Queensland in Australia (in my experience). Some (many) in Sydney for example tend to joke that Queenslanders still live in the 70s, and are behind times.. real slow, sunshine state (not golden state), surfing dudes, you know.. must be the weather & humidity!
Personally, I like Queensland & Queenslanders. They are friendly, it is a dream driving in Brisbane versus nightmare traffic especially in Sydney for example, and mentality wise Queensland seems more like a big country town - polite, down-to-earth, and personable. Queensland has more gorgeous beaches & crystal clear water than Sydney, Melbourne, or even Perth. Not to mention abundant, unique & excellent quality seafood. Actually it is quite idyllic living.
But, overall, I’d say Australians are equally friendly & helpful as Americans. Europeans are a different story.
“Welcome to Philadelphia...and oh by the way...YOU SUCK!”
Well, as far as I’m concerned everything east of the Mississippi still belongs to England.
I know that people are going to think you're exaggerating about Boston, but that happens to be true, especially in the near suburbs around the city. My wife (who's from the Midwest) and I still joke about it from time to time, although we moved 60 miles north from Boston into NH (where people are a bit warmer - though not much by Midwest or Southern standards) many years ago.
In terms of general surliness, my time living in Boston taught me that it varied greatly between groups and neighborhoods. Because of the large number of colleges in the area, people around Kenmore Square (for example) tend to be friendlier (and frequently are non-natives). Beacon Hill types (Jawwn Kerry's crowd) are not often abrasive, but can be distant and stand-offish. The adjacent North End still has a lot of very down-to-earth and friendly older people (Italian, largely). The South End is Gay Central - not mean, but a bit creepy. Much of Cambridge is like the Third World; dirty, smelly and full of commies.
Southie and Charlestown are more like what you describe: insular, highly suspicious of outsiders, with the working-class Irish predominant. The funny thing is, once you are "accepted" by one or more of them, it's almost as if they've vouched for you ("Ahhh, I checked'm out, Tawmmy, an' he's okay."). Only then you can walk into a bar and not draw hostile glares. And that I did frequently as a young man.
Oh, the Colonnade...
Bostonians are NOT stupid about money. They DO know service. So much so that several joints actually specialize in “being real.” Translation: We’ll actually BE rude to you, in spite of your money, so you feel like you’ve really been to Boston. But those are the exceptions for people seeking the “Boston experience.”
I love the irony of it being warmer in New Hampshire.
There basically are three groups of people in Boston:
1. The “Boston Brahmin.” It’s impossible for most Americans to understand how classist Boston is. The name “Brahmin” is a reference to pre-Gandhi India, the only other society so hatefully classist. And that’s what BOSTONIANS call them. Think John Kerry and William Weld.
2. The Brahmin bitchy wanna-bes. By night, Sex, alcohol, black clothes. By day, type-A bitches that would shock Washingtonians. Madly socially liberal, but just to fit in. In reality, they’re profoundly racist. (I live, now, in Washington. Think Nancy Kerrigan’s somewhat unfair charicature.
3. Townies. Resentful of out-of-towners; they’re racist, which is misdirected anger, but they have reason to be angry. (Not at blacks, but at the Brahmin who used blacks to boot them out of their homes to bust up their communities. Certain neighborhoods in Charlestown were 100% white in 1970 and 100% black in 1990.)
4. Assorted outsiders: Blacks, Indians, new Irish immigrants, stranded Yankees fans. Hated by all sides, the’re actually quite friendly.
I love Boston. It is the only city in the US I have so far visited with which I’ve felt a natural affinity - Boston always felt known to me even first time I visited it in the late 1980s - just knew my way around the city.
Hah! I added a fourth group and didn’t change the claim that there are “three groups of people in Boston.”
It’s a beautiful city to visit. LIVING THERE is an entirely different issue.
It’s a beautiful city to visit. LIVING THERE is an entirely different issue.
NY well its NY, but when asked a question most were gracious enough to try to help. Only problem I encountered, none of them knew out to get out of their own burrough, let alone NYC. They could not tell you how to get on the Interstate. But they were nice about being ignorant.
Crossed over into N.C., and we stopped for coffee at a quick stop. First thing I heards was, "How Ya'll Doing", OH MY we are home, those sweet words, and you know it did not take any energy for her to be sweet, takes a lot to be RUDE.
Yes, I believe you regarding living there.
It is also an expensive city to live in.
Nonetheless a beautiful city and historically very significant. Including many snobs!
I’ve lived in London too and spent some time in Paris and Vienna too (all old & beautiful cities). But never had the same ‘natural affinity’ as with Boston, for some reason...
Just saying from personal perspective. Btw, I did spend a yr in Boston for work too in early 1990s.
Guess it is/was certain aspects of the city that made lasting impressions, can’t really explain or put a finger on them. But, it felt very much like a natural home to me.
Travel between boroughs among those who live, and not just work, in New York City is as unusual as travel between states is. And each borough does have a population larger than a dozen or more states (except “suburban” Staten Island, which by all rights should have ended up as part of New Jersey).
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