theexorcist
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 3,506 
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Post by theexorcist on Jul 16, 2009 8:21:19 GMT -5
WMATA used to have those signs. They got rid of them because they couldn't afford them.  (actually, I don't remember the reason they got rid of them, but that's a good guess; anyone remember the reason?) Metro got rid of them because .... There was concern of people reading them while they were walking. They thought that it would create confusion. Really. |
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hoyatables
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 2,606
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Post by hoyatables on Jul 16, 2009 11:23:17 GMT -5
Interesting questions:
1. Are we all just sophomores hating on the freshmen?
Some of us are. Some of us many now be the more confident upperclassmen, laughing at the sophomores hating on the freshmen and secretly thinking: "Ha, the fools, we're smarter and more "DC" than all of them." And then there are those who either grew up in the area or have been here for decades who are the graduates that don't even notice or care.
There are actually two versions of the "sophs hating on frosh" battle. The first is the "DC versus elsewhere in America/the World." The second is of course the well-documented-on-Hoyatalk "Real DC versus Arlington versus Bethesda versus some point further out in the 'burbs." There, I think the folks who moved here from somewhere else and ended up settling in DC versus Virginia or Maryland sound very much like the sophomores picking on the freshmen to the true DC natives. But it's all in good fun. Unless you're trying to choose a gamewatch location. Or compare driving abilities.
2. Who the heck is a DC area "resident" anyway?
I think the legal standard is actually a pretty decent one here. Once you've established an intent to stay - or at least have stopped demonstrating an intent to leave - you're a DC resident. For most college students, that doesn't become apparent until after graduation - and sometimes well after graduation. I thought I was going back to NY all through college, and even during my first year after college, even though I had remained in DC. Sometime around my second year out, when I was choosing a law school, I realized that I very much planned to be in DC after law school, because that felt more like home to me. And during my three years at UVA, I returned to DC very often to visit friends -- probably more often than I went "home" to NY.
Final straw was probably when my folks moved away from my hometown. They are still in the NY area, but no longer in a place where I have any emotional attachment to anything other than, well, them. (The fact that they moved to *gasp* Connecticut doesn't help.) Meanwhile, I got a job in DC, and not just any job - one where I spend every minute working with people who focus on improving DC real estate, navigating DC politics, and embracing DC life. I know more about DC than I ever did about NY, and I feel like a true resident. When I convinced my Charlotte-born, Chicago-based wife to move to the DC area and we bought a house here, I think the transformation was complete. (Our marriage itself is a rather DC-like blend of Northern and Southern tastes - I never thought I would make sauce wearing a pink polo and seersucker shorts, for example.)
So those are my thoughts.
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Boz
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
123 Fireballs!
Posts: 10,355
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Post by Boz on Jul 16, 2009 12:29:04 GMT -5
I never thought I would make sauce wearing a pink polo and seersucker shorts, for example. It takes a very brave and self-assured man (or one completely lacking in self awareness) to admit certain things in life....... My hat's off to you, sir. ;D |
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Bando
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
I've got some regrets!
Posts: 2,431
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Post by Bando on Jul 16, 2009 15:50:53 GMT -5
I never thought I would make sauce wearing a pink polo and seersucker shorts, for example. It takes a very brave and self-assured man (or one completely lacking in self awareness) to admit certain things in life....... My hat's off to you, sir. ;D Knowing Tables like I do, I'm going to say it's a little from column A, and a little from column B. |
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mchoya
Bulldog (over 250 posts)
Posts: 377
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Post by mchoya on Jul 23, 2009 12:09:40 GMT -5
lived in the area my whole life. I don't really have a problem with transplants except for the fact that they usually hold on to their home sports teams rather than fully adopting the area. It doesn't really bother me that much though. Who's gonna take the Redskins and Nationals when it's easier to hold on to any team from any other part of the country (aside from the Lions, Raiders, Pirates)? |
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