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California Speak
Mar. 25th, 2006 11:29 pmCalifornia Observation #1: Have a nice day....
As a yankee transplant in California, one of the first things I noticed was how very nice people were here. They smile at you, hold doors and say hello on the street sometimes. It just seems like a happy place. And then you realize. It is an insidious, pervasive fakeness. I have finally figured out what it all means. It means nothing. It is a saccarine kind of niceness with little or no meaning behind it. It is like teflon....a non-porous, stick-free surface that you could fry an egg on and wipe clean right after. I prefer cast iron frying pans myself.
I have also figured out what "Have a nice day" means...it is California-speak for "fuck you". It really is. I am not kidding. It is said with a smile but there is nothing in the eyes. You just look sometime. There is a coldness there, I kid you not.
Give me New England any day specifically Boston and environs....blaring horns, the "R" is optional, that nasal/course way of speaking and just the rush and bustle of it all. On the West Coast there is the illusion of having all the time in the world but it is a fallacy. These people are ruthless. They will be sugary and nice to you while they stab you in the back. On the East Coast you know when someone hates you...it is out there---hackles up, voice raised, spitting in each other's faces, all the visual, physical cues are present. Here your enemy will say....Have a nice day and walk on by, leaving you with a sour taste in your mouth and no way to get satisfaction. The insincerity of it all is galling.
In California people are polite and confrontations are rare in one's daily life. People tell each other off all the time back east. It is a way of life and you know where you stand. It is an infinitely preferable and honest way to live. Give me New England anyday.
So anyway....have a nice day, see you soon, take care....peace, love and understanding. Can you tell I have had enough?
As a yankee transplant in California, one of the first things I noticed was how very nice people were here. They smile at you, hold doors and say hello on the street sometimes. It just seems like a happy place. And then you realize. It is an insidious, pervasive fakeness. I have finally figured out what it all means. It means nothing. It is a saccarine kind of niceness with little or no meaning behind it. It is like teflon....a non-porous, stick-free surface that you could fry an egg on and wipe clean right after. I prefer cast iron frying pans myself.
I have also figured out what "Have a nice day" means...it is California-speak for "fuck you". It really is. I am not kidding. It is said with a smile but there is nothing in the eyes. You just look sometime. There is a coldness there, I kid you not.
Give me New England any day specifically Boston and environs....blaring horns, the "R" is optional, that nasal/course way of speaking and just the rush and bustle of it all. On the West Coast there is the illusion of having all the time in the world but it is a fallacy. These people are ruthless. They will be sugary and nice to you while they stab you in the back. On the East Coast you know when someone hates you...it is out there---hackles up, voice raised, spitting in each other's faces, all the visual, physical cues are present. Here your enemy will say....Have a nice day and walk on by, leaving you with a sour taste in your mouth and no way to get satisfaction. The insincerity of it all is galling.
In California people are polite and confrontations are rare in one's daily life. People tell each other off all the time back east. It is a way of life and you know where you stand. It is an infinitely preferable and honest way to live. Give me New England anyday.
So anyway....have a nice day, see you soon, take care....peace, love and understanding. Can you tell I have had enough?
