This sort of shit happens all the time.

[Copper]

35 years, 150 homes in the neighborhood in NOVA. We knew the people on either side and the people with children the same age as ours and my cousin.

And maybe a few others.

The rest were no darned good.

2 years in southern VA now 300 homes and a golf course. I know a fair number of the residents. And everyone waves to everyone, all the time. This is the waviest place I've ever seen. I am waving nonstop.

[89th]

@Aqua-Letifer said in This sort of shit happens all the time.:

Also, according to Guy, “just a little retarded.” So he can be a handful.

He either is crass, or he has a masterful use of the sophisticated English language.

Turns out mine is the same name as her son.

Kinda weird she named him Aqua.

[89th]

Happy for you, though, Aqua. At first I thought this story would end with a "where do these creeps come from?" ending.

As with everything, I have an opinion. I think you're right with Northern Virginia for 3 reasons:

1. It's a very transient area. Sure, I was born and raised there, but it feels like 90% of residents recently moved there and don't plan on staying. It has great access to historical sites, the mountains, the beach, and terrific job security, but it's still an area that thrives off the government industry/funding.

2. It's crowded and lots of strangers. So people keep to their own, mostly. On walks with my daughter there we would say hello (and get a greeting in return) from others, but that was about it.

3. The culture/expectation is different once you get to a different area, whether that is rural VA, west virginia, less-crowded maryland areas, or even in my new neighborhood in Minnesota. It is rare for a car to drive by while we're on our driveway and for the person NOT to wave. Pretty friendly....although with COVID folks seem still a little hesitant to have kids join for play dates or whatever inside another's house.

[Mik]

For 25 years here we knew ALL our neighbors, quite well, and a lot in the surrounding neighborhoods. The last 8 years or so there has been a lot of turnover and now we know very few, just the oldies like us that are left

I remember when we were the youngsters.

[Jolly]

I know a good many folks out here. My wife knows darn near all of them. Either she or I are kin to half of them.

[Doctor Phibes]

The difference between small town Ontario and suburban Massachusetts in this regard is huge, and not in a good way. We had so many more friends in Canada.

[jon-nyc]

@Doctor-Phibes Sure, but each one was worth 28% less.

[Jolly]

@Doctor-Phibes said in This sort of shit happens all the time.:

The difference between small town Ontario and suburban Massachusetts in this regard is huge, and not in a good way. My wife We had so many more friends in Canada.

FIFY.

[Doctor Phibes]

@Jolly said in This sort of shit happens all the time.:

@Doctor-Phibes said in This sort of shit happens all the time.:

The difference between small town Ontario and suburban Massachusetts in this regard is huge, and not in a good way. My wife We had so many more friends in Canada.

FIFY.

Harsh, but fair.

[Aqua Letifer]

@89th said in This sort of shit happens all the time.:

As with everything, I have an opinion. I think you're right with Northern Virginia for 3 reasons.

Those are good points, and overlap quite a bit with my own. If we're going to diagnose NoVa, though, this is my very best stab at it.

(1)
In a fairly popular psych study, subjects were asked to wait in a waiting room. In the center of the room was a big bowl of candy with a sign that said "DO NOT EAT—CANDY FOR CHILDREN" or some such. They set up the study so that each subject would be in the room alone. They took note of everyone who stole from the bowl anyway, and everyone who didn't, then broke down the findings according to each subject's financial status. Then, they did the same test, only this time it was cars that stopped at crosswalks when there was a pedestrian trying to cross. Results were pretty solid: the really poor and the really rich were the most considerate. The people in the middle were, well, in the middle. The greediest, most self-centered assholes, every single fucking time, were the ones who were sort-of poor, and sort-of rich.

I can't speak to the sort-of poor, but those sort-of rich people all live in Northern Virginia. It's literally why they move there. To be that.

(2)
You can't argue that Northern Virginia is beautiful to look at. It's strip malls and condos that overlook strip malls for miles.

And the jobs aren't fun to talk about, unless you're a nerd. One time in three, when you meet someone and ask them what they do, they follow up with an apology for how boring their job is. But it pays great of course, so that's why they do it.

Bland, sterile shopping centers. Townhouses with no character. Jobs with no meaning or value. Terrible traffic. But, you get paid better than average—not richly but better than average—the benefits are also better than average, and you have your choice of gelato.

If you don't think this kind of existence drives human beings crazy you're out of your mind. Every crazy thing that happens on Rt. 7, every fucking weekday morning, is proof enough.

(3)
There's a woman who works as a contractor, and she has a habit of losing her shit. She upends tables, throws computers, lays down into a ball and screams, crazy stuff. But because she has such a high clearance, it's far cheaper to keep her than to get a replacement, so what they did was let her work remotely half the week. Only her, no one else. For mental health reasons. Except she can't bring her work home, of course, so she just hangs out with her cats.

I know someone else who's a translator. He has bipolar disorder. It's bad. It ruins relationships. But he won't get help or go on any pills because if he does, there's then a record of "mental illness" and he loses his job. So, he'll never get help for it.

Clearances encourage and reward insanity.

[Jolly]

I think Trump was right.

Move some of the departments out of the D.C. area, back to where "normal" people live.

Interior was fine in Colorado. Move Ag to Omaha or somewhere else in the Midwest. Put Energy in Texas. Social Security in Florida. The IRS in Guam.

[Aqua Letifer]

@Jolly said in This sort of shit happens all the time.:

I think Trump was right.

Move some of the departments out of the D.C. area, back to where "normal" people live.

I'm all for it.

[89th]

@Aqua-Letifer Hahaha love the analysis. Sounds like you know some of my coworkers

[Jolly]

@Aqua-Letifer said in This sort of shit happens all the time.:

@Jolly said in This sort of shit happens all the time.:

I think Trump was right.

Move some of the departments out of the D.C. area, back to where "normal" people live.

I'm all for it.

Ah, but you argued against it at the time.

[Aqua Letifer]

@Jolly said in This sort of shit happens all the time.:

@Aqua-Letifer said in This sort of shit happens all the time.:

@Jolly said in This sort of shit happens all the time.:

I think Trump was right.

Move some of the departments out of the D.C. area, back to where "normal" people live.

I'm all for it.

Ah, but you argued against it at the time.

Meh. Maybe I was drunk.

[LuFins Dad]

Speaking of neighborhoods and “this sort of shit happens…”

Walking the dogs this morning a sweet old lady stopped to talk about how she sees my daughter walking the dogs every afternoon…

[89th]

@LuFins-Dad said in This sort of shit happens all the time.:

Speaking of neighborhoods and “this sort of shit happens…”

Walking the dogs this morning a sweet old lady stopped to talk about how she sees my daughter walking the dogs every afternoon…

Haha an insult to you or a compliment to M&Ms?