stategrad100
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Hey thanks for the bump on this thread.
Oddly enough weighing going back to DC. Brought back memories reading about being in VA as recently as 2011. Unbelievable it's 2015 already.
I guess it's like anywhere else. When you come into a new area you seek out the obvious tourist attraction areas and then slowly find your new place.
Sort of like a law of nature that you come to a new area, and the first people you talk to aren't necessarily the people you end up hanging out with.
There were some gems on page 1 giving advice, and the gravity of the wisdom proves true reflecting on the suggestions four years later.  1/19/2015 2:04:32 AM
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stategrad100
All American
6606 Posts
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My Miamian list that I would send back in time to four years ago.....
First of all, if you come from an area of things within walking distance, abandon that now. Just get a fucking car. And drive. A lot. And deal with it. And make sure it's a nice car. The nicer the car, the better, because even people that work at shitty jobs buy the nicest possible they can afford.
Also expect people to shit on you a lot if you drive a nice car. Expect people to be aggressive on the roadways and expect the older generation to try to muscle you on the roadways (or professionally) at all times down here.
There is not as much opportunity for social mobility for Gen X / Gen Y / Millennials as in other areas of the country. The older generation is trying to do their damnedest to keep South FL as a haven for the babyboomer dickheads that wish they could get a 27 year old girlfriend or who wish that they could go back in time and do it all over again. There are certain bars that are specifically geared toward serving the babyboomer guy looking for the divorced mail order bride. But it's not intimidating. It's mostly the 27 year old girls that are actually entertaining these guys who will get the woeful look that they are dating a guy 30+ years her senior when you pass them by at the bar.
So that being said, if you come here, expect 50-60 year old people to act like teenagers and act as though you would be invading their haven if the crowd gets “too young.”
Additionally, they want to make sure that they throttle the flow of "carpetbaggers" or anyone maintaining industry in South FL due to the fact that there is a perception that "snowbirds" are "outsiders,” but ironically most of the people who act this way are just northerners themselves who only got here 3 years ago.
But this is in stark contrast to knowing the right people, as there are people who grew up in Miami their whole lives, and they are the people you should be friends with.
It's not a money status or a power status - it's a knowledge status or just being in the area. It's knowing the mother's sister's husband who was on the schoolboard and is now the mayor that you grew up with and who can also get you a seat to the Heat Game. It's knowing what bars are the best at what time; it's knowing what parts of town to avoid, and it's just generally being good at life and navigating Miami.
And they all know each other. Not like in the sense of just being an exclusive billionaires club, because it's not that - it's having gone to high school together or knowing each other. There are blocs of people in the town who just all grew up together and know each other because being native Miami is not common, so it’s a small enough group to basically just be like a community of people who basically grow up and have some control over the town.
So yeah, just know the right people and watch out for people being dicks and recognize that this is a party-ville. I give Miami a 6.4/10 so far. 1/19/2015 2:32:22 AM |
