What is Washington DC

[Anonymous]

This is such a silly debate. It is all contextual. I was a Foreign Service kid, my dad worked at State (in the District) and we lived in Fairfax when we lived in the US. If a local asked, I lived in Fairfax. When I lived overseas, we were "from DC" (because Fairfax doesn't mean anything to a Japanese person, ya know, although that is starting to change.) When you fly to "Washington DC," you have to fly into one of two airports that are in VIRGINIA. The "Washington Redskins" play in Maryland. When my husband was at UVA, he was from "Northern Virginia" because people from the rest of Virginia think we are not part of the "real" Virginia (except when it comes to paying taxes I guess.)

I would expect people on a board like this to understand that "DC" means within the boundaries of the District, but it is not unreasonable for people to make recommendations about places in the close-in suburbs. Why a person who lives in Georgetown or Palisades, for example, couldn't cross the Key Bridge or the Chain Bridge to shop is beyond me. I live in Arlington but can be in my downtown office in 9 minutes on a good day.

I think the only people who care about this are people who live within the District who have a superiority complex about it. This is weird to me, because many of the DC family neighborhoods feel just as suburban as the suburbs.

[Anonymous]

Hehe. I guess OP shouldn't have mentioned exactly what they were talking about. I don't think she meant to offend the PP, but I can see how that would irritate someone who answered.

I will say DC when I'm not in town. People don't know where Gaithersburg is. Also, the NYer thing irritates me the opposite way. I went to school in Buffalo and it was always an argument. I have a friend from Ithaca that says she's from NY and gets nasty comments. She IS from NY! People will give you recommendations in the suburbs because it's not like you're crossing into a different country. If you live in NW, it may be faster to get to somewhere in Chevy Chase than to go in the District. I have a friend that lives near AU, and she lives about 5 minutes from my workplace in MD. I moved from Alexandria to Gaithersburg and the friends I had there acted as if I moved out of the country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is such a silly debate. It is all contextual. I was a Foreign Service kid, my dad worked at State (in the District) and we lived in Fairfax when we lived in the US. If a local asked, I lived in Fairfax. When I lived overseas, we were "from DC" (because Fairfax doesn't mean anything to a Japanese person, ya know, although that is starting to change.) When you fly to "Washington DC," you have to fly into one of two airports that are in VIRGINIA. The "Washington Redskins" play in Maryland. When my husband was at UVA, he was from "Northern Virginia" because people from the rest of Virginia think we are not part of the "real" Virginia (except when it comes to paying taxes I guess.)

I would expect people on a board like this to understand that "DC" means within the boundaries of the District, but it is not unreasonable for people to make recommendations about places in the close-in suburbs. Why a person who lives in Georgetown or Palisades, for example, couldn't cross the Key Bridge or the Chain Bridge to shop is beyond me. I live in Arlington but can be in my downtown office in 9 minutes on a good day.

I think the only people who care about this are people who live within the District who have a superiority complex about it. This is weird to me, because many of the DC family neighborhoods feel just as suburban as the suburbs.

Perfectly stated.

[Anonymous]

My DH refers to DC as MD all the time and it annoys the !@# out of me. MD is MD, VA is VA and Washington DC is DC. It does not belong to any state. I think we learn that in the first grade. It borders MD and VA. I live in Alexandria...Virginia. Right outside Washington DC. Not DC. Just venting.

[Anonymous]

1303 - second PP - great post and well put!