If you lie about your hometown, why?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some of us have a really hard time with this question. Do I answer my birthday country (I was only there for a few months)? Do I say the state my dad is from (l lived there for less than a year at the age of 4 and have visited several times since)? Do I say the state that my mom’s family is from (I spent about 1.5 years cumulatively)...but she didn’t actually live there until she was a teenager (Air Force brat). I’ve been in the DMV for over 20 years, which is much longer than time I’ve spent anywhere else. This question is complicated for some of us. Why not just ask, “Where do you call home?”

Because people want to know where you grew up, hence "where are you FROM". If they wanted to know the place you CHOSE to LIVE they would ask.

If you want to know where someone grew up, just ask that. Depending on who you are, and where we are at the time that you are asking, I will tell you a) where I grew up, or b) where I live (and have lived for the last 20 years). When random people that I meet while on vacation in a far flung place ask me where I am from, I am going to answer where I live now. The person I meet at a friend's house in the DC suburbs, they'll get my hometown.

Anonymous wrote:This is for people who, when asked where they're from, will say the current city they live in, rather than where they grew up.

Aka someone who grew up in Utah, but is living in NYC, and when they meet someone new and asked, the say "New York".

Why do you do it? Is it shame about your hometown? Wishing you could have grown up in someplace more sophisticated?

I guess I assumed the OP meant they are meeting someone new while in NYC, not on vacation somewhere.

[Anonymous]

OP grew up in Annoyingtown.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a cousin who wrote a book and lied about where she was born. It's in the book jacket. She talked about it to journalists and on her book tour. It's on her author's page. Why? Because she's a shallow, money-grubbing snobbish fake! She wrote a biography supposedly about this woman who was from the same city. Who knows how much of it is true?

So tacky. There are many types like this in DC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I personally find it rude for someone to ask me where I'm from, which implies that I am somehow other than someone who belongs. Yes, I get that this sounds sensitive, but the only people who have asked me where I am from are tourists who assume I'm on vacation, too, or someone who is native to DC and wants to make sure everyone knows that they are a true native.

Born in Atlanta, lived 30 years in DC. DC is my hometown.

DC is not your hometown unless you were raised there. Very simple. And you will be called out on it because people can tell

I agree. I've lived in DC and the suburbs for 35 years and I would never say I'm from DC. Nope, not my town. I say I'm originally from NY and I live here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP could you tell me where I’m from? I’m American.

Ages 1-4: Buenos Aires
5-7: Nairobi
8-11: Tunis
12-13: Kuala Lumpur
14-16: Lima
17-18: Mexico City
18-22: New Haven
22-25: NYC
25-28: Palo Alto
28-30: San Francisco
31: London
32-35: NYC again
36-present: DC

So I am someone who asks people where they're from just as an ice breaker. It's not a litmus test, just something to talk about with someone I don't know well. (I'm not a big movie, tv or music person so I have to rely on this!) If I've been there, I might follow up saying something in common. If I haven't, I might ask about it. But people who grew up all over the world actually have the most interesting upbringing to those of us who basically grew up in one house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:If someone asks “where are you from?” I would assume they mean “where do you live?” rather than “where did you grow up?”

+1

No way. It takes two seconds to say, "I'm from Ohio but have been in DC 20 years."

It's not that straightforward for many of us.

I was born in Indiana, raised in Maryland from age 8 up, moved to Michigan for college, lived on the West Coast for 22 years before moving overseas for work, and now I live in Virginia. But I lived in California the longest and most of my family is there now and I consider it home. That's a lot of info when we just met, and if I just tell you I'm from California because I don't feel like repeating my life story, that's my perogative.

Well, you're not FROM the west coast, however much you love it, and however much "the west coast" may have a cache to it. You're from Indiana and Maryland, and that's easy enough to say. You live in California now and have lived there for a while, but that's not where you're FROM, unless you're traveling around the country and someone wants to ask where you live now.

No, I lived in California the longest. For several decades. I don't live there now. I don't even remember Indiana.

ETA: If you ask me where I grew up, I will say Maryland. If that's what you want to know then just be direct and ask.

I agree with the person who responded to you: you're not from California. You were born in Indiana and raised in Maryland. If you just want to say one thing, you can say "I grew up in Maryland."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I personally find it rude for someone to ask me where I'm from, which implies that I am somehow other than someone who belongs. Yes, I get that this sounds sensitive, but the only people who have asked me where I am from are tourists who assume I'm on vacation, too, or someone who is native to DC and wants to make sure everyone knows that they are a true native.

Born in Atlanta, lived 30 years in DC. DC is my hometown.

DC is not your hometown unless you were raised there. Very simple. And you will be called out on it because people can tell

I agree. I've lived in DC and the suburbs for 35 years and I would never say I'm from DC. Nope, not my town. I say I'm originally from NY and I live here.

+1

Preach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:OP, some people are pretentious, and want to pretend they are better than they really are - hence the lying.

If you think where you're from makes you better than other people, then you're not someone I want to be around. I care about who people are, not who their parents were.

So then by this logic I presume you have no issues accurately stating your hometown?

+1

What else are you hiding?

+1

A lot of these people are hiding A LOT

Like?

Guarantee that the assumptions are worse than the truth - so why not just tell people? That bad, huh?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I personally find it rude for someone to ask me where I'm from, which implies that I am somehow other than someone who belongs. Yes, I get that this sounds sensitive, but the only people who have asked me where I am from are tourists who assume I'm on vacation, too, or someone who is native to DC and wants to make sure everyone knows that they are a true native.

Born in Atlanta, lived 30 years in DC. DC is my hometown.

DC is not your hometown unless you were raised there. Very simple. And you will be called out on it because people can tell

I agree. I've lived in DC and the suburbs for 35 years and I would never say I'm from DC. Nope, not my town. I say I'm originally from NY and I live here.

+1

Preach.

This seems like such a weird topic to “preach” about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If someone asks “where are you from?” I would assume they mean “where do you live?” rather than “where did you grow up?”

+1

No way. It takes two seconds to say, "I'm from Ohio but have been in DC 20 years."

It's not that straightforward for many of us.

I was born in Indiana, raised in Maryland from age 8 up, moved to Michigan for college, lived on the West Coast for 22 years before moving overseas for work, and now I live in Virginia. But I lived in California the longest and most of my family is there now and I consider it home. That's a lot of info when we just met, and if I just tell you I'm from California because I don't feel like repeating my life story, that's my perogative.

Well, you're not FROM the west coast, however much you love it, and however much "the west coast" may have a cache to it. You're from Indiana and Maryland, and that's easy enough to say. You live in California now and have lived there for a while, but that's not where you're FROM, unless you're traveling around the country and someone wants to ask where you live now.

No, I lived in California the longest. For several decades. I don't live there now. I don't even remember Indiana.

ETA: If you ask me where I grew up, I will say Maryland. If that's what you want to know then just be direct and ask.

I agree with the person who responded to you: you're not from California. You were born in Indiana and raised in Maryland. If you just want to say one thing, you can say "I grew up in Maryland."

There is no consistency with these comments. If PP also grew up in Indiana and was born there, shouldn't they say Indiana instead since they were born and raised there first? By being "from" somewhere do you only mean tween or teen years, and what if you have to choose between the two? I think it's fine to say you're from where you live now. You were from Indiana. You're now from Maryland. You consider California to be your spiritual home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was adopted from China. Haven't spent more than a week in China since I was an infant. I've had way too many conversations with racists that go like this: "So where are you from?" Me: "Chicago." Them: "No, where are you REALLY from?" "Well, I'm from a neighborhood on the far northside called Ravenswood." "No, I mean where is your family from?" "My dad is from Chicago. My mom's from Cleveland. Most of my family lives in the Chicago area or Ohio." *deep sigh* *frustration* The implication that I'm not REALLY American and the continual probing. OP reminds me of those people.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was adopted from China. Haven't spent more than a week in China since I was an infant. I've had way too many conversations with racists that go like this: "So where are you from?" Me: "Chicago." Them: "No, where are you REALLY from?" "Well, I'm from a neighborhood on the far northside called Ravenswood." "No, I mean where is your family from?" "My dad is from Chicago. My mom's from Cleveland. Most of my family lives in the Chicago area or Ohio." *deep sigh* *frustration* The implication that I'm not REALLY American and the continual probing. OP reminds me of those people.

+1

^along with the question, "So...what are you?"

[Anonymous]

I get so many ridiculous comments that I've learned to be vague about where I grew up. I say "near Cincinnati" which is true. But I've stopped saying Northern KY or Covington, KY, because people say ignorant things like, "I love Southerners/country people!" Or they will ask if I'm from Appalachia. And I don't really want to explain regional geography right then or field queries from people I just met and may never see again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I personally find it rude for someone to ask me where I'm from, which implies that I am somehow other than someone who belongs. Yes, I get that this sounds sensitive, but the only people who have asked me where I am from are tourists who assume I'm on vacation, too, or someone who is native to DC and wants to make sure everyone knows that they are a true native.

Born in Atlanta, lived 30 years in DC. DC is my hometown.

DC is not your hometown unless you were raised there. Very simple. And you will be called out on it because people can tell

I agree. I've lived in DC and the suburbs for 35 years and I would never say I'm from DC. Nope, not my town. I say I'm originally from NY and I live here.

I spent the first six years of my life in Bethesda. Arguably, the most formative time for children. Can I be a local?

[Anonymous]

Aspen Hill. I don’t think I need to explain.