Love the amenities in Bethesda, hate the people

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree Bethesda has a Long Island/Jersey feel. This is why I never cared for it. People are very rude, have poor manners and are extremely full of themselves. Very flashy with their $ too which is disgusting to me. I'll take DC or VA any day.

Oh please. I've lived in Bethesda for 10 years and this is far from the truth in my hood. I'm from immigrant, blue-collar parents and grew up in a blue-collar, industrial midwest city. You would never guess in a million years that DH and I live in Bethesda if you met us and your impression of people in Bethesa is what you describe above. Such generalizations just cannot be taken seriously.

Agree PP. my bethesda neighborhood is neither flashy nor Jewish although it is wealthy. But one of my kids went to school in McLean and it was way flashier. Much fancier cars, way bigger houses, moms always in nice exercise clothes, etc. The moms, including Jewish moms
, in Bethesda that I know tend to work, be down to earth, and frazzled with balancing work and home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have made some nice friends here -- for example one was through my DD preschool and the other through work -- but neither of them live nearby!

My work friend lives in Silver Spring, and says it is much more laid back etc. But the truth is I worry about the schools too much.

I do feel sad that the neighborhood will not produce life-long friendship and a sense of community. Maybe this just does not happen anymore and it is so last century. Or maybe you have to live in a small town to have that.

I also have a good friend in Gaithersburg who loves it there, but that is way too far of a commute.

There is a lot of money here that makes me nervous. I know from reading DCUM I will get flamed for that but it's true. Uggs for kindergartners, iPhones for 6th graders etc. We don't make that kind of money and never will. We put it all into the house and savings. But even if we did have it, we wouldn't spend it like that.

People always say hello in my neighborhood , but it rarely goes beyond that.

What do you know about the Silver Spring schools that makes you worry?

We moved out of Bethesda to Silver Spring for all these reasons and have never looked back. We love it here and have lots of good friends through school, our neighborhood, and church - and our kids are thriving in the schools.

ITA! We moved from Bethesda to Silver Spring. Our only regret was not doing it sooner. Everyone is happier, nicer, and friendly.

[Anonymous]

This is a stupid thread. Many people who claim to be happier in Silver Spring obviously compared themselves to their Bethesda neighbors, didn't like what they saw, and now enjoy being bigger fishes in a smaller pond. Whoopee.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree Bethesda has a Long Island/Jersey feel. This is why I never cared for it. People are very rude, have poor manners and are extremely full of themselves. Very flashy with their $ too which is disgusting to me. I'll take DC or VA any day.

That is because a lot of people from that area have moved to Bethesda!

[Anonymous]

17:38, I started that other thread. To be fair, our mooch duplex sharers (the ones who were hitting us up for money within 1-2 hours of meeting us, for Chinese food) had the class to keep their arguments indoors. There were also relatives of the mooches that came over to add variety to the arguments, which tended to happen between 10pm and 1am. My favorite line of all time was "GIVE ME MY GODDAMNED MONEY!" I still use this whenever I need money from my DW.

12:34, nothing wrong with wanting to be bigger fishes in a smaller pond.

FWIW, I've found there exists a line between Ashburn and Urbana. East of that line, people seem to be more hurried, etc. West of that line, it's great, and we've made friends fairly easily. That line exists in a different place for different people. I don't know how it works in the eastern/southern suburbs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is a stupid thread. Many people who claim to be happier in Silver Spring obviously compared themselves to their Bethesda neighbors, didn't like what they saw, and now enjoy being bigger fishes in a smaller pond. Whoopee.

Not really. Silver Spring is not a smaller pond than Bethesda, numbers-wise or otherwise. It is just a very different place than what Bethesda is and attracts different people.

I don't claim to be happier in Silver Spring - I *am* in fact happier living in Silver Spring than I was in Bethesda. I feel surrounded by like-minded people who share my values and have similar priorities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Bethesda is full of JAPs and women with too much plastic surgery. Both places have the same exact stores, but isn't filled with women in those horrible white-stitch jeans, heels and little dogs.

OK, this is just anti-semitic. There are lots of Jews in Bethesda (like me) and that's one of the things I like about it.

I kind of 'get you' here. As a Jewish woman living in NoVa, well, I feel sometimes like a fish out of water, though I'm not really a JAP. It's more of a cultural thing. My daughter goes to school at a private in MD and I do feel more 'at home' there when I meet another Jewish person. There's just an "I know you" feeling to it.

I can guarantee you I am the only Jewish woman on my street here in VA.

Oh please, get over yourself. I was the only Prodestant in my neighborhood in Bethesda.

Your point? It's about culture, as I said. There's a familiarity. Jews are a smaller population than Protestants.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm in Bethesda and I agree, I love everything but my neighbors. I refer to them as the mean girls. I have absolutely no idea what we did to piss them off, but they are just mean. Luckily, I have found some super nice people in the neighborhood which has taken the focus off the mean girls and has helped me put those few sad people into perspective. It does take time to find the nice ones, but worth it!

You've done nothing. Get to know their husbands instead. I guarantee you, you'll enjoy their friendship more (and their wives are mean anyway, so, whatever).

It is funny you mentioned that - the husbands are all really nice, I just don't get it!

Men are just simpler people. That's not a diss on women in general, it's just true.