Tired of the DC thing

[Anonymous]

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I think that's a little unfair. How many people post on here complaining about boring jobs, wondering how people end up in jobs they love, etc? I know the work will get done without me - I don't think *I* am important. I find my work really challenging and my coworkers are smart and fun to work with. That's hard to walk away from when you know you're kind of lucky to have found it in the first place. The only think missing from my life is affordable housing that's not two hours away from my job!

It's absolutely true though. D.C. in general lives to work, it does not work to live. Everybody is important!

I'm not saying it isn't true for some people, but it is also true that some people want jobs that are challenging, stimulating, and generally enjoyable. That's a separate issue and, I think, a legit one that factors into this decision. I just don't think it's fair to be dismissive of that concern and pretend like you're not giving anything up when you walk away from this life. Yes, those of us struggling with it need to prioritize and decide what it's worth to us, but that's what's hard.

Another PP jumping in. As I argued above, I think a lot of the people who want challenging jobs either have never lived somewhere without a challenging, a-type life and just simply don't realize how good life is in the absence of that job (because they've never had the pleasure of living somewhere else). Or alternatively, use their "love of job" as a defense of other issues going on in their life. Maybe they aren't really that comfortable with who they are. Maybe they don't love going home to their spouse and kids. Maybe they have a hard time understanding who they would be without their job defining them. Maybe they've always had a lot of family pressure to succeed and it's so ingrained that they can't fathom walking away. All I know is that when I lived in an awesome chill non-DC smaller metropolitan area, none of the former DC people who had relocated there (and there were many) missed their old life in DC where their job was their life. It is pretty easy to get over once you leave it behind.

I disagree. A job is a job. If I'm going to work I may as well be challenged, have upward mobility and get paid well. I would still work if I moved to a smaller town but lose a lot of these things. I work for a US wide firm and see how much faster employees are promoted in bigger cities. I'm much younger but the same level as many much older employees in smaller cities.

I feel like with a smaller city or town you're just swapping one set of challenges for another. Maybe you face less traffic but then you have to drive greater distances to go where you need to go. Maybe work is less hectic but then there are fewer opportunities and other employers. Maybe childcare is cheaper but then more women stay home and there's a stigma to working. I have lived in a few different cities and think DC is great. There are a ton of jobs here and the cost of living isn't that bad compared to NY or SF.

I think many of the people who complain about DC have never lived in a place like NY or London and have no idea how good they have it here. Unfortunately, life as an adult is hard and will be hard anywhere. Having kids and working isn't going to be easy no matter where you are.

Couldn't have said it better. Agree with all of this.

Totally disagree. My adult life got a lot easier when we left DC. I didn't realize how hard it was there until we left.

[Anonymous]

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Yes, this. I used to think about my home town in flyover country -- nice, relaxing, midwestern college town. Recently I've had to do business there to settle some affairs. First it's quite different than here. There's so much less national news, access to information.

LOL. I'm sorry, does the internet not exist in your flyover hometown? What an absurd statement.

+1000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Yes, this. I used to think about my home town in flyover country -- nice, relaxing, midwestern college town. Recently I've had to do business there to settle some affairs. First it's quite different than here. There's so much less national news, access to information.

LOL. I'm sorry, does the internet not exist in your flyover hometown? What an absurd statement.

+1000

Umm you think its a joke but some areas of the country have really bad infrastructure, little-to-no private service, and lack basic amenities.

I have friend who lives about 1 1/2 hours outside of Birmingham, AL. Her entire area only gets one option for cable & internet service - AT&T. You think that's not bad - it isn't. The issue is that the company knows that and service is incredibly sloppy as a result. Her cable line was severed two months ago and it took them 9 days to fix it. Her mbps (internet speed) is 11.2 - you know the thing you use to load news sites, watch netflix, game on occasion. The average in Washington, D.C. is 19.5 mbps. She's lucky though. Neighbors a few miles west her don't have internet at all and zero broadband access.

Another friend is a teacher in rural Louisiana. This it the town water that comes out of her faucet at least twice a week. So don't laugh and say that life in flyover country is absolutely the same as what its like in a city like D.C. It's not a joke, its not funny, its criminal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Yes, this. I used to think about my home town in flyover country -- nice, relaxing, midwestern college town. Recently I've had to do business there to settle some affairs. First it's quite different than here. There's so much less national news, access to information.

LOL. I'm sorry, does the internet not exist in your flyover hometown? What an absurd statement.

+1000

Umm you think its a joke but some areas of the country have really bad infrastructure, little-to-no private service, and lack basic amenities.

I have friend who lives about 1 1/2 hours outside of Birmingham, AL. Her entire area only gets one option for cable & internet service - AT&T. You think that's not bad - it isn't. The issue is that the company knows that and service is incredibly sloppy as a result. Her cable line was severed two months ago and it took them 9 days to fix it. Her mbps (internet speed) is 11.2 - you know the thing you use to load news sites, watch netflix, game on occasion. The average in Washington, D.C. is 19.5 mbps. She's lucky though. Neighbors a few miles west her don't have internet at all and zero broadband access.

Another friend is a teacher in rural Louisiana. This it the town water that comes out of her faucet at least twice a week. So don't laugh and say that life in flyover country is absolutely the same as what its like in a city like D.C. It's not a joke, its not funny, its criminal.

Um, I had to work from a very small town in BFE Washington (state) for a while and got absolutely ZERO cell service. And you know what? The internet worked perfectly fine.

Maybe some areas have particular problems with the internet but I am not buying this whole "I had to move to DC to get wifi" BS. Please. The vast majority of the country has wifi, so don't try to feel superior because you weren't checking the news when you lived in Nebraska.

[Anonymous]

We left. My DH is a fed. He made $160,000 in DC. He makes $160,000 here in "flyover country". The difference in COL is staggering. We feel rich here. We bought a five bedroom all brick home on a large piece of land with a beautiful pool for $250,000. Our mortgage payments are about $1,200 a month! I still can't wrap my head around that! Our public schools are excellent. My DH's commute is 15 minutes. I found a perfect part-time job. Traffic is almost non-existent except on college football weekends. We live just outside of a college town in the Deep South. The people are super friendly. The pace is slow. The weather is good. We are close to extended family. I don't miss anything at all about living in DC. Literally not one thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Yes, this. I used to think about my home town in flyover country -- nice, relaxing, midwestern college town. Recently I've had to do business there to settle some affairs. First it's quite different than here. There's so much less national news, access to information.

LOL. I'm sorry, does the internet not exist in your flyover hometown? What an absurd statement.

+1000

Seriously absurd statement. My hometown is in rural Mississippi. We have high speed Internet through Xfinity. We never have problems. How on earth would there be less access to national news? We have exactly the same access to cable and internet that we had in DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We left. My DH is a fed. He made $160,000 in DC. He makes $160,000 here in "flyover country". The difference in COL is staggering. We feel rich here. We bought a five bedroom all brick home on a large piece of land with a beautiful pool for $250,000. Our mortgage payments are about $1,200 a month! I still can't wrap my head around that! Our public schools are excellent. My DH's commute is 15 minutes. I found a perfect part-time job. Traffic is almost non-existent except on college football weekends. We live just outside of a college town in the Deep South. The people are super friendly. The pace is slow. The weather is good. We are close to extended family. I don't miss anything at all about living in DC. Literally not one thing.

Love the south. I grew up in DC and went to college in the south and being around nice, friendly, socially skilled people unlike the power-hungry misfits that make up the majority of the DC transplant population- it is night and day, and such a relief to be around. Like taking in oxygen after you'd been holding your breath.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We left. My DH is a fed. He made $160,000 in DC. He makes $160,000 here in "flyover country". The difference in COL is staggering. We feel rich here. We bought a five bedroom all brick home on a large piece of land with a beautiful pool for $250,000. Our mortgage payments are about $1,200 a month! I still can't wrap my head around that! Our public schools are excellent. My DH's commute is 15 minutes. I found a perfect part-time job. Traffic is almost non-existent except on college football weekends. We live just outside of a college town in the Deep South. The people are super friendly. The pace is slow. The weather is good. We are close to extended family. I don't miss anything at all about living in DC. Literally not one thing.

...which is why you're on a D.C. message board.

Let me guess - when you're not at your part-time job you're bored out of your mind at home? The high school and college game fanaticism not enough for you? What about the picnics and fish fries on Sundays after Church - you could go volunteer. Maybe help out at the local senior center. Or sit in the hair salon and gab with friends?

Yes, its slow. That's why most people (including myself) leave. If you're an avid gardner, soccer/helicopter mom, or outdoor hobbyist, life in flyover is great. Anyone else and its shoot-myself-in-the-head.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We left. My DH is a fed. He made $160,000 in DC. He makes $160,000 here in "flyover country". The difference in COL is staggering. We feel rich here. We bought a five bedroom all brick home on a large piece of land with a beautiful pool for $250,000. Our mortgage payments are about $1,200 a month! I still can't wrap my head around that! Our public schools are excellent. My DH's commute is 15 minutes. I found a perfect part-time job. Traffic is almost non-existent except on college football weekends. We live just outside of a college town in the Deep South. The people are super friendly. The pace is slow. The weather is good. We are close to extended family. I don't miss anything at all about living in DC. Literally not one thing.

...which is why you're on a D.C. message board.

Let me guess - when you're not at your part-time job you're bored out of your mind at home? The high school and college game fanaticism not enough for you? What about the picnics and fish fries on Sundays after Church - you could go volunteer. Maybe help out at the local senior center. Or sit in the hair salon and gab with friends?

Yes, its slow. That's why most people (including myself) leave. If you're an avid gardner, soccer/helicopter mom, or outdoor hobbyist, life in flyover is great. Anyone else and its shoot-myself-in-the-head.

Do people think that people go on DCUM out of a love for Washington DC? Or that there's an IP checker that blocks non-DC residents? Seriously, I see this comment all the time and it's so confusing. This is a WEBSITE, PP. Meaning people could access it from literally anywhere in the world. If you stay out of the local sections you could go all day without seeing a single reference to the DC area. (I'm a NP, btw)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We left. My DH is a fed. He made $160,000 in DC. He makes $160,000 here in "flyover country". The difference in COL is staggering. We feel rich here. We bought a five bedroom all brick home on a large piece of land with a beautiful pool for $250,000. Our mortgage payments are about $1,200 a month! I still can't wrap my head around that! Our public schools are excellent. My DH's commute is 15 minutes. I found a perfect part-time job. Traffic is almost non-existent except on college football weekends. We live just outside of a college town in the Deep South. The people are super friendly. The pace is slow. The weather is good. We are close to extended family. I don't miss anything at all about living in DC. Literally not one thing.

...which is why you're on a D.C. message board.

Let me guess - when you're not at your part-time job you're bored out of your mind at home? The high school and college game fanaticism not enough for you? What about the picnics and fish fries on Sundays after Church - you could go volunteer. Maybe help out at the local senior center. Or sit in the hair salon and gab with friends?

Yes, its slow. That's why most people (including myself) leave. If you're an avid gardner, soccer/helicopter mom, or outdoor hobbyist, life in flyover is great. Anyone else and its shoot-myself-in-the-head.

Or (and this may shock you) I've been on dcum forever. The majority of the threads have nothing at all to do with DC. My daughter is a teacher in DC and I enjoy reading about the schools. And I'm watching college football while I play around on the internet. Shocking, I know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We left. My DH is a fed. He made $160,000 in DC. He makes $160,000 here in "flyover country". The difference in COL is staggering. We feel rich here. We bought a five bedroom all brick home on a large piece of land with a beautiful pool for $250,000. Our mortgage payments are about $1,200 a month! I still can't wrap my head around that! Our public schools are excellent. My DH's commute is 15 minutes. I found a perfect part-time job. Traffic is almost non-existent except on college football weekends. We live just outside of a college town in the Deep South. The people are super friendly. The pace is slow. The weather is good. We are close to extended family. I don't miss anything at all about living in DC. Literally not one thing.

...which is why you're on a D.C. message board.

Let me guess - when you're not at your part-time job you're bored out of your mind at home? The high school and college game fanaticism not enough for you? What about the picnics and fish fries on Sundays after Church - you could go volunteer. Maybe help out at the local senior center. Or sit in the hair salon and gab with friends?

Yes, its slow. That's why most people (including myself) leave. If you're an avid gardner, soccer/helicopter mom, or outdoor hobbyist, life in flyover is great. Anyone else and its shoot-myself-in-the-head.

So by that same logic you must be shoot-myself-in-the-head bored if you're on here... Damn. Sucks to be you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We left. My DH is a fed. He made $160,000 in DC. He makes $160,000 here in "flyover country". The difference in COL is staggering. We feel rich here. We bought a five bedroom all brick home on a large piece of land with a beautiful pool for $250,000. Our mortgage payments are about $1,200 a month! I still can't wrap my head around that! Our public schools are excellent. My DH's commute is 15 minutes. I found a perfect part-time job. Traffic is almost non-existent except on college football weekends. We live just outside of a college town in the Deep South. The people are super friendly. The pace is slow. The weather is good. We are close to extended family. I don't miss anything at all about living in DC. Literally not one thing.

...which is why you're on a D.C. message board.

Let me guess - when you're not at your part-time job you're bored out of your mind at home? The high school and college game fanaticism not enough for you? What about the picnics and fish fries on Sundays after Church - you could go volunteer. Maybe help out at the local senior center. Or sit in the hair salon and gab with friends?

Yes, its slow. That's why most people (including myself) leave. If you're an avid gardner, soccer/helicopter mom, or outdoor hobbyist, life in flyover is great. Anyone else and its shoot-myself-in-the-head.

So by that same logic you must be shoot-myself-in-the-head bored if you're on here... Damn. Sucks to be you.

LOL Actually I am. Back home for the holidays (got a week off for Turkey Day) and really fucking ready for my flight back to Reagan tomorrow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We left. My DH is a fed. He made $160,000 in DC. He makes $160,000 here in "flyover country". The difference in COL is staggering. We feel rich here. We bought a five bedroom all brick home on a large piece of land with a beautiful pool for $250,000. Our mortgage payments are about $1,200 a month! I still can't wrap my head around that! Our public schools are excellent. My DH's commute is 15 minutes. I found a perfect part-time job. Traffic is almost non-existent except on college football weekends. We live just outside of a college town in the Deep South. The people are super friendly. The pace is slow. The weather is good. We are close to extended family. I don't miss anything at all about living in DC. Literally not one thing.

...which is why you're on a D.C. message board.

Let me guess - when you're not at your part-time job you're bored out of your mind at home? The high school and college game fanaticism not enough for you? What about the picnics and fish fries on Sundays after Church - you could go volunteer. Maybe help out at the local senior center. Or sit in the hair salon and gab with friends?

Yes, its slow. That's why most people (including myself) leave. If you're an avid gardner, soccer/helicopter mom, or outdoor hobbyist, life in flyover is great. Anyone else and its shoot-myself-in-the-head.

So by that same logic you must be shoot-myself-in-the-head bored if you're on here... Damn. Sucks to be you.

LOL Actually I am. Back home for the holidays (got a week off for Turkey Day) and really fucking ready for my flight back to Reagan tomorrow.

How did you find this place?! Since you never get bored in DC I guess you must spend a lot of time in the flyover-land hometown you hate... what a sad hick you are!

[Anonymous]

PP will you go straight to the Kennedy Center upon your return?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP will you go straight to the Kennedy Center upon your return?

Right after she walks to her walkable coffee shop.