My hometown (technically a neighborhood of a major city) has changed dramatically since I lived there 25 years ago. It is now crime-ridden and demographically unlike anything I remember or experienced. I say I'm from the neighboring town. I grew up right on the border between the two and that neighboring town much more accurately reflects my upbringing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do people really do this?

When people ask me where I'm from, usually in a casual setting, I tell them where I grew up. I don't go into an elaborate story about how I was born overseas and immigrated here as a preteen but then grew up in my hometown because I assume people are just making small talk and don't actually care.

A very small subset of people do it, and I find it fascinating. Sometimes I have had to ask a few times to figure out where someone actually grew up. It's strange

If by “a very small subset” you meant to say:

- virtually everyone in San Francisco, then, OK.

Because I grew up just outside the City, and nobody but NOBODY wanted to confess that they actually grew up in Kansas. Or New Jersey. Or Idaho.

Oh no - those places were not “cool” like San Francisco.

So everyone lied.

And that's EXACTLY why people do this. People will rattle off a million excuses "I moved across town when I was seven, so am I supposed to explain that, and besides I moved away for college..." blah blah blah. It's nonsense.

What it comes down to, and everyone knows it, is that some places aren't "cool" and the type of people who lie about where theyre from are uniformly unconfident, uncool, and have a chip on their shoulder about where they came from.

it's a big red flag for other personality issues in general. A lot of these types also suffer from severe envy/jealousy issues, especially towards the "spoiled" or "priveleged" lifelong city dwellers who never had to fight their way out of meth central

+1

It did not occur to me that some people just feel terrible about themselves, and where they come from.

While PP's post was funny, I don't even think it's necessarily an always or even usually a poor ('Meth head central') thing. I think it's just an insecure I'm from a provincial, boring and/or uncool place thing. I know born affluent peers who are sketchy and insecure about the fact they grew up in flyover country, even though they grew up in mansions in pretty swank towns.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do people really do this?

When people ask me where I'm from, usually in a casual setting, I tell them where I grew up. I don't go into an elaborate story about how I was born overseas and immigrated here as a preteen but then grew up in my hometown because I assume people are just making small talk and don't actually care.

A very small subset of people do it, and I find it fascinating. Sometimes I have had to ask a few times to figure out where someone actually grew up. It's strange

If by “a very small subset” you meant to say:

- virtually everyone in San Francisco, then, OK.

Because I grew up just outside the City, and nobody but NOBODY wanted to confess that they actually grew up in Kansas. Or New Jersey. Or Idaho.

Oh no - those places were not “cool” like San Francisco.

So everyone lied.

And that's EXACTLY why people do this. People will rattle off a million excuses "I moved across town when I was seven, so am I supposed to explain that, and besides I moved away for college..." blah blah blah. It's nonsense.

What it comes down to, and everyone knows it, is that some places aren't "cool" and the type of people who lie about where theyre from are uniformly unconfident, uncool, and have a chip on their shoulder about where they came from.

it's a big red flag for other personality issues in general. A lot of these types also suffer from severe envy/jealousy issues, especially towards the "spoiled" or "priveleged" lifelong city dwellers who never had to fight their way out of meth central

+1

It did not occur to me that some people just feel terrible about themselves, and where they come from.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone knows what "where are you FROM?" means.

You are FROM New York if you grew up there, period. You LIVE there if you live there at the moment.

Stop playing dumb, people.

It’s not always that simple.

I’ve lived in the following places:

Buffalo, NY — up to age 8
Westchester County, NY — age 8-14
NYC — 14-18 (parents still live there)
DC (in the District) — 18-25
Chicago — 25-27
DC (in NoVA, the District, and now MoCo) — 27-34 (present)

So where do I say I’m from?

I assume you try this 'what does "from" really mean' routine in real life so you can spit out these few places to seem more interesting than you really are. State of New York, Chicago and D.C. ... wow *so* unique! A real global-trotting cosmopolitan.

Anonymous wrote:A lot of it is mental trauma and shame that will never, ever go away. Just anger and feelings of being "less than". That's why you see people actually getting enraged at the idea that anyone would even ask where they're from. Pathological stuff that would best be addressed in intensive therapy

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do people really do this?

When people ask me where I'm from, usually in a casual setting, I tell them where I grew up. I don't go into an elaborate story about how I was born overseas and immigrated here as a preteen but then grew up in my hometown because I assume people are just making small talk and don't actually care.

A very small subset of people do it, and I find it fascinating. Sometimes I have had to ask a few times to figure out where someone actually grew up. It's strange

If by “a very small subset” you meant to say:

- virtually everyone in San Francisco, then, OK.

Because I grew up just outside the City, and nobody but NOBODY wanted to confess that they actually grew up in Kansas. Or New Jersey. Or Idaho.

Oh no - those places were not “cool” like San Francisco.

So everyone lied.

And that's EXACTLY why people do this. People will rattle off a million excuses "I moved across town when I was seven, so am I supposed to explain that, and besides I moved away for college..." blah blah blah. It's nonsense.

What it comes down to, and everyone knows it, is that some places aren't "cool" and the type of people who lie about where theyre from are uniformly unconfident, uncool, and have a chip on their shoulder about where they came from.

it's a big red flag for other personality issues in general. A lot of these types also suffer from severe envy/jealousy issues, especially towards the "spoiled" or "priveleged" lifelong city dwellers who never had to fight their way out of meth central

Anonymous wrote:My hometown (technically a neighborhood of a major city) has changed dramatically since I lived there 25 years ago. It is now crime-ridden and demographically unlike anything I remember or experienced. I say I'm from the neighboring town. I grew up right on the border between the two and that neighboring town much more accurately reflects my upbringing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone knows what "where are you FROM?" means.

You are FROM New York if you grew up there, period. You LIVE there if you live there at the moment.

Stop playing dumb, people.

It’s not always that simple.

I’ve lived in the following places:

Buffalo, NY — up to age 8
Westchester County, NY — age 8-14
NYC — 14-18 (parents still live there)
DC (in the District) — 18-25
Chicago — 25-27
DC (in NoVA, the District, and now MoCo) — 27-34 (present)

So where do I say I’m from?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
When visiting the MIL in Chevy Chase, one of the busy bodies in the neighborhood stopped me to ask "Where are you from?" This was the second question after ascertaining I was the son in law. It was very odd. But, I think all of Chevy Chase residents are pretty odd.

Why in the world did this bother you? Is it because you feel where you're from is inferior to Chevy Chase?

The busybodies in Chevy Chase? Hardly. Does your second question about my entire existence have to be my hometown?

And that is a standard "getting to know you" question so I'm curious why you're so offended by it? I sense you're not being honest about the inferiority issue. Cause this is really bizarre.

When asked in Chevy Chase, by a random busybody yenta no less, it's a passive-aggressive attempt to tease out if he comes from money or not.

And you know this how? because you're a psychic? How do you know the person is a "yenta", either? The very bizarre projection says it all.

Besides, if someone did come from money, they wouldn't mind the question. Or if they didnt come from money but were fine with it. It's only someone who wants to hide something that gets angry about being questioned. Notice that poster refused to say where he was from... exactly. Shame.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do people lie about anything in life?

Answer: because they want to hide it. That goes for across the board.

Now why would anyone want to hide where they grew up? Probably because it's a crappy place and theyre ashamed of that part of themselves.

Some of us lie so that you aren't exposed to things that you wouldn't be able to process.

Your hometown is that bad, huh? Wow.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do people lie about anything in life?

Answer: because they want to hide it. That goes for across the board.

Now why would anyone want to hide where they grew up? Probably because it's a crappy place and theyre ashamed of that part of themselves.

Some of us lie so that you aren't exposed to things that you wouldn't be able to process.

Anonymous wrote:Why do people lie about anything in life?

Answer: because they want to hide it. That goes for across the board.

Now why would anyone want to hide where they grew up? Probably because it's a crappy place and theyre ashamed of that part of themselves.

Anonymous wrote:https://newrepublic.com/article/118967/cities-vs-suburbs-dont-lie-about-where-youre