The West Coast: A Land of (Social) Opportunity for Aspies?

Post Reply New Topic

- Read acceptably underground and mature graphic novels.

- Watch everything by Hayao Miyazaki or Satoshi Kon.

- Listen to esoteric and obscure indie rock, industrial, goth, punk, etc. music

- That you appreciate kitschy crap and outright junk, provided it was cheap. Vintage clothes, vintage and/or worn-out looking furniture, old consumer electronics that you paid next to nothing for, etc.

- That you own an Apple computer

- Spend time doing crafty things [...] cutting stencils, making t-shirts [....] Drawing, painting, programming, or writing music only count if they're suitably "quirky" enough.

- Avoid discussing personal issues of any kind by going out every night of the freaking week for drinks, a concert, dinner with people, etc.

- Constantly talk about how you hate drama, but constantly engage in it.

I'm from Portland, have lived in San Francisco and Sacramento, and get up to Seattle once in awhile. Truth is, it's no better or worse here than anywhere else. It may be more diverse/open-minded here, but that just means that the various cliques are that much more fragmented and rigidly defined.

Portland, for instance, has a lot of people who I guess could be described as "new age hipsters," in that they're obsessed with self-improvement and bohemianism to the point of condescension. To fit in with them, the general expectations are that you:

- Live in a rented or owned house in the city, preferrably a trendy area close to downtown. Hawthorne, Clinton, Belmont, or the Pearl District are key areas. Doesn't matter if you bought it or your parents did.
- Ride a bicycle whenever possible, wherever possible. b***h about having to drive anywhere.
- Are interested in organic and/or vegetarian/vegan food, exercise, and physical/mental disciplines like Qigong and Buddhism.
- Read acceptably underground and mature graphic novels. Owning the set of Lone Wolf & Cub, odd bits of Cerberus, etc.
- Watch everything by Hayao Miyazaki or Satoshi Kon.
- Drink expensive microbrews and/or fine wine and regularly attend brewfests.
- Listen to esoteric and obscure indie rock, industrial, goth, punk, etc. music. Local bands with some degree of notoriety count for a lot, especially if you're friends or acquaintances with them. These days, the Prids are worth more points than the Decemberists, who were more popular 5 years ago.
- That you appreciate kitschy crap and outright junk, provided it was cheap. Vintage clothes, vintage and/or worn-out looking furniture, old consumer electronics that you paid next to nothing for, etc.
- That you own an Apple computer, but rarely use it, because you have better things to do.
- Spend time doing crafty things. Gardening, cutting stencils, making t-shirts, making beer, making wine, canning vegetables, tattooing, etc. Drawing, painting, programming, or writing music only count if they're suitably "quirky" enough. Don't take any of it too seriously or invest much money.
- Avoid discussing personal issues of any kind by going out every night of the freaking week for drinks, a concert, dinner with people, etc.
- Constantly talk about how you hate drama, but constantly engage in it.
- Basically, pretend that you're a really worldly, conscientious person, but without trying too hard or spending much money. Be totally flippant about everything while pretending you have a soul because you're so worldly and conscientious.

These people are not to be confused with the more "renaissance hipster" types, who are basically identical, but stick to more fancy-looking vintage crap and throw themed and costumed dinner parties.

The same sort of people can be found in San Francisco and Seattle, except they like computers and take everything seriously in San Francisco while flaunting their various credentials and talents at every turn. If you cannot prove that you are a unique snowflake with interesting skills and quirks, you will be cut from whatever clique you've become involved with, usually by someone making something up about you and telling everyone but you.

Note that you can't be too quirky, because then you're just weird, which doesn't fit with the group dynamic.

In Canada, the East Coast is friendlier and the West Coast is more distant. I think people who are more indifferent/less vulnerable to homesickness are more likely to move, so there are more of them on the west coast.

People with AS will have a difficult time in California.

I have lived in San Diego and Los Angeles for 14 years. People in Southern California are very superficial. You are judged on social skills and little else. Since people with AS do not have soical skills, it is difficult for them to be happy here.

Californians have always struck me as so much more open-minded than any other people in the world I've met. And I've met people from many, many countries along my life.

Hi JWReed, good to see you again!

What about north Californians?

Hilarious post. I've never been to the West Coast but I definitely know this type of person.

Do you include Toronto as part of the West Coast? It's been about 10 years since I visited, but I found people pretty friendly...with the exception of the insane manager at the hotel I was staying at. The cab drivers drove like maniacs, but were generally pretty nice, too.