How many of you have ever lived in California... recently.
Reading what some of you have written all over this forum, I know you have not.
I want to repeat something that I?ve said before that often gets my goat on this forum.
Too many people on this site are too definitive when they are discussing the merits and demerits of other cities, especially in comparison to Boston.
If you?ve never lived in a specific city or location, how can you pass judgment about it with the absolutes that so many of you seem to?
You wax nostalgic for a time, a place, and things you probably never experienced--the 'grass is always greener' mentality (oh, I guess in Grassachusetts, it just may be--heh).
Coming for a visit, no matter how many times and for how many weeks, will never equal the experiences of living in any one place. I know this seems obvious and simplistic.
Look, I've never lived along CA's Central Coast, Central Valley, anywhere north of Napa, and only two months in the LA area. This state is huge. Living in this state, I wouldn't be so presumptuous to say that I knew much about those areas even after living in CA for fifteen years.
(Hm. Maybe I should find the 'what gets my goat' thread and spout off there.)
Anyway, I cannot say I know much about Boston anymore, except what I knew about it when I lived there over twenty years ago. I also lived in NYC and Connecticut for half a decade each and I don't think I know anything regarding what they are now all about either.
I can say, with certainty, that I can speak completely about six, maybe eight places--all of them in which I have lived for a year or more throughout my lifetime. There may be five others where I?ve spent extended, intermittent months. I wouldn?t consider spending a week or two sufficient to pass expert judgment.
Being a tourist, no matter what your motives while in a location, is a much different experience for giving anyone an opportunity to render worthy comparisons.
When I read what people write as they 'expertly' explain the comparative merits between Boston and Paris, London, HK, SF, LA, Philly, NYC, ad nauseum, I just want to put my boot into somebodies poot.
I'm repeating myself. I don't even know what series of prior posts set me off in this manner from this and other threads, as I am catching up with all the posts on AB.
I am now going to graze on some turkey. I need the calming effectcs of the tryptophan. :red face:
