<p>Better? Or just behind the times? (See the date of the last post... you're kind of late to this discussion, don't you think ;) )</p>
<p>@patient: “also, to France. I personally experienced more culture shock between California and Cambridge, Mass than between California and France.”
yes, I feel the same way too. How did you adapt to the east coast culture and mindset?
I’ve come to realize that many of the things that people did which I thought were rude was just part of the culture. I think I’ve grown to accept the culture here more, but its still sometimes hard for me to understand everything- especially the more blatant divide between social classes. I am very interested in learning and understanding the east coast because I do feel that many of the people here have a genuine heart underneath the rough surface.</p>
<p>We’re on the central coast of CA, about an hour and a half south of the Bay area and kids here don’t say “hella”. I asked my daughter when I started seeing it everywhere on Facebook. She said it’s more in N. CA/Bay area. I was thinking “hella” was a shortened version of " hell of a lot" like you said. An abundance. </p>
<p>**QUOTE:</p>
<p>idmom06…just so you know, “hella” means when there is a lot of something, an abundance. LOL as in “there was hella food at that party”.
It’s funny , my daughter ( we are from the Bay Area) is a freshman at a university in Northern CA, and her suitemates are from San Diego. The SoCal girls have different phraseology than my daughter! You dont have to go far to notice little differences in speech and dress, but as someone else said, people are pretty much people everywhere. What East Coasters and West Coasters have both been acccused of is a certain Bi-Coastal narcissism. I can’t really say if there’s truth in that or not.**</p>
<p>MUCH better than “Frisco”, though! 
</p>
<p>****Quote:
San Fran </p>
<p>Patient replied:
You may encounter culture shock–as in being branded as a tourist–if you ever call it that within a radius of several hundred miles of that place. It is San Francisco, or The City. The only two choices.****</p>
<p>Where I live in CA (central coast) it’s a law that you have to stop at a crosswalk when someone steps into it to cross the street. It’s more recently that they’ve been more adamant about enforcing it, I think. So, I find that I’m a lot more observant when driving through town. Bicyclists will sometimes dart out into traffic or suddenly show up from seemingly nowhere. I find that they often will assert themselves in scary ways! Same with skateboarders. I am constantly keeping my eyes open for whatever might show up in traffic!</p>
<p>**jazzymom wrote:</p>
<p>My experience too, mathmom. After driving Manhattan to NJ and back twice a day for a couple years, I became a somewhat “assertive” driver. When my H and I ended up in West LA some years later, he was appalled when I tapped my horn to warn some pedestrians not to step into the street as I was approaching (something I considered the prudent thing to do in NYC if you wanted to actually move your car through an intersection.) Can’t do that here, he told me, you gotta stop for pedestrians who step into the crosswalk. It took ssome adjusting. Then again, this was also about 13 years ago so maybe driving habits have changed since then.**</p>
<p>Amen, shedevil! That’s where I am now and have been for the past several years. I’m pushing 60 with our youngest a freshman in college. I’m not champing at the bit to go out and find a job just yet. Maybe I never will. I worked fulltime supporting my now grown twin daughters when I was a single mom. I remember yearning to be at home with my girls. And, I know they expressed a desire for me to be there, too. But it was what it was. We needed to eat and have a roof over our head. That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy my job and my co-workers. I did! I was very fortunate to be a nurse for an OB-GYN who was a hands-on father of five and very understanding and flexible about my parenting needs. </p>
<p>But, I’m home now and I really don’t feel the need to start punching a time clock. Sure, there are people who wonder why I didn’t immediately go out to work after we sent our daughter off to college in the fall. I think volunteering might be something I would like to do more of, however.</p>
<p>If financially it becomes crucial that I return to work, I’ll certainly give it serious consideration. But, truthfully, we’ve learned to live on a h.s. teacher’s salary and we’re not hurting for anything. And, I love your comment about recreation! :)</p>
<p>**Quote:
"I don’t have any problem with women that choose to work – just as I don’t have a problem with those who choose to step out of the workforce for a period of time. "</p>
<p>Shedevil’s reply:</p>
<p>I also don’t have a problem with women that choose to never work. In fact, I’d like to be that woman. I find recreation incredibly rewarding and I am very good at it. **</p>
<p>shedevil, I have agree with fathers worrying less about the kids, (at least that’s been my experience with the dads in my life.) However, I worry more about my kids as they get older. When they were little I almost always knew where they were–often by my side. They didn’t yet have the desire to go out into the world to experience whatever was out there awaiting, sometimes dangerous. Nor did they engage in activities that come along with being in a serious relationship. 
Yep, I worry more now. I had my now 18 year old when I was in my 40s and for me, it was like finally getting to experience what I really wanted back in my 20s when I gave birth to my twins. Back then I was in a crummy marriage and chose to leave it and make a better life for myself and toddlers. But that also meant I had to give up the “dream” to be at home with my babies. I think I cried more about leaving “the three bedroom house on the cul-de-sac” than I did the actual relationship. So, twenty years later when I was given a second chance to live that earlier “dream”, I was ecstatic. A couple years earlier I never imagined I would be bringing a new baby into the world again in my 40s. I think that after finally having an empty nest since 1976 has made me worry about not having anything in the house to worry about! LOL </p>
<p>**shedevil wrote:</p>
<p>I’d have to agree with JHS. In my experience, fathers seem to worry much less about raising children. Not that they care less, but just that they worry less. They seem to have more faith that the kids will be fine. That is my experience with my father and my husband, anyway. I worry less now than when my kids were younger because yes, the kids are, in fact, fine. Better than fine. If I could have known that all along it would have been really, really nice.**</p>
<p>On the other hand, if you find yourself up at 3 am answering 4 year old posts on CC… (lol-ing, because this could easily be me…)</p>
<p>Yes, the topic is delightful to discuss, but this thread has been dormant for several years.</p>
<p>Rather than engage posters who may or may not be around to reply, I propose this:</p>
<p>If anyone cares to start a brand new thread on this topic, please go ahead!</p>