First Enounter Stereotypes That Actually Happened When You Visited.

[Razor]

Originally Posted by benp

On my first visit to Moscow (early 2001, right before 9/11) our van driver got stopped by a traffic cop for a bribe, the driver took us to a clothing store where there was a "better" exchange rate for $-to-rubles and it was a window at the back guarded by a couple of thugs and people with thick stacks of $100 bills in line, and at the hotel (a major hotel) young prostitutes brought in by the old rich oligarchs and mobsters were being constantly chased away from the buffet by the hotel staff. Oh, and lots of private armored black SUVs hanging around certain bars and restaurants.

Yup..Your experience matched the stereotype that I had in my head..Were people wearing conservative drab grey suits?.

[Sam Hill]

Originally Posted by pj3000

Huh? Sounds like a fun, vibrant, and very friendly neighborhood to me. They were just making the new guy feel welcome!


her penis... so San Fran

Ha! Honestly, I eventually learned to love SF's wildness and grit (especially after spending some time living in a couple different neighborhoods), but when I first got there, I have to admit, I was intimidated.

I also got mugged a couple weeks in (I was such a Colorado bumpkin, I thought nothing of using an ATM at 2am), so that didn't help. During those first few months I lived there, I became extremely depressed. I thought I had made a huge mistake and wanted to run back to Colorado.

I'm glad I didn't. Eventually I fell completely in love with San Francisco. The San Francisco I fell in love with no longer exists of course - now that those $1,600 rents have become $4,000 rents - but I'm glad I got to experience it while it was still... well... what it was. That was probably the best time of my life, and living in "The City" had a lot to do with it.

[volguus zildrohar]

My first trip to Detroit I saw a man in tattered clothing and wearing a football helmet pulling leaves off of a tree and chewing them.

I witnessed two gentlemen in a Wayne County government vehicle parked on a downtown street rolling a blunt who stopped and drove about 20 yards down the block to presumably resume their activity after I made eye contact with one of the vehicle occupants.

Being a Philadelphia native I found neither of those instances anything other than humorous.

[Ifactwo]

That was good experience for you, atleast you got some lessons there.

[benp]

Originally Posted by Razor

Yup..Your experience matched the stereotype that I had in my head..Were people wearing conservative drab grey suits?.

No gray suits by 2001 that I remember. But even in 2001 there were still several broken-down Ladas on the roadside every morning during rush hour. They sold whole bottles of vodka in the company cafeteria I was working at, and meetings all ended with vodka toasts. I once asked for a napkin in the cafeteria, and they had to look for one, tore it in half, and gave me half. Russia has changed a lot since then.

[MolsonExport]

First trip to Tokyo (2009):
I expected to see legions of black-suited/haired and white-shirted Salarymen sleeping while standing up in the subway.

I was not disappointed. There were salarymen sleeping standing up, and seemingly sleeping while walking.

And the all-night drinking binges of these salarymen in the bar districts of Shinjuku/Shibuya live up to the legends. For a culture that projects unrelenting stoicism and restraint, there sure is an awful lot of public intoxication (men only), with thousands of vomiting salarymen to be found in said districts in the not-so-wee hours (7am) in the morning.

Second trip to Tokyo (2018):
Still legions of salarymen suffering from sleep deprivation. The young people, however, were less uniform, with many sporting spiky blue hair, very strange clothing, and oceans of makeup (especially the young men). Plus the rise of people literally living in cybercafes.

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[Razor]

Actually speaking of Detroit, I just remembered of another instance where my pal and I crossed over to I forget what for..I think to eat, and have a few drinks. Anyways, we took the transit and on the way back as we were waiting at the bus terminal to cross back to Windsor, there was a dude with a long wool trench coat quickly rummaging through the trash cans, and he approached us and said something like this: "y'all wanna buy a gole ring?..fity dollah..fity dollah for a gole ring". He actually talked like that, and did the whole cliché of opening one side of his coat to show us his display..I also remembered him asking us where we were from, and at the time I was living in Northern ON..When I responded with some hours North Of Toronto, his reply was "mmm good ice fishing"..he was then quickly apprehended by the cops that were stationed there, and sent on his way..This would of been 91 or maybe even 92.I don't know if this was necessarily a Detroit stereotype, but the whole opening of the jacket to sell his wares was a stereotype..It's funny that my friend that was with me re-counted that same little event recently, and corrected me because I thought that he was peddling gold watches and not rings.My friend also reminded my that it was at a bus terminal, because I forgot.

[Centropolis]

my first detroit trip was filled with gracious people wanting to do copious amounts of drugs and partying. i’ve never seen that amount of drugs while people still behaved like human beings for the most part.

my cabbie turned into my personal driver to the point that he stood by in the wee hours while i got some sleep and then took me to the airport.

just an unbelievable amount of niceness.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by Razor

Actually speaking of Detroit, I just remembered of another instance where my pal and I crossed over to I forget what for..I think to eat, and have a few drinks. Anyways, we took the transit and on the way back as we were waiting at the bus terminal to cross back to Windsor, there was a dude with a long wool trench coat quickly rummaging through the trash cans, and he approached us and said something like this: "y'all wanna buy a gole ring?..fity dollah..fity dollah for a gole ring". He actually talked like that, and did the whole cliché of opening one side of his coat to show us his display..I also remembered him asking us where we were from, and at the time I was living in Northern ON..When I responded with some hours North Of Toronto, his reply was "mmm good ice fishing"..he was then quickly apprehended by the cops that were stationed there, and sent on his way..This would of been 91 or maybe even 92.I don't know if this was necessarily a Detroit stereotype, but the whole opening of the jacket to sell his wares was a stereotype..It's funny that my friend that was with me re-counted that same little event recently, and corrected me because I thought that he was peddling gold watches and not rings.My friend also reminded my that it was at a bus terminal, because I forgot.

Was it outdoors? Other than the Greyhound terminal, I don't think Detroit had a passenger terminal before the Rosa Parks Terminal opened a decade ago.

[Razor]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

Was it outdoors? Other than the Greyhound terminal, I don't think Detroit had a passenger terminal before the Rosa Parks Terminal opened a decade ago.

No it was inside..Dead as a door nail from what I recall..It may of been Greyhound or even city transit, with a run into Windsor?..Not sure.It was near either the bridge or the tunnel. In those days, the border was more open between the two cities..Heck, our drivers' licenses got us back and forth.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by Razor

No it was inside..Dead as a door nail from what I recall..It may of been city transit, with a run into Windsor?..Not sure.It was near either the bridge or the tunnel.

Sounds like the Greyhound terminal. Windsor's transit system does have a bus route that goes into Detroit, but I thought it only stopped downtown.

[Crawford]

There used to be a downtown bus terminal on Campus Martius, before the Rosa Parks Transit Center was built. But I believe it was only city buses, and I think it was entirely outdoors.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by Crawford

There used to be a downtown bus terminal on Campus Martius, before the Rosa Parks Transit Center was built. But I believe it was only city buses, and I think it was entirely outdoors.

Yeah, it was at Cadillac Square just east of Campus Martius. It was an outdoor "terminal" (really just a bunch of bus shelters), and I believe only Detroit DOT buses terminated there. I believe all of those routes moved to Rosa Parks when it was completed.

[Yuri]

Originally Posted by Centropolis

my first detroit trip was filled with gracious people wanting to do copious amounts of drugs and partying. i’ve never seen that amount of drugs while people still behaved like human beings for the most part.

my cabbie turned into my personal driver to the point that he stood by in the wee hours while i got some sleep and then took me to the airport.

just an unbelievable amount of niceness.

Reminded me of:

Boy toy named Troy used to live in Detroit
Big dope dealer money, he was gettin' some coins
Was in shootouts with the law, but he live in a palace
Bought me Alexander McQueen, he was keeping me stylish
Now that's real, real, real
Gun in my purse, bitch, I came dressed to kill
Who wanna go first? I had them pushing daffodils
I'm high as hell, I only took a half a pill
I'm on some dumb shit, by the way, what he say?

[wg_flamip]

The first time I was in the US was on a road trip to Florida when I was about ~10 years old. Once we crossed the border, we didn't stop until we were solidly into Appalachia (maybe WV?). That was sort of an "Americans really are fat fat" kind of moment.

On my way to the former DDR for the first time, I was seated near a miserable, terribly dressed middle aged East German woman who went on a loud, obscenely racist tirade about other people on the flight.

Although it wasn't my first time in Montreal by a longshot, I recall one train ride during which my friend and I were subjected to a prolonged rant about the city's decline by a woman who embodied the angryphone exile stereotype.

[Antares41]

Originally Posted by benp

On my first visit to Moscow (early 2001, right before 9/11) our van driver got stopped by a traffic cop for a bribe, the driver took us to a clothing store where there was a "better" exchange rate for $-to-rubles and it was a window at the back guarded by a couple of thugs and people with thick stacks of $100 bills in line, and at the hotel (a major hotel) young prostitutes brought in by the old rich oligarchs and mobsters were being constantly chased away from the buffet by the hotel staff. Oh, and lots of private armored black SUVs hanging around certain bars and restaurants.

I had similar experiences (Black Volvos and Mercedes was popular back then). I was in Moscow back in 1994. I was at a hotel off of Red Square. The hotel lobby was full of very attractive women who spoke perfect English. My interpreter, commented that some of them were working for the KGB and they were mostly look for business peoples who may have valuable information. I felt like I walked into a spy novel.

[benp]

Originally Posted by Antares41

I had similar experiences (Black Volvos and Mercedes was popular back then). I was in Moscow back in 1994. I was at a hotel off of Red Square. The hotel lobby was full of very attractive women who spoke perfect English. My interpreter, commented that some of them were working for the KGB and they were mostly look for business peoples who may have valuable information. I felt like I walked into a spy novel.

Yeah, we were also warned by our security staff about spying at the hotel. There were 3 "smoke detectors" on the wall of my hotel room, if I needed a reminder. One of the people in our group also got her passport stolen while going through the customs line at the airport - we luckily "knew" some of the right people, and as if by magic the passport reappeared. I had earlier been give a tip to hire a "porter" to pull my bags through on a dolly (I think I spent maybe $10US, if that much), and so all the customs agents just turned their heads and let me and my bags pass through without so much as a glance.

[ssiguy]

When I was fresh out of high school in London Ontario in the early 80s, I went on my cross Canada "wanted to find myself" tour. As with everyone else that would take me to Vancouver.

Well as a young Ontarian one was led to believe that anyone on the Prairies was a country bumpkin, right-wing, hilly billy or cowboy and especially Calgary in the cowboy department. It didn't get it's nickname of "Cowtown" for nothing. Anyway, I arrived by bus in the city in the evening on a Friday and was floored by absolutely everyone wearing cowboy boots, hats, gear, and every where was the sound of love-sick moose cowboy music. I was horrified and remember thinking that, My God it's true, people here really do live like this.

I quickly high tailed it out of the city to Vancouver only to find out later that I happened to arrive during the week of the Calgary Stampede which is basically the only time that 90% of all these supposed urban cowboys actually dress the part.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

When I was fresh out of high school in London Ontario in the early 80s, I went on my cross Canada "wanted to find myself" tour. As with everyone else that would take me to Vancouver.

Well as a young Ontarian one was led to believe that anyone on the Prairies was a country bumpkin, right-wing, hilly billy or cowboy and especially Calgary in the cowboy department. It didn't get it's nickname of "Cowtown" for nothing. Anyway, I arrived by bus in the city in the evening on a Friday and was floored by absolutely everyone wearing cowboy boots, hats, gear, and every where was the sound of love-sick moose cowboy music. I was horrified and remember thinking that, My God it's true, people here really do live like this.

I quickly high tailed it out of the city to Vancouver only to find out later that I happened to arrive during the week of the Calgary Stampede which is basically the only time that 90% of all these supposed urban cowboys actually dress the part.

Howdy Pardner!

postmedia

[Razor]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

When I was fresh out of high school in London Ontario in the early 80s, I went on my cross Canada "wanted to find myself" tour. As with everyone else that would take me to Vancouver.

Well as a young Ontarian one was led to believe that anyone on the Prairies was a country bumpkin, right-wing, hilly billy or cowboy and especially Calgary in the cowboy department. It didn't get it's nickname of "Cowtown" for nothing. Anyway, I arrived by bus in the city in the evening on a Friday and was floored by absolutely everyone wearing cowboy boots, hats, gear, and every where was the sound of love-sick moose cowboy music. I was horrified and remember thinking that, My God it's true, people here really do live like this.

I quickly high tailed it out of the city to Vancouver only to find out later that I happened to arrive during the week of the Calgary Stampede which is basically the only time that 90% of all these supposed urban cowboys actually dress the part.

I have yet to visit Calgary, but I do however have an Aunt who lived there for the better part of 25 years before moving back to ON.I vividly remember telling me Calgary had a lot of "urban cowboys", and she also mentioned that she would see them in night clubs, restaurants, etc..It led me to believe that this wasn't just a Stampede thing, but engrained in the local culture..I think my cousin who moved there maybe 15 years ago started donning a cowboy hat after a few years..Makes me wonder if other Prairie cities like Regina or Saskatoon have adopted a bit of the cowboy culture as well? Edmonton doesn't seem to have. It may be just a Calgary thing..dunno?..That whole urban cowboy vibe may of also toned down since my Aunt lived there before the early 2000's. Don't know.