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Comment by elefanten | Hacker News Reader

It's fun to observe the difference in framing and word choice here. NY "cynicism" vs CA "toxic positivity".

As a Bay native, a younger version of me would've produced the mirror image to that rant along the lines of: "why are New Yorkers so angry and aggressive about everything? are they just miserable because they're all packed like sardines into that shabby concrete prison? why can't they just be chill like Californians?"

No accounting for taste!

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The first time you read an email that starts off with “hello friends” and continues on to talk about how “we made the tough decision to part with our valuable colleagues” you will understand what’s so grating about California nice. This kind of thing has unfortunately spread across the country, but California is the epicenter.

Yep. I’d take, “You’re fiahd get the hell outta heah.” Over the Silicon Valley version any day.

Damn, I miss the east coast.

Rude, brash, and raw. Problems are solved with heated verbal sparring — then you both get it out of your system and move on with life.

Everywhere else feels like I’m walking on eggshells or having to really restrain myself to get along.

Ehh. It’s grating in California, but I think the epicenter of it is in Minnesota or Denver, actually.

As somebody who’s lived half their life in each, both are exaggerations.

Most New Yorkers aren’t cynical. Most Bay Area folks aren’t toxically positive. But it’s silly to imagine that the urban infrastructure doesn’t influence peoples’ psyches - they totally do!

The frequency is just high enough to be a noticeable peculiarity

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