Is the West Coast emotionally removed from the terror attacks?

[b0mbrman]

Back in the Bay Area, [Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez] said, "there's not that immediacy to all of this. I found people pretty serious about this, but it's not as omnipresent as it is here. . . . It overshadows our conversations here, the legislation you're working on, whatever you are doing. That's not true on the West Coast."

California Sen. Barbara Boxer described the two coasts as "a world apart."

linkto full article

Here in California, it seems like people are so separated from what happened.

Despite the fact that the planes of September 11 were headed toward California, it seems like people here didn't care as much as East Coasters did. Furthermore, the valid anthrax attacks happened entirely on the East Coast.

Here, we've had dozens of anthrax scares and a Governor's warning to our bridges but when nothing came about, I think it only served to make us more skeptical.

And it's not just what I see on the news. I see anti-US protests here all the time and when I fly, people complain about the stupid security restrictions rather than the stupid terrorists.

But whatever. What do you think? Are we on the West coast totally aloof when compared to East coasters?

 

[KaBudokan]

People here in Denver definitely do not seem to have been affected so much as the people back east. Most of my family and my girlfriend are from PA and NY, and it has not had the impact on people in this area that it had there.

 

[Jingoro]

5 months ago, I moved from NYC to LA... so I was hit by this pretty hard. It is true that people here are fairly seperated from all of this. I don't know if it's because nothing has happened west of the Appalachians, or because Californians, by nature, are soooo incredibley laid back.

 

[b0mbrman]

or because Californians, by nature, are soooo incredibley laid back.

Maybe...it's like people downplay what happened though. I don't get it...

 

[notfred]

I remember when someone threatened the Golden gate bridge back a couple weeks ago. I remember thinking how furious I'd be if they took out that bridge. I don't live in SF, but I live close enough that I consider it, and the bridge, important to me. I would be pissed as hell if they did that. I'm not that mad about what happened in New York, beleive me, I'm sad and upset, but not angry. Why? I guess it's cause I've only been to NY once in my life. It doesn't have the same importance as SF does to me. So yes, I'd say that the distance does cause a lower emotional attachment to New York, at least in my case.

 

[Dually]

Yes, it was downplayed big time.

 

[Logix]

The California response so far has been to give a little blood, give a little money, and put up a lot of American flags. Yes, even people in Berkeley have put up American flags :Q.

But, yes since all the anthrax stuff was back East, it hasn't really phazed too many people out here. And unless the bacterium does strike out here, or the Golden Gate Bridge does get knocked down, the attitude here probably won't change much.

 

[erikiksaz]

No, i'd say we're not totally removed, IMHO. Maybe that's just because most of my family is in Queens, and my sister lives about ten minutes away from the WTC, so things actually did hit pretty close to home. Coupled with the fact that i love the east coast, things just seem a little different. I don't know about you guys, but an eerie, yet somber feeling engulfed my family (the ones that live in so cal.)

 

[Nefrodite]

or because Californians, by nature, are soooo incredibley laid back.




ugh, our senators got anthrax in the mail.

 

[Hamburgerpimp]

We just kill one another here in CA. Remember the Riots.

 

[OS]

<< Are we on the West coast totally aloof when compared to East coasters? >>



It's probably not too much of a stretch to say it generally hasn't affected west coasters as much as people on the east coast. No doubt the people in NY are basically living a nightmare

However, I will say that yesterday I got a letter from the red cross in NY thanking me for my donation, which I completely forgot about. For some reason as I read through the letter and realized what it was, I felt like sh*t. Probably because the letter is a real physical connection to what has happened in NY.

 

[MrDingleDangle]

i moved from Baltimore to LA the week before the attacks, parents live near DC and am originally was from NY...i was surprised how little it hit people out here...

a lot of people i think dont have anything to relate it to...growing up with the Twintowers i know what they meant...i know howmuchi loved seeing them from the jersey shore when driving up from baltimore...

out here there is less emotional attatchments to the sights

a lot of people out here had never seen the towers in person

 

[Logix]

<<ugh, our senators got anthrax in the mail.>>

It seems the only senators that were specifically sent anthrax letters were Sen. Daschle (D-South Dakota) and Sen. Leahy (D-Vermont).

The whole Senate was disrupted, which would have included the California senators, but I don't think Californians care too much about any of these kooks in Washington anyway.

 

[gopunk]

yes i think so.

 

[Xanthus2k]

I think it's a natural thing that the West coast is much more detached from the terror attacks than the East coast. All the attacks have been over there, and most of the really important governmental institutions and landmarks, while there aren't so many over here. While someone might argue that we on the West coast should be thinking that it's our turn next, it just doesn't enter the minds of many people because they think they're safe and that the terrorists are going for the East coast. Those on the East coast have had many bad scares and worse actual experiences, like the crash in Queens. Just when they thought they were relatively safe (excluding anthrax), another plane comes barreling down. Not saying it's a bad thing though, it's just what happens.

 

[Nefrodite]

The whole Senate was disrupted, which would have included the California senators, but I don't think Californians care too much about any of these kooks in Washington anyway

barbara boxers office was one of the contaminated as for caring, no one cares as much as new yorkers, everything else is silly.

 

[FrontlineWarrior]

yeah here in LA, it doesn't hit home too much.

 

[masterxfob]

other than seeing it everywhere on tv, newspapers, radio, and magazines.......it didn't really affect socal much. it was a conversation piece for a few weeks but then seeing it, hearing it, reading it every minute of the day just really killed it. after the first two weeks, i couldn't stand the topic anymore.....sorry if i seem 'insensitive'

 

[GodBlessTheUSA]

You don't sound insensitive at all.

You just sound like a complete pompous ass.

I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[gooseman]

One word (and no flaming please), Democrats.

 

[Moonbeam]

"But whatever. What do you think? Are we on the West coast totally aloof when compared to East coasters?" Aloof from what?

 

[Nefrodite]

One word (and no flaming please), Democrats.

a few words, you are a jackass.

 

[Jingoro]

<< One word (and no flaming please), Democrats. >>



Actually, you got a good point. I'm not talking about democrats, I'm talking about how liberal California is. People here just aren't used to being patriotic flag-wavers. The amount of flags I see here pale in comparison to the number I've seen in NYC, Boston, and Pittsburgh.

 

[jjones]

in general it probably seems that many californians are somewhat detached. but there are lots of people that live in california that are from the east coast originally or have relatives there or travel there quite a bit for business. i lived in california for 20 years and i was absolutely stunned seeing the twin towers fall. aside from the overwhelming realization of the loss of human life, the loss of that landmark really got to me.

 

[b0mbrman]

The California response so far has been to give a little blood, give a little money, and put up a lot of American flags. Yes, even people in Berkeley have put up American flags .

I don't know...I've seen plenty in SF but not very many in Berkeley. Our city council even made our Firefighters take the USA flag off the firetrucks :Q