What do you think people think of us?

UMwife · October 2010

The post below asking about our beaches got me thinking...I wonder what people think Miami-ans are like.

When I first moved to VA, I was subbing at a high school and the kids thought every one from Miami listened to Rick Ross and wore bathing suits all day long. I guess they were surprised I was wearing clothes? Who knows! LOL Oh, and for some reason people up here think it rains all day, every day in Miami. Weird, right?!?!

Anyway, what random things have you heard? Maybe this will get the board moving a little.

britishbride05 · October 2010

Whenever anyone makes a joke about Miami or South Florida being filled with retired people. It throws me off! Maybe at one point, like 50 years ago, Miami had lots of old people lol. But I don't think of this place as a retirement community at all!

mjz · October 2010

Interesting question! Since I lived in Central Illinois all my life up until 2 1/2 years ago, I have to admit I fell into the camp of people who thought Miami was all retired people. I was probably far too sheltered, but I was also surprised at the diversity in South Florida.

mjz · October 2010

Oh, and when I read the subject line without opening the post, I thought you meant what other people on the Bump think of South Florida bumpies. My response was going to be that clearly we're lame and boring. LOL

UMwife · October 2010

Yea, the retired people thing TOTALLY throws me off. I don't think of Miami as a place for retired people at all. Maybe central/northern Florida, but definitely not Miami.

mjz · October 2010

I think there's a general misconception in some other parts of the country that Florida really is so different from one region to the next. I know DH and I were surprised at how different all the other parts of the state seem from here.

EliStar · October 2010

Retirement community? Pshaw! All of my OOT friends and family all think Miami is like this huge party city, where everyone is club hopping or at the beach everyday. And I think how we're portrayed by the media correlates.

ANJ410 · October 2010

I know that most people here in NY think that Florida in general is only for the old. DH and I lived down there for 8 years and the first thing everyone said to us when we moved back was that we are better off here because Florida is for the retired. People are always surprised (and a little apprehensive) when I tell them that isn't true.

As for Miami, people here know South Beach is a great vacation spot and has fabulous clubs, but that is about it. They have no idea how big Miami is or that families actually live and work there, its not just for vactioners.

MRS.IHEARTMIKE · October 2010

Words to describe Miami from people in Orlando have been: Fast-paced, Road-Rage, Over-populated, Cuba 2, Ghetto, Filled with crime, Nice weather.

Albah · October 2010

Miami really is a bit of a cocktail of flavors. People are not right to assume that it is just a place for the retired, or just for Cubans, or for party-crazy college students. It's funny how perception can be misleading...

cocojack10 · October 2010

EliStar:
Retirement community? Pshaw! All of my OOT friends and family all think Miami is like this huge party city, where everyone is club hopping or at the beach everyday. And I think how we're portrayed by the media correlates.

Ours do too! Plus, on the board, we do get a lot of "where do you go clubbing." Also known for shopping. : )

UMwife · October 2010

Eli, I think you're absolutely right. And shows like Jersey Shore don't do Miami any justice.

People up here seem to think that South Beach = Miami. They're surprised to see that people have kids and families and jobs in Miami. I think they think that the beach is everyone's backyard. I remember telling someone that it used to take me like 20-30 minutes to get to the beach and they were shocked that I couldn't just walk there with a towel thrown over my shoulder.

@Mirielle = Parts of Miami have turned into a "North Cuba" so I could see how people from Orlando would say something like that. It seems like a lot of the people who now live in Orlando are Miami transplants who were looking for something a little slower paced, no?

Mrs.HisOnly · October 2010

Beside the whole people think Miami is one big club...

I'm going to answer this question a little differently, whenever I leave Miami I noticed how damn rude and plain unfriendly people are down here. No one says Hi or excuse me or anything that resembles anything close to manners. DH is uber polite, almost to a fault. His personality for the most part does not match the way he looks at all. When we're on the road he always say Hi, Thank you and have a good day to the toll attendants. I remember going to Orlando one year and on the way there the minute out got out of South Florida all the toll attendants were nice. On the way back home then minute we got close enough to home the attendants just stopped responding. As we drove away from the booth he said "Ahh Home Sweet Home"

Anywhere BUT here people are nicer. I don't get it. Even in NY where people assume everyone has a bad attitude, WAY nicer than here.

Mrs.ClariC · October 2010

I've heard a lot of different things when I've gone up north. Most of my family lives in NY and they all know how it is down here from visiting, but the rest of the people always surprise me. I've heard "Miami? that place is full of old people!" umm...NO! "Miami? OMG YOU'RE SOOO LUCKY!!!!" maybe?? lol "Miami?!? You must LIVE at the beach!!" uh, not really, I pretty much take it for granted. But like Justine said, you go to so many places where you realize how much people down here stink because they are SO rude. But it's one of those things, I complain every day about the terrible drivers, rude people, and horrible traffic, and honestly, when a trip is done I love coming back home. I love the diversity that we have here, I love (and hate sometimes) that people speak Spanish everywhere you go, I love the food that we can get here, and obviously that I'm familiar with just about all the areas. So while I don't blame people for thinking negative things toward us, I don't blame them (seriously, turn on power 96 for 5min and just listen to the people on there----GROSS).

EliStar · October 2010

@Nikki - Don't even get me started on what Jersey Shore did to Miami's image. LOL.

@ Justine - I totally get what you mean. It's like people can't be borthered to be nice to each other. And Anthony is exaactly the same way. He is SO polite and it's because he was raised in Kansas and people are just different up north.

UMwife · October 2010

Mrs.HisOnly:
Beside the whole people think Miami is one big club...
I'm going to answer this question a little differently, whenever I leave Miami I noticed how damn rude and plain unfriendly people are down here. No one says Hi or excuse me or anything that resembles anything close to manners. DH is uber polite, almost to a fault. His personality for the most part does not match the way he looks at all. When we're on the road he always say Hi, Thank you and have a good day to the toll attendants. I remember going to Orlando one year and on the way there the minute out got out of South Florida all the toll attendants were nice. On the way back home then minute we got close enough to home the attendants just stopped responding. As we drove away from the booth he said "Ahh Home Sweet Home"
Anywhere BUT here people are nicer. I don't get it. Even in NY where people assume everyone has a bad attitude, WAY nicer than here.

I usually agree with this sentiment, but VA is the exception. Some places you go people are super friendly and other places people don't even look at you. Or they ignore you while you're asking them a question. I guess it just depends where in the state you are. Northern VA is very fast-paced and people are into their own thing. It seems like the northern/southern line gets divided right where Richmond is over here. I've never found a decent sweet tea north of Richmond (usually it's tea and a canister of sugar...which is TOTALLY NOT the same). Maybe it's a southern thing?

Except for Miami...I don't think Miami counts as part of "the south" LOL

melly&jimmy · October 2010

That we're all Cuban, spend most of the time at the beach and/or golfing. And that it is sooo hot in MIami - why would anyone want to live there. That's usually what my friends and family comment on.

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