Living in Washington DC has allowed me to participate in the society of one of the most populated areas in the U.S. After a week or so, I feel like there's definitely something different about this city than L.A. (L.A. is one of the more diverse cities in the world, so that's probably easy to say)
1.) Train station conductors are actually really friendly. It's like taking a page out of Japan's subways: always someone manning the train station ready to answer questions. If I were stuck inside a box with not-so-great air conditioning all day I'd be pretty cranky, but these guys weren't that bad. As opposed to Los Angeles, where there's no train station box, and people are just milling about, and it's even more dusty, dark and depressing, it's actually pretty refreshing.
2.) Drivers are VERY horn-happy. Not saying that Los Angeles drivers are very good or not crazy (some are), but say what you will, L.A. doesn't honk THAT much. Maybe in DC it's cuz the plethora of buses and taxis breed a culture of "honk to get your way," but it is VERY prevalent, even among the common people in their automobiles. I never thought honking did much except when it's to get someone's attention who doesn't know you're there, or they didn't know the red light changed to green...the revenge honk has never seemed that effective to me. But in DC, it seems like a common retaliatory method and understood as part of the culture. Maybe it's cuz it's even harder than LA to get around L.A.... there's a light to stop at almost every 500 feet, that'd make me (already an impatient driver) pretty bonkers too.
3.) Not sure why it's this way, but at work there's definitely more of a "shut up and get our work done" attitude at work. I've had much more conversations during work with co-workers on the West Coast vs. working on the East Coast. Adds to the business-like paradigm of the East Coast. It's not necessarily that bad, probably more efficient work-wise to just concentrate on one's work exclusively, and it could just be a coincidence based on the sample size, but I personally prefer the more laid-back attitude and cooperative effort of communicating more (so far).
4.) Attitude towards jaywalking is very lax. Saw a sign the other day indicating "Don't walk on red," but seems unlikely to be enforced, quite a change from LA where stories of jaywalking tickets being handed out convince enough people to stay put on red. However, in DC this "pedestrian heaven" attitude allows walkers to just go willy-nilly, causing infuriating situations for people in a car or on a bus like me this morning who's screaming at the lone pedestrian crossing who's holding up a busload of people trying to get to where they're going. Not a very utilitarian and economic solution, this pedestrian-favoring attitude.
The Japanese have a phrase though, called, 郷に入れば郷に従え, or 入鄉隨俗 in Chinese. If you enter a village, you have to abide by the village's rules. Or adapt to their attitudes, in this case.
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