I'm tired of the snobs in my area

[amandae]

Johnson County. Anyone else? We're not native to the area ... maybe we just don't get it.

[candy]

1. Snobs? In Kansas? I always think of everyone out in the heartland---

as friendly since I'm from the Northeast.

Ignore them,they are usually humorless anyway and no fun.

[amandae]

5. I'm from the NE, too.

I think people were nicer up there than they are in this (immediate) area. You'd have to be in JoCo to understand, I think.

[greymattermom]

2. US TOO

We live in Leawood and aren't snobs. YE HA. I've been here 18 years and don't feel at home.

[amandae]

6. I've only been here 5 years.

I wondered if we stayed here it would ever feel like home. Probably not.

[brystheguy]

3. Shawnee isn't too bad but I could use a little more love!

Depends on where you're at in JoCo. Everything is pretty artificial though, no matter where you are at in JoCo. We moved a couple of years ago from a smaller house in Shawnee to a bigger house and we had way more friendly neighbors in the smaller house community. We should've stayed there. Oh well, live and learn. Where are you at now? One place that I would like to move to is the area just west of downtown KC. Some very eclectic houses (houses with hundreds of different colored bottles in their fences) and some people still have Kerry signs in their yards. Looks like a winner place to me if I didn't have two young'uns! Schools blow.

[amandae]

7. I agree with you

We're in Lenexa. Our immediate area isn't too bad, I guess. Not as bad as many other areas. But because of other things that my kids do we have to "mix" with the primped and tucked population a little too much for my liking. I'm so tired of how "uppity" these people act!! On top of that, I'll admit that hubby and I look a bit younger than our actual age, so when I go places with my kids they look at how old my oldest is and treat me like I'm some uneducated mom who had kids in my teens instead of finishing high school or something (i.e., at a book fair I volunteered for at my daughter's school the other moms were talking about life after 50; my father will turn 50 this year and my mom will turn 50 next year - information I didn't share with these moms). I'm very educated but just chose to have my family while in my twenties. Most of the other parents are just a lot older than my husband and I are, and some of them treat us like children trying to sit at the "adult table." And because I don't adhere to the principles of cosmetic surgery, highlights, designer clothing, high-end gas-guzzling vehicles (lots of SUVs) and homes that provide more square footage than most hospitals in LDCs, MY values are apparently out of whack.

I'd fit in better in a college town.

DISCLAIMER: Not everyone is bad. I have met a few people here who are wonderful. My best friend here isn't native to the place but she's awesome and so down-to-earth! I've met some other people (some of which are native) who are great and not all about the $$$, but this county, overall, is so incredibly materialistic that it's driving me up a wall. Hubby doesn't like it here either, but mostly because of the repug quotient. We just can't agree on where to move on to, but can both agree that we aren't comfortable here.

[Slyder]

4. JoCo Native

You are right a good deal of the time. I grew up in Overland Park and so did both of my folks. And I have been told I do not exhibit the correct Johnson County attitude! I don't like to shop and don't understand how all these restaurants and all this retail can exist is so few square miles. Arrogance goes with money, especially new money, and there is a lot of that in Johnson County. Not everyone is that way, mind you, but enough to give us a bad name. I find that actively involving oneself in local Progressive causes and organizations is a good way to meet people who understand what life is really about. And it isn't shopping!

[amandae]

8. Like, OMG! You DON'T shop??!!

Shouldn't you, like, live at the mall if you live in this county?? You don't go to Oak Park EVERY weekend?? OMG! Can't they revoke your citizenship in the County Club if you don't adhere to the principles of consumerism??

:eyes:

[Slyder]

13. No country club

I don't belong to a country club either! I'm just a queer poor boy trying to make ends meet in the county where his family has lived for over a century. Between rampant consumerism and unbridled religious hysteria, I may have to move! Actually, I am kind of glad I don't have the bucks that might tempt me to be arrogant! I just keep on truckin'!

[SheilaT]

9. I've lived here for almost 15 years now

and I've been hearing these kinds of complaints and somehow I just don't get it. There are snobs and nice people everywhere. Johnson County (Overland Park where I live) just doesn't rate very high on the snob scale, at least not in my experience.

What I do experience here is Republican, fundamentalist Christian, holier-than-thou-ness. I'm so effing sick of having religion and "moral values" crammed down my throat that I'm not always polite to people who do this.

It's also an enormous myth that everyone in Johnson County is rich, but you already know that.

It's the conservatism that will have me leaving. Soon, I hope. Just got to get youngest graduated from high school and off to college and then I hope to be out of here.

[atommom]

10. I agree completely about the "holier-than-thouness" and the

conservatism. Those things are harder to escape right now, with the political climate the way it is. :eyes: Really, the only town where I haven't felt out of place because of my political/humanist views is Lawrence.

But it's just like anything else ... you just have to weed through the snobs and Jesus freaks to find a few like-minded souls. I've found a few liberals around, and we all know we're lucky to have met up in such a red-state environment. ;)

[amandae]

11. I agree with the "holier-than-thouness," too

Never before have we had so many people praying for our souls because we are athiest (hubby) or agnostic (me). Hubby has been called a devil worshipper because he doesn't believe in God. Too bad their religious convictions have them so clouded that they don't relize Satan is part of the Christian package and if you don't believe in one, it stands to reason you also don't believe in the other (all the people praying for us are Christian).

I saw a really great bumper sticker on a website (sorry, can't remember which one) that said, "Jesus loves me, this I know, bible thumpers tell me so." I'd love to get it for hubby but he's afraid of what would happen to our vehicles. He's even convinced something would happen to our vehicles if I put my DU bumper stickers on, because of how politically conservative people are in this area.

Like I said, I have met a few people that I've become good friends with who aren't conservative, religious zealots, or bought into the highly materialistic nature of this area. I feel really fortunate to have met them. The rest of the people I generally don't talk to about anything important (politics and religion are definitely off the list). Some of the best people I've met here have religion in their lives but don't shove it down your throat. I learn so much from these people; they look at their religion objectively enough that I can ask questions without them getting offended and it leads to really thoughful discussions.

I just get to the point every once in a while where I feel like I'm climbing the walls in this area. I'm not used to the conservative climate, having always lived in areas that were a lot more liberal, including two very large blue states.

[SheilaT]

16. Put whatever bumper stickers you

want on your car. In my experience, the worst you'll get is a thumbs-down. I've put some pretty inflammatory ones on mine (He Wasn't Elected on Sept 11th Either is my all-time favorite) and have had no bad consequences. I've actually had people follow me into parking lots to ask me where I got my bumper stickers. I generally make up my own using maketickers.com (www.makestickers.com).

Personally, I find it very difficult to live in such a conservative area, but I also have many good friends here, including those on DU.

I want to take this opportunity to publicly thank atommom for helping me out on election day, when she showed up to help with some last-minute election stuff.

As I said above, I've found good people everywhere, and Kansas is no exception. But I would really like to live for a while in the midst of those who think more like me.

[amandae]

17. On edit: a correction of the bumper sticker

I thought it was a bumper sticker but it was a button.

It didn't read, "Jesus loves me, this I know ..."

It read, "Satan loves me, this I know, bible thumpers tell me so."

I found the link:

http://www.evolvefish.com/fish/buttons.html#1975

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. Well I am a native

and there are far more good people here than bad. Honestly.

Come to our next Meetup and you can meet some of them. :hi:

[amandae]

14. I'll have to meet you all at the next meet-up

:hi:

[Jon8503]

15. Have to agree with Proud2Blib -- I don't live in Johnson County,

thank god, but I work there. Have a lot of good friends there who are well educated, not right wing fan antics, probably more moderate to liberal. They know the things that are wrong with KS right now and don't like it.

And then; there are the materialistic idiot snobs mentioned here. However, those are everywhere. Overall, Johnson County is not bad.

[Sentath]

18. It'll take 3-4 generations

for them to get used to you.

After that its a snap.

(rural South East Kansas)

*sigh*