Banal conformity is not necessarily a bad thing. Boring perhaps, but that conformity is often why people move to cities like San Francisco, to be with like minded thinkers.
I grew up in the suburbs and went to college in a small conservative city. But, my family visited California when I was a child and I always liked it, although I'm not sure I could put my finger on "why" as a child. So, when I had the opportunity to do a college exchange program in California I jumped on it.
The first thing I noticed was that people felt comfortable being different. As someone who always felt like I didn't belong, I immediately felt comfortable.
It took me about 10 years after college to make my way to California, but I finally feel at home. I don't enjoy the excitement of being different, I like the comfort of similarity.
It's interesting how some of us like the same while some others like different. I like SF because I am the most boring person you can imagine (opposite you, who I imagine edgier. I have no tattoos and my hair is natural color, stereotypically boring). But I like that I can go there and see people who are so different than me and different among themselves.
Excuse me, but the Straight Edge subculture is a thing. There are lots of people with very strange or unusual ideas who don't have tattoos and don't dye their hair.
Comments
"In South Florida it is edgy to be against war. In San Francisco it is socially enforced to the point of banal conformity."
Banal conformity: that was a great summary of the article.
Banal conformity is not necessarily a bad thing. Boring perhaps, but that conformity is often why people move to cities like San Francisco, to be with like minded thinkers.
I grew up in the suburbs and went to college in a small conservative city. But, my family visited California when I was a child and I always liked it, although I'm not sure I could put my finger on "why" as a child. So, when I had the opportunity to do a college exchange program in California I jumped on it.
The first thing I noticed was that people felt comfortable being different. As someone who always felt like I didn't belong, I immediately felt comfortable.
It took me about 10 years after college to make my way to California, but I finally feel at home. I don't enjoy the excitement of being different, I like the comfort of similarity.
It's interesting how some of us like the same while some others like different. I like SF because I am the most boring person you can imagine (opposite you, who I imagine edgier. I have no tattoos and my hair is natural color, stereotypically boring). But I like that I can go there and see people who are so different than me and different among themselves.
Excuse me, but the Straight Edge subculture is a thing. There are lots of people with very strange or unusual ideas who don't have tattoos and don't dye their hair.