'You are so DC': 5 features of typical Washingtonians

Old-fashioned jeans, a belt bag, a strange accent, a confused look at the subway turnstiles. You can immediately recognize American tourists in Washington. Finally, to discern where the White House is and where the Capitol is, to look at the majestic memorials of Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt and Jefferson, to visit magnificent free museums - whole families or large groups come from the American hinterland to the capital. In general, locals travel within the United States much more often than they travel abroad, and the majority of the population still does not have passports. Journalist VOA Maria Prus described the 5 traits that are unique to Washington residents.

Фото: Depositphotos

Siblings often wear matching T-shirts, while adults wear caps or Panama hats and sports shorts with pockets (cargo pants), as if they were going to fish. They stand on the left on the escalator in the subway (although every Washingtonian knows that you should stand on the right, and on the left you can only walk!), They stop in the middle of the sidewalk or at the entrances and exits, slowing down and irritating fast-moving Washingtonians passing by. They are not used to hour-long traffic jams in the city center and do not know how to behave in public transport.

When you see these tourists, you understand how wrong it is to equate “Americans” with “Washingtonians.” But this is what, in my opinion, distinguishes the people about whom they say: “you are so DC ..”, “you are a typical Washingtonian.”

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There are almost no native Washingtonians.

“Are you/Where are you from?” - a typical question when dating in Washington. It is not perceived as an insult or an invasion of privacy. In Washington, almost everyone came from somewhere. 46% of the capital's population is black, 36% is white, 11% is Hispanic, and almost 4% is of Asian origin. Huge national groups from El Salvador, Ethiopia, Cameroon, China, and Paraguay live here.

Dozens of universities are located in Washington and its environs, besides tens of thousands of students from all states come here for summer practice or start working in the offices of congressmen, the federal government, and non-profit organizations.

In such a multicultural environment, "native" Washingtonians who were born here and have lived their entire lives are a minority. And the city, state or country of your origin is one of the interesting topics of conversation.

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Washingtonians do not necessarily live in DC

The District of Columbia is an artificially created 177 square kilometers of land (slightly larger than the Kyiv Goloseevsky district), where since 1910 it has not been allowed to build houses higher than 40 meters, so that the Washington Monument, the Capitol and other landmarks remain tall structures. And although commercial buildings up to 60 meters high have appeared in recent years, the Kyiv 30-story “anthills” with dozens of entrances are not here. This means that it will not be possible to build housing for everyone. This significantly raises apartment prices and taxes, forcing many to look for housing in the so-called suburbs. DC area.

Most local satellite cities to the north, south and west of Washington have a very high standard of living, expensive real estate, and low crime rates. For example, Arlington in Virginia, from which central Washington is three metro stops away, was recently recognized as the most athletic city in the United States.

Despite this, young people often choose to pay more for housing in order to live in Washington, because bars, restaurants, nightlife and cultural events are concentrated there. And sometimes the residents of the surrounding area - yesterday's residents of a small town in Pennsylvania or Georgia - are treated somewhat downwardly. However, according to my observations, residents of the so-called DC area have the same habits as those from the capital.

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“Who do you work for?”

This is an almost obligatory question after “Are you/Where are you from?” His main goal is to find out from the moment of meeting whether the interlocutor can be useful and whether it is worth spending his time on him. For Ukrainians, this approach may seem too materialistic, but Washingtonians attend many parties and cultural events with one goal - to acquire useful contacts.

Meet on clothes

Dress to impress, that is, “dress to make a good impression” is a very common note at cultural events. The dress code in Washington is important; people often dress well, but not excessively. During rush hour, the metro is filled with men in suits and women in office dresses. Shoes are most often comfortable, without high heels, but women often change their shoes at work. Particularly because these are requirements in many government offices, which employ a third of the total population of Washington and the surrounding area.

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Political and international knowledge

The activity of Americans in the last presidential election of 2016 did not reach 60% either. However, only 36% of Americans can find North Korea on the world map.

Unlike most of the US residents, Washingtonians usually do not include these statistics. They are often on the basis of work necessity, they follow the news, speak in other languages, understand international politics.

Also, according to statistics, they are more educated. Washington's neighboring states, Maryland and Virginia, ranked second and sixth in the nation's best-educated states, which assessed "educational attainment among adults over age 24, quality of local education, and racial and gender gap indicators."

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