I didn’t think it was fair to title this post “Reason to hate (Northern) Virginia #1,” because hating on things implies that I want them to get better. I really don’t expect Northern Virginia to change because of my dislike of the place. After seeing my friend seize the opportunity to write about the other minority that is the rural Appalachian poor, I decided to go ahead and write this bit that I’d been tossing around in my head.
At Marshall University, I remember my left-of-left Sociology professor stating that Appalachians were a racial minority in the U.S. I didn’t deny this at the time, but it’s something I’ve come to understand more since moving to the DC Metropolitan Area. The tricky thing about us Appalachians is that we don’t look a whole lot different from the pampered, upper-crust suburban white kids, but we’re a lot humbler, nicer, and less spoiled. In actuality, I’m not really that nice of a person – that’s just normal where I’m from.
And I’m not hesitant to tell people where I’m from either, and many of the people I’ve met in this area are not hesitant to treat me differently once they find out. There are many reasons I haven’t made a lot of friends since moving here, but I feel one of the biggest is because of the alienation I sense here. Obviously, the friends I hold close aren’t part of this, and have been really great people. So if you’re reading this, by all means don’t be offended, because I’m not talking about you. But as my previously-mentioned friend points out, it’s very surprising to see just how intolerant some of the people in one of the most highly educated parts of the country really can be.
It’s not all bad though, and my way of handling the stereotypes tends to be a little different than my friend’s. But it does get tiring hearing the same negative things and getting the same surprised look when I tell people that I’m from West Virginia.
