it also manifests in things like not being able to handle a four-way stop sign correctly.

No drivers anywhere know how to work four-way stop sign situations, in my experience.

But lisah, in DC at least, the lack of knowledge would engender situations where there were (nearly) accidents because everyone thought THEY were the right person to go.

In the PNW we tend to all sit at the stopsign expecting someone else to go first. No you go. No, you.

That is true, meara

Thanks all. Weak invite which I turned down. I would swear that even in "mellow" S. Cal I would not have had that problem, let alone in New York.

it also manifests in things like not being able to handle a four-way stop sign correctly.

No drivers anywhere know how to work four-way stop sign situations, in my experience.

In SF, the odds are good that at least one driver will ignore the stop sign all together.

Ack, so much to catch up on!

Congratulations sj and TCG on house closing! That has got to be a very satisfying feeling.

Pix, you are a dynamo! Can I borrow some of that?

Maria, I'm glad you were able to straighten the problem out, but, boy howdy, do I want to bend a few necks for you having to go through that.

Also, I just want to thank everyone here for their purchases of American Girl Dolls. Those purchases have meant new galleries at the local art museum on campus, the Overture Centre, which houses four theatres, and I'm not sure what else she and her husband have contributed to the city, but it's a lot. Pleasant Rowland, the original owner of AGD, and her husband are very generous to my city. So, I am happy to take advantage of your generosity by proxy.

eta: And my condolences to Steph. It sucks to lose a co-worker that you've known for a long time and been friendly with. The work place feels broken for a while after. I'm glad you're giving yourself a bit of a break today.

In the PNW we tend to all sit at the stopsign expecting someone else to go first. No you go. No, you.

And waving for the left turner to go before the person going straight through? Dangerous as hell. I feel like I should have an identifying mark to show I moved here from California because my attitude is to play by the rules but once you fail to go, I WILL.

When I am home, I feel like I am a California-ish. When I am back there, I hope people don't squish me and I get funny looks for allowing people to merge in front of me.

ugh, Maria - I'm so sorry that happened. I am glad they straightened it out, but, seriously - they're a life insurance company - so they should have something in place to avoid this particular thing. And a "we're sorry we were idiots" florist on call. I'm glad you had a good day before hand.

Steph, my condolences.

I think you could respond with a whole 'Oh, I'm not sure that's appropriate, isn't it an in-house lunch? Wouldn't I be out of place/crashing/etc?" and the response would determine the outcome

Yep, that's what i would suggest.

Heh. Well, if two PNW transplants agree...you should probably ask a native. I'm not sure I have the appropriate polite-passive-aggressive thing down, quite yet.

Hey! But I can't really argue, no matter how much I'd like to. And I'm not really sure why PNW folks tend toward passive-agressive.

I think you could respond with a whole 'Oh, I'm not sure that's appropriate, isn't it an in-house lunch? Wouldn't I be out of place/crashing/etc?" and the response would determine the outcome

I never would have thought of that. I'm horrible in those sorts of situations -- I assume that people are saying what they mean, because why wouldn't they? There have been several times when someone has offered to pay for something for me, and I said, "OK, thanks," and then someone later told me that the person was annoyed at having to pay, because he had only offered to be polite. I can't get my brain to work that way.