Devastator1981 OP t1_j551c13 wrote on January 20, 2023 at 1:21 PM

Reply to comment by AnnaPhor in “Everybody here is a transplant” by Devastator1981

>While I'm definitely not FROM here, I've lived here longer than I've lived anywhere else, and my child was born here.

I don't think you'd be wrong per se if you were out in St. Louis at a conference happy hour and you said you were "from Washington".

Where are you from, what's home?

Where you live?

Where you have lived the longest?

Where you are born?

Where you grew up? (if it's different from where you were born and also where you live)

Where in your heart you identify with?

All of the above? :)

AnnaPhor t1_j553f03 wrote on January 20, 2023 at 1:38 PM

"Where I'm from" is a complicated question. Layers. Like an onion. :)

cardamom_peonies t1_j55khyo wrote on January 20, 2023 at 3:38 PM

I mean, I'm not keen on shittesting immigrants about "well are you really from here" if they've lived here for decades lol. It comes across as a little hostile and also just not super relevant?

My folks are immigrants too and had citizenship for 25+ years at this point. They've lived in the U.S city I'm from for pretty much all of that and they've lived in the states for longer than they lived in their home country, since they left as young adults. If we're really going by "you're not a real DC/whatever city person unless you went to a highschool in this specific geographic area" of course they don't qualify but like, they've had far more lived experiences about being a local than most of the younger crowd who have lived in the area since birth. Especially since it's not particularly hard to have a very limited impression of the DMV if you're a broke teenager still living under the thumb of your folks.

Devastator1981 OP t1_j55md2m wrote on January 20, 2023 at 3:50 PM

Folks got the wrong impression but it's on me for how I worded the original post. Intent was actually the opposite of "shit testing". It was to demonstrate that there are folks with strong roots to DC (however you want to define it) that are here to stay.

I keep seeing folks will be like "DC is so transient" or "everybody is a transplant" here, suggesting implying some type of shallow or inauthentic collective (or individual) connection to the city. My view is that this is not true.

cardamom_peonies t1_j55n4tu wrote on January 20, 2023 at 3:54 PM

Yeah sure but being like "hey you as an immigrant, give me a detailed break down of where you're from/your affiliations" is gross and just reminds me of the times my folks got hazed by randos about their citizenship status.

AnnaPhor t1_j59vd0g wrote on January 21, 2023 at 1:13 PM

I personally prefer not to to ever ask anyone "where are you from" -- because, as you say, it can be a little off, and for some folks comes off as Why Are You Brown ?

In conversational and social settings, I like to ask "did you grow up around here?" -- which is much more what I'm really interested in asking! Making small talk or getting to know a person by asking a little bit about their background and history.

Anyway, OP -- I'm happy to say that yes, I'm not transient, I have roots here, but when people ask me where I'm from, it's usually an opportunity for me to talk about some of the other aspects of my identity.