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Living in the Bible Belt of California
Oct. 9th, 2006 12:10 amLast night, I was following a car with the license plate GOD heart symbol YO. I missed the heart symbol at first, and read it as "God, yo!" and cracked up. (Although I think that "Yo, God!" sounds better.) Then I realized what the person was trying to convey, although I wonder why he or she didn't use "u" for "you": GOD heart symbol U.
Toto, I think that we're not in the Bay Area anymore.
Someone called the Central Valley of California, which Fresno is in, "The Bible Belt of California," which is a pretty good description of it. However, the Christian influence is more subtle than you would think. Certainly a lot of people express their religious beliefs though their cars--Christian fishes and Jesus bumper stickers. Someone left Christian literature in our laundry room. (I actually respected that because you could read it or not as you wished. However, I think if someone tried that in a Bay Area apartment building, someone would complain.) I got into a conversation with a neighbor about whether cats go to heaven or not. (I was sympathetic because I remember how upset I was when Chaos died.)
However, I've been living here for about 6 months, and not one person has asked about my religious beliefs or proselytized. I guess that they consider that my business (what a concept!)
Fresno seems to run on the golden rule. Drivers stop for pedestrians. Almost no one honks their horn even when it seems warranted. (The part that I do find frustrating about the traffic is that people will go whether there is traffic coming or not, assuming that the oncoming traffic will stop.) Clerks in stores are incredibly helpful and nice (and it doesn't seem fake). Guys open doors for me, which actually I could do without, but I try to take it in the spirit given. I mentioned the above when I was talking to Erik about whether or not to move to Fresno, he made a crack about "red-state values". Not all red-state values are bad, IMO; Fresno is a much more civilized society than the Bay Area, hands-down. Coming from the blue-state area of Chicago and the even bluer-state area of the Bay Area, Fresno is a revelation to me.
And I really like living here.
Well, of course, there's a down side. The weather is too hot during the summer (as noted) and has a damp cold in the winter that gets into your bones. Winter also brings lots of fog.
Fresno is great to live in during your daily rounds, but is short on fun and excitement. A lot of the social life of Fresno seems to revolve around churches, so anyone who isn't involved in a church could get isolated. The only reason that I'm not going to a church now is because I often go to San Jose on the weekend. I'm looking forward to building a life when the dust settles.
And no, I'm wouldn't be joining a church purely for social reasons, but I'm not going to get into it here. I have another journal in which I grapple with religion. Maybe part of the reason that I moved to Fresno is to meet cool Christians. (I have met a few, my boss being one of them. Well, most of the time (ignoring his tirade of a couple of weeks ago).)
Toto, I think that we're not in the Bay Area anymore.
Someone called the Central Valley of California, which Fresno is in, "The Bible Belt of California," which is a pretty good description of it. However, the Christian influence is more subtle than you would think. Certainly a lot of people express their religious beliefs though their cars--Christian fishes and Jesus bumper stickers. Someone left Christian literature in our laundry room. (I actually respected that because you could read it or not as you wished. However, I think if someone tried that in a Bay Area apartment building, someone would complain.) I got into a conversation with a neighbor about whether cats go to heaven or not. (I was sympathetic because I remember how upset I was when Chaos died.)
However, I've been living here for about 6 months, and not one person has asked about my religious beliefs or proselytized. I guess that they consider that my business (what a concept!)
Fresno seems to run on the golden rule. Drivers stop for pedestrians. Almost no one honks their horn even when it seems warranted. (The part that I do find frustrating about the traffic is that people will go whether there is traffic coming or not, assuming that the oncoming traffic will stop.) Clerks in stores are incredibly helpful and nice (and it doesn't seem fake). Guys open doors for me, which actually I could do without, but I try to take it in the spirit given. I mentioned the above when I was talking to Erik about whether or not to move to Fresno, he made a crack about "red-state values". Not all red-state values are bad, IMO; Fresno is a much more civilized society than the Bay Area, hands-down. Coming from the blue-state area of Chicago and the even bluer-state area of the Bay Area, Fresno is a revelation to me.
And I really like living here.
Well, of course, there's a down side. The weather is too hot during the summer (as noted) and has a damp cold in the winter that gets into your bones. Winter also brings lots of fog.
Fresno is great to live in during your daily rounds, but is short on fun and excitement. A lot of the social life of Fresno seems to revolve around churches, so anyone who isn't involved in a church could get isolated. The only reason that I'm not going to a church now is because I often go to San Jose on the weekend. I'm looking forward to building a life when the dust settles.
And no, I'm wouldn't be joining a church purely for social reasons, but I'm not going to get into it here. I have another journal in which I grapple with religion. Maybe part of the reason that I moved to Fresno is to meet cool Christians. (I have met a few, my boss being one of them. Well, most of the time (ignoring his tirade of a couple of weeks ago).)
