flâneur

The Bay Area is cursed - by Sasha Chapin

sashachapin.substack.com · 1,399 words · saved by 1 readers

Three years ago, I moved to the Bay Area, and I vowed to figure out the social scene. Three years later, I’ve become an introvert who becomes an extrovert again when I step off a plane at LaGuardia. I can’t get a grip on the region’s ways. I talk to strangers at the climbing gym and it’s like I’ve startled a bobcat. The Bay Area has a curse. It is the curse of Aboutness. Social life here is not regarded as something people do naturally, an organic element of being. It has to be About something. In New York, it’s an important component of the human repertoire to dress up nicely, gather, drink and eat, be part of the throng. In the Bay, most gatherings have the sweaty air of Purpose. Discussions are held to uncover new information, not because it is good to be around each other. Conversations feel like podcasts and the hosts are not funny. Someone recently said to me: “I’m tired of drinking in living rooms with overly smart people.” Sure, you could characterize the New York social life a

The Bay Area is cursed xoxo Sasha Chapin Oct 08, 2025 1,137 225 154 Share Three years ago, I moved to the Bay Area, and I vowed to figure out the social scene. Three years later, I’ve become an introvert who becomes an extrovert again when I step off a plane at LaGuardia. I can’t get a grip on the region’s ways. I talk to strangers at the climbing gym and it’s like I’ve startled a bobcat. The Bay Area has a curse. It is the curse of Aboutness. Social life here is not regarded as something people do naturally, an organic element of being. It has to be About something. In New York, it’s an impor

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