RANTING/VENTING MEGATHREAD 3.0

Since this is the ranting and venting thread, is Toronto really your hometown?  Hometown being where you were born and raised, not spent a few years as an adult?  Come on now.  It's a pet peeve of mine.  I can't tell you the amount of people I've met here that say they're from Toronto and when I say "me too" and start to talk about where they grew up and what schools they attended, it turns out they're not actually from Toronto.  And this is not a Toronto snobbery thing.  Just an issue of accuracy. 

It was the town in which I resided prior to Korea and I was a Golden Horseshoe brat Exactly 18 of my 36 years here on Earth.

Might not meet lofty standards of some, but I'm fine with it. hahaha But yeah, I don't meet strict definitions. But I'm not from London trying to claim that status. hehehe

Since this is the ranting and venting thread, is Toronto really your hometown?  Hometown being where you were born and raised, not spent a few years as an adult?  Come on now.  It's a pet peeve of mine.  I can't tell you the amount of people I've met here that say they're from Toronto and when I say "me too" and start to talk about where they grew up and what schools they attended, it turns out they're not actually from Toronto.  And this is not a Toronto snobbery thing.  Just an issue of accuracy. 

I do this too.  mostly to explain to people that are unfamiliar with canada. Most people know Toronto. So when asked,  always say I'm from, "a bit north of toronto".  if someone knows the area we can start to narrow it down. I believe C02 is from Barrie. which is "a bit north of toronto. I believe we also went to the same University, which is..."about 3 hours north of toronto".

I do this too.  mostly to explain to people that are unfamiliar with canada. Most people know Toronto. So when asked,  always say I'm from, "a bit north of toronto".  if someone knows the area we can start to narrow it down. I believe C02 is from Barrie. which is "a bit north of toronto. I believe we also went to the same University, which is..."about 3 hours north of toronto".

Hamilton for 10, Kingston for 3, Barrie for 8. Did three years at Laurentian at their Georgian Campus (Barrie) and went to Sudbury for three. Then life in Toronto then Korea.

Also............. who are you? hahaha Pohang Laurentian person???

Hamilton for 10, Kingston for 3, Barrie for 8. Did three years at Laurentian at their Georgian Campus (Barrie) and went to Sudbury for three. Then life in Toronto then Korea.

Also............. who are you? hahaha Pohang Laurentian person???

Hhaha   my bad,  I though you went to nipissing.  I loosley remember someone writing about nipissing recently. Thought it was you. Im from midland. been in pohang a while.

Im from midland.

Remember Al's Diner trailer with the little grill restaurant?

Remember Al's Diner trailer with the little grill restaurant?

Remember Al's Diner trailer with the little grill restaurant?

2 blocks from my high school. and close enough to little lake that you could get a garbage bag full of fries to feed the seagulls

It was the town in which I resided prior to Korea and I was a Golden Horseshoe brat Exactly 18 of my 36 years here on Earth.

Might not meet lofty standards of some, but I'm fine with it. hahaha But yeah, I don't meet strict definitions. But I'm not from London trying to claim that status. hehehe

I wouldn't say lofty standards, just normal standards.   I had one grandfather born and raised in Clarkson (now Oakville) and my grandmother born and raised in Welland.  They were married living in Toronto at Mt. Pleasant and Lawrence area by their twenties and were there close to 60 years.  They couldn't and wouldn't claim Toronto as their hometowns.  I'm not arguing the point with any sense of animosity, just clarifying.  I was born at Grace hospital at Church and Isabella.  Other than three years spent in the west island of Montreal and a year in New Jersey I grew up in Toronto.  My mom has never lived anywhere else in her seventy plus years.  So, even when we were in Montreal or Jersey, I was constantly going back because of my mom and grandparents.  So, that's literally my hometown. 

I do get saying Toronto if you're from Barrie or wherever  when overseas, but among us fellow Ontarians it's like Home Hardware says "Be hometown proud."  You can't just claim somewhere as your hometown. 

I do get saying Toronto if you're from Barrie or wherever  when overseas, but among us fellow Ontarians it's like Home Hardware says "Be hometown proud."  You can't just claim somewhere as your hometown.

Yeah, I can see what you're saying. I wouldn't go around saying that in Toronto cuz people would automatically know I'm from an hour away. With living in Korea, not even on waygook.org necessarily, but here, I guess I take more liberties with it.

The thing is, I have absolutely no connection to Hamilton. I moved from there when I was 10 and I have never returned, save for a concert at Copps when I was...........26? There's no family there at all. Zero. No friends. Nothing. Hamilton could Thanos snap overnight and it wouldn't affect me personally (you know what I mean, haha).

So it also feels weird to claim Hamilton as some nostalgic, rootsy place when I was too young to really know it or appreciate it. Gage Park, Cootes Paradise Cons Area............ Stoney Creek battlefield.

I know some people move away, but they always go back to visit their cousins, or their grandparents, but I don't have that with Hamilton. I lived there over a quarter of my life but it really has no tangible meaning in my life whatsoever. Weird feeling. 

all four examples you used are very much used only by teenagers and/or people who still think of themselves as teenagers.

my dude? my man? my guy?

i will add that the hometown thing really gets my goat, too. happened to me a lot in unviersity:
"where u from dude?"
"im from boston"
"oh where in boston?"
"reading"
"...dude that's like a 40 minute train ride away"

my dude? my man? my guy?

i will add that the hometown thing really gets my goat, too. happened to me a lot in unviersity:
"where u from dude?"
"im from boston"
"oh where in boston?"
"reading"
"...dude that's like a 40 minute train ride away"

I suppose, personally, I never ask people what their hometown is. I'm in my 30s and so are they.

  "Where you from?"

  Canada

  Oh, nice. Where?

  Toronto.

  Oh, nice.

Whenever someone says that's where they're FROM I roll with it and discuss that city with them. Again, my hometown is Hamilton and I have NOTHING to say about it, so............. I lived in Toronto a long time, I went there all the time, I lived on its fringes for a super long time.

Hometown has such a homespun, Midwest sound to it and that's why I never use it. Where you're from is a question I ask because the answers aere usually more interesting. Hometown is a boring question, honestly.

  What's your hometown?

  Anchorage.

  Oh, snap! I love Anchorage. Oh, X Y and Z, do you remember the diner in the red cabin? Awww yerah! So good!

  I moved from there when I was three.

  Oh................. ..

I suppose I don't really have much to talk about the places where people grew up as children (myself included haha)

Wemembaw da park? With big swings?? waaaaaaaaaaaaaa

i guess its a bit different now, you're right. i would never ask someone where there hometown is lol. but when you're in university it seems like the majority of the people you meet are from 1 place. but also i dont think your hometown is just where you were born? i guess for me its like between your birth and age 18 where did you live the most? but then what if you lived 3 different places for 6 years? do you even have a hometown?

Since this is the ranting and venting thread, is Toronto really your hometown?  Hometown being where you were born and raised, not spent a few years as an adult?  Come on now.  It's a pet peeve of mine.  I can't tell you the amount of people I've met here that say they're from Toronto and when I say "me too" and start to talk about where they grew up and what schools they attended, it turns out they're not actually from Toronto.  And this is not a Toronto snobbery thing.  Just an issue of accuracy.

I mean I guess I can see how that'd be annoying, but especially when you move a lot your "hometown" is usually the last place that, well, felt like home. my "hometown" is technically in Kentucky but I haven't lived there for like... 18ish years? if someone from there asked me about what schools i attended etc i wouldnt have shit to say

but then what if you lived 3 different places for 6 years? do you even have a hometown?

0-10 Hamilton (as discussed, once I left, it disappeared forever)
11-13 Kingston (I have WAY more memories of this place. I had more autonomy and biked around EVERYWHERE)
14-21 Barrie (From 18 to 21, went to Toronto multiple times a week for concerts)
22 - Midland
22-24 Sudbury
24-28 Toronto
Then, over 8 years, Uiwang, Incheon, Guro-gu, Gunpo, Uiwang

Like............ the hell am I? hahahaha 

I suppose, personally, I never ask people what their hometown is. I'm in my 30s and so are they.

  "Where you from?"

  Canada

  Oh, nice. Where?

  Toronto.

  Oh, nice.

Whenever someone says that's where they're FROM I roll with it and discuss that city with them. Again, my hometown is Hamilton and I have NOTHING to say about it, so............. I lived in Toronto a long time, I went there all the time, I lived on its fringes for a super long time.

Hometown has such a homespun, Midwest sound to it and that's why I never use it. Where you're from is a question I ask because the answers aere usually more interesting. Hometown is a boring question, honestly.

  What's your hometown?

  Anchorage.

  Oh, snap! I love Anchorage. Oh, X Y and Z, do you remember the diner in the red cabin? Awww yerah! So good!

  I moved from there when I was three.

  Oh................. ..

But...you were the one who used the term hometown in the first place; "it's literally my hometown " is what you said about some place that is literally NOT your hometown.  You brought "hometown" into the discussion.  Now you're trying to disparage the use of the term. 

As a native Torontonian, I often come across people who aren't from Toronto claiming they are, so I like to clarify things.  I just don't think someone who didn't grow up in a place but only spent a few years there should be be trying to present themselves as someone from that city.  And everyone in Toronto, once you move on from high school, asks people where they are from.  It's a point of interest in any big city when so many people come from somewhere else.  Native Torontonians don't consider anyone any less of a Torontonian because they hailed from somewhere else, but it is noted. 

Again, substitute Toronto for any other city in the world that people migrate to.  This discussion just happens to be about Toronto because it was mentioned.  This is not a "Toronto thinks it is the centre of the universe" thing. 

But...you were the one who used the term hometown in the first place; "it's literally my hometown " is what you said about some place that is literally NOT your hometown.  You brought "hometown" into the discussion.  Now you're trying to disparage the use of the term. 

I misspoke and I apologise, 형님. 

I suppose I meant culturally to emphasize the anecdote.

Here is some sad news:
________

“The number of children experiencing myopia, or nearsightedness, is increasing steeply in Korea, where the majority of the population already experience vision problems. Doctors say that it seems to be related to the rise of online classes during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

https://m.koreatimes.co.kr/pages/article.asp?newsIdx=310162

“It is especially a problem for children as their eyes are still developing.”
________________

In my opinion, it’s not just online classes but also that kids are spending too much time on their phones and with screens in general.

i guess its a bit different now, you're right. i would never ask someone where there hometown is lol. but when you're in university it seems like the majority of the people you meet are from 1 place. but also i dont think your hometown is just where you were born? i guess for me its like between your birth and age 18 where did you live the most? but then what if you lived 3 different places for 6 years? do you even have a hometown?

To me a hometown is the place that you relate most strongly to. I spent the first 11 years of my life in 1 state, that time split between two cities, and the next 10 in a different state, in one city. I would NEVER describe the city I spent the latter ten years in as my hometown. I have zero emotional connection to it, it never felt like home, and I don't care to remember a lot about that time. I moved away from there as soon as I could. I'll always think of the town I lived from 4-11 as my hometown. Those were really happy years for me overall, and my memory of that time is really bright. I guess it felt the most positively formative for me.

Anyhow (not that you were arguing this), nobody is ever going to question where someone says their hometown is. Like I'm never gonna tell someone who relates most strongly to NYC as their hometown that they shouldn't call themselves a New Yorker because they didn't live there until they were 6. Whatever city someone vibes with, that's cool with me

To me a hometown is the place that you relate most strongly to. I spent the first 11 years of my life in 1 state, that time split between two cities, and the next 10 in a different state, in one city. I would NEVER describe the city I spent the latter ten years in as my hometown. I have zero emotional connection to it, it never felt like home, and I don't care to remember a lot about that time. I moved away from there as soon as I could. I'll always think of the town I lived from 4-11 as my hometown. Those were really happy years for me overall, and my memory of that time is really bright. I guess it felt the most positively formative for me.

Anyhow (not that you were arguing this), nobody is ever going to question where someone says their hometown is. Like I'm never gonna tell someone who relates most strongly to NYC as their hometown that they shouldn't call themselves a New Yorker because they didn't live there until they were 6. Whatever city someone vibes with, that's cool with me

Sure, you can question where someone's hometown is.  I have a friend that moved to Manhattan.  He's a New Yorker.  Lives and works in Manhattan.  No matter what he thinks of NYC he can't claim it as his hometown.  In no way whatsoever.  You may hate your hometown, but hometown does mean something.  You can't just pick any place you like.  That's absurd. 

Sure, you can question where someone's hometown is.  I have a friend that moved to Manhattan.  He's a New Yorker.  Lives and works in Manhattan.  No matter what he thinks of NYC he can't claim it as his hometown.  In no way whatsoever.  You may hate your hometown, but hometown does mean something.  You can't just pick any place you like.  That's absurd.

If hometown objectively means anything it probably carries some association with childhood and growing up there for at least a portion of time.

If someone spent any period of their childhood/growing up/formative years in a specific city, then I think they have a right to identify that place as their hometown. I'm not going to question that.

If hometown objectively means anything it probably carries some association with childhood and growing up there for at least a portion of time.

If someone spent any period of their childhood/growing up/formative years in a specific city, then I think they have a right to identify that place as their hometown. I'm not going to question that.

Exactly.  Hometown is associated with where your formative years from childhood to adolescence as well as your family's roots.  So, you can't just pick any place due to it being higher profile and claim it as your hometown.  I don't know anyone that doesn't eventually ask about someone's hometown when they're getting to know a person overseas.  A normal and expected question would be

"Where are you from?" 
"Canada" 
"Oh, where in Canada?"
"Well, originally I'm from Minden, but was living in Lindsay before I came here"
"Oh, cool, I grew up in Coboconck." 

Now, that's a conversation between Canadians.  You would break it down to hometown.  It would be odd if you didn't ask more details.  If it was an American asking a Canadian you would just leave it at Canada because they're only going to say they've been to Niagara Falls once and beyond that's just snow galore to them.