USA Bashing

[Returning_Indian]

Recently visited NYC along with family. I found city to be extremely overrated. It's filthy with trash everywhere. People are very rude. Those stupid halal carts have taken over the city with middle eastern music playing everywhere including times square. Those coffee/donut shops have disappeared (ones you see in movies). Crowd is overwhelming. So much noise throughout the nights. It's either ambulance, fire, police, some truck or whatever. Driving is reckless. I saw few times where cars ran into pedestrians. Pedestrians took pictures and moved on. Car drivers didn't even bother to get out. Its worse than India. For getting the flavour of yellow NYC taxi, got one from the hotel and it was super filthy. Smelled like cigarettes. Uber always resulted in nicer taxis/cars. It's extremely slow traffic. I will not complain Gurgaon traffic anymore. It took us half hour for 1-2miles. It took 2hrs from JFK to times square which I think was around 15-20miles. Got sick of the ride. NYC charges so much money for passing through tunnels. Cannot blame India for its toll roads now.

Compared to London and Barcelona, NYC is practically a dumpster. And I thought Europe was losing its way. NYC has completely lost the plot. I also have new found appreciation for Indian cities now. If country like US cannot manage not so dense areas then what chance does India have. I suppose everyone needs to learn from Tokyo on how to manage city services. Don't understand the point of those obnoxiously priced apartments in NYC when infrastructure is not supporting. I guess it's same problem as Mumbai. That's the place to make money and rush out of there as soon as you can.

Places like Brooklyn and Queens looked very old. Didn't even bother to visit other boroughs. Houses are mostly small, cramped, not so well maintained and ofcourse the crime is always an issue but that's all over US and nothing specific to NYC. Guess only thing I missed to see was people peeing and shitting on streets which I hear is common in San Francisco. Didn't even bother taking public transportation as it looked very bad to ride in Subway or buses.

Didn't see the charm of skyline. I guess when rest of the world had not developed 20yrs back it would be charming to see those buildings but now these buildings are everywhere including India. So the awe factor is missing. Hardly any history with those buildings. When you visit Europe you can feel history in each and every random building or bridge.

If anyone ever plans to visit US, they can probably skip NYC and spend that money elsewhere.

[JINSAKAI]

Talking about Medical Industry in US in another thread, there is such a hatred for insurance companies that few people on social media kind of welcomed the news “Killing of CEO”
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2 ... n-abcarian

[nodegree]

Talking about Medical Industry in US in another thread, there is such a hatred for insurance companies that few people on social media kind of welcomed the news “Killing of CEO”
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2 ... n-abcarian

Few? The vast majority of people either openly cheered or cheered between the lines with a disclaimer upfront. The pending civil unrest..

Surprise surprise..Blue cross Anthem announced the next day that they are scrapping controversial new plan to cap anesthesia coverage. Coincidence?

[r2somewhere]

Talking about Medical Industry in US in another thread, there is such a hatred for insurance companies that few people on social media kind of welcomed the news “Killing of CEO”
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2 ... n-abcarian

Few? The vast majority of people either openly cheered or cheered between the lines with a disclaimer upfront. The pending civil unrest..

Surprise surprise..Blue cross Anthem announced the next day that they are scrapping controversial new plan to cap anesthesia coverage. Coincidence?

Its more spicy than that. Lot of social media accounts posted the bio page of Blue Cross CEO and said - here is what she looks like. Then Blue cross deleted their leadership bio page. And then cancelled their new plan.

[SAPPORO]

Talking about Medical Industry in US in another thread, there is such a hatred for insurance companies that few people on social media kind of welcomed the news “Killing of CEO”
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2 ... n-abcarian

Few? The vast majority of people either openly cheered or cheered between the lines with a disclaimer upfront. The pending civil unrest..

Surprise surprise..Blue cross Anthem announced the next day that they are scrapping controversial new plan to cap anesthesia coverage. Coincidence?

It's only going to get worse with deregulation and phasing out a lot of consumer protections. Additionally, SCOTUS would decide the future of preventive care in general making the insurance companies richer. https://www.ebglaw.com/insights/publica ... ntive-care
The cold hard truth is that every American is on their own, from now on.

[old-spice2]

Recently visited NYC along with family. I found city to be extremely overrated. It's filthy with trash everywhere. People are very rude. Those stupid halal carts have taken over the city with middle eastern music playing everywhere including times square. Those coffee/donut shops have disappeared (ones you see in movies). Crowd is overwhelming. So much noise throughout the nights. It's either ambulance, fire, police, some truck or whatever. Driving is reckless. I saw few times where cars ran into pedestrians. Pedestrians took pictures and moved on. Car drivers didn't even bother to get out. Its worse than India. For getting the flavour of yellow NYC taxi, got one from the hotel and it was super filthy. Smelled like cigarettes. Uber always resulted in nicer taxis/cars. It's extremely slow traffic. I will not complain Gurgaon traffic anymore. It took us half hour for 1-2miles. It took 2hrs from JFK to times square which I think was around 15-20miles. Got sick of the ride. NYC charges so much money for passing through tunnels. Cannot blame India for its toll roads now.
If anyone ever plans to visit US, they can probably skip NYC and spend that money elsewhere.

Yeah tall buildings are no attraction in NYC as rest of the world has caught up. You got gleamy and artistic skyscrapers in Dubai, HK and Mumbai.

If NYC is a dump, BA is getting worse. It is still clean but traffic is a nightmare. Public transport is close to nil or you got the last mile problem. So everyone ends up in a car clogging the freeways. Last few years I had wfh, so I could escape the pain. Then CoL has gone out of control. Nowadays a basic SFH costs $2M and up. Actually you need $3-4M for something spacious and in nice neighborhood with good schools. This forces both H&W to work in top companies like FAANG or Nvidia. Then you should be lucky to get RSU and options at low price and sell them high. Alternatively if you go up to VP level then may be you can afford these homes. Otherwise forget it - you will be stuck in a 1100 sqft apartment paying $4K-$5K.

With Desi family lifestyle of multiple classes there will be nothing left at the end of the month. One can move to TX or other states but the opportunities in BA for IT is unmatched. With all companies asking RTO, location matters. It is a financial stress and always worried what if you get laid off. Can you afford mortgage with single income? If you go further out, your commute will be 2 hrs one way. During Covid many Desis bought big SFH in Mt House and Tracy thinking they will wfh forever. Now they are crying as the commute is a killer.

[r2somewhere]

It's only going to get worse with deregulation and phasing out a lot of consumer protections. Additionally, SCOTUS would decide the future of preventive care in general making the insurance companies richer. https://www.ebglaw.com/insights/publica ... ntive-care
The cold hard truth is that every American is on their own, from now on.

Yep. I am so glad that when I got an unreasonable bill earlier this year, I simply refused to pay it. I just lied about being laid off and being unable to pay after delaying them for months by asking for itemized bills, etc. Eventually they just wrote it off and credit score was also untouched. Got to be shameless now, in all aspects of life.

[r2somewhere]

Yeah tall buildings are no attraction in NYC as rest of the world has caught up. You got gleamy and artistic skyscrapers in Dubai, HK and Mumbai.

If NYC is a dump, BA is getting worse. It is still clean but traffic is a nightmare. Public transport is close to nil or you got the last mile problem. So everyone ends up in a car clogging the freeways. Last few years I had wfh, so I could escape the pain. Then CoL has gone out of control. Nowadays a basic SFH costs $2M and up. Actually you need $3-4M for something spacious and in nice neighborhood with good schools. This forces both H&W to work in top companies like FAANG or Nvidia. Then you should be lucky to get RSU and options at low price and sell them high. Alternatively if you go up to VP level then may be you can afford these homes. Otherwise forget it - you will be stuck in a 1100 sqft apartment paying $4K-$5K.

With Desi family lifestyle of multiple classes there will be nothing left at the end of the month. One can move to TX or other states but the opportunities in BA for IT is unmatched. With all companies asking RTO, location matters. It is a financial stress and always worried what if you get laid off. Can you afford mortgage with single income? If you go further out, your commute will be 2 hrs one way. During Covid many Desis bought big SFH in Mt House and Tracy thinking they will wfh forever. Now they are crying as the commute is a killer.

Bay Area (and US overall) is an endless rat race. I recently was in Europe. People make 40-60k Euros there and somehow look better, dress better, seem happier and more relaxed. I think one way to get ahead in the US is to move to low COL and take 2 or more remote jobs. They are still out there, especially if you are willing to entertain desi consultants. Plenty of jobs in the 120-150k range and you can easily do two at a time (unless you need visa). No benefits or job security, but then again, Full time also has no job security nowadays.

[SAPPORO]

Most people that live in NYC love it there and for others including me, it would always remain the sour grapes. If one cannot appreciate living in NYC, how can they live in India?!!

[Returning_Indian]

Most people that live in NYC love it there and for others including me, it would always remain the sour grapes. If one cannot appreciate living in NYC, how can they live in India?!!

You don't move to US to have similar life as in India. Whats the point then to make all the sacrifice. I could not bear the city for a week as a tourist. Can't imagine living there. So unless one is making a killing, it's not good. But I guess it depends on mindset and age. Right off of college I probably would have loved it there as an immigrant. My son already loves it at 13yrs of age. But as you grow older you want to live outside of that hustle.