that being said, not everyone lives in a city they care that much about, anyway. i didn't move to Atlanta because i thought it was "cool", and i don't stay here because i'm particularly attached to the city all that much. if i could move all my friends to another city in an instant, i'd do it. Atlanta kinda fundamentally sucks — it's just some of the people that are rad.

also: who am i to try to mold Atlanta to my liking? i'm not from here. it's not my city.

also also: MARTA doesn't suck because i don't use it often. MARTA sucks because it has basic problems (like funding) due to an apathetic city govt, disenfranchised ridership, and openly hostile state govt. it's unrealistic to expect people to use a public transportation system that doesn't serve their needs — people don't use public transportation because they "believe in it", they use public transportation because it is the best (or their only) option for getting around the city. in this city, it currently is not. increased ridership is the goal, not the means to the goal. the means include state funding, denser in-city development, and making it much less convenient to drive a car. this is why i was probably the only person to get psyched about all the new parking meters, why i wish every freeway was a toll road, and why i would gladly take a lane off every multilane road in the city and use it for cyclists and pedestrians (including *real* sidewalks!). my current commute would take an hour and a half on MARTA. it takes me 11 min to drive, or 22 min to ride my bike. given the current ease of driving, why would i ever want to take MARTA? and i'm one of the ones that actually gives a shit. how could we possibly expect someone who just wants to get to work to take MARTA?

but as to your main point: i (mostly) agree. if everyone just bails on less-than-stellar cities, then problems never get solved. but on the other hand, this is the only life i've got. do i really want to spend it stressed out, beating my head against a wall, trying to live a [cyclist, vegan, skateboarder, etc] lifestyle in a city (not even my own) that is hostile/unaccommodating to that? gotta find that balance between happiness and "fighting the power", i guess.

PS…love the watch.

I worked at a huge translation company for a few months earlier this year, and emoticons were standard in all inter-office emails. At my office, I think they were a coping mechanism. The company had (has) an awful culture. Out of probably 100 people that worked on my floor, I spoke to a grand total of 3 people with regularity. I know that I used emoticons to try to hide my discomfort with the lack of face-to-face communication, and I can only assume that other people were doing the same. Even though I love to email friends and family, email isn't nearly as satisfying a form of communication in the office, especially if there isn't a company culture of meetings, group brainstorming, and general "face time."

1. I work in a mostly female workplace. My boss, at the ripe old age of 34, is the oldest person and a woman. No one is really worried about their ideas being shot down. Maybe this is because of a lack of men? The only men I've worked with thus far have been interns.

2. I have 3 coworkers (sometimes 4 if you count an intern, and a whopping 5!!! if you count our contracted worker). We are close, and we have found a way to communicate that says "I still like you, but I REALLY need you to do this asap".

3. Because we are a young workplace, we are fairly funny and sarcastic (usually not mean, though). Sarcasm and humor go a long way for us. When I really need something from a coworker, I'll say something like "I'm going to sit on you and sing Disney songs until you send me that sponsor list".

4. We work in close quarters and don't have doors, so we have found effective ways to communicate. If my coworker looks busy, I email. It's a courtesy thing– we can't close our doors when we need to focus, so it's up to others (and I think Gen Y women are good at this) to read us and decide if we look like we can handle an interruption. If I really need something and an email hasn't worked, I get out of my chair and ask for it. This also helps because we are all multitaskers– emails can get lost in the shuffle, so the verbal reminder works when email doesn't.

5. We praise publicly and criticize privately. I've heard this is a strategy for a successful workplace, and I believe it. If someone does a great job, we all remind them how great they are. My boss is the best at this, so she sets the tone. If we don't like something that's gone on, we address it with that person individually and privately. Sometimes I'll talk to my boss before talking to a coworker, but I do this as a way of advice seeking and not gossip or trying to call out my coworker.

So basically, in my workplace some of what you described doesn't happen at all, and some of what you describe is actually an asset.

Serially, though, this sounds like the beginning of a manifesto.