curious about an event in orinda

[littlebeast]

well, semi-curious anyway. my new boss (american, but of indian decent), is looking for a place to live in the bay area (relocating here from an ex-Pat assignment in the UK). a friend of his recommended orinda, and invited him to dinner to check it out. dude stops at a local safeway to buy a bottle of wine and some flowers for his friends wife. he says the checker is chatting up everyone in line in front of him, but when he gets to him, he turns all sullen, and looks at him suspiciously. he goes on to say that as he’s walking to his car, a cop pulls up, rolls down his window and asks him where he’s from (he replies michigan). after telling me this story - he asks me wtf is up with that? i had no idea. he’s a bit of a drama queen, so i don’t know if that figures into it. but i don’t know the first thing about orinda either, except where it is. any thoughts? like i said, i’m semi-curious.

 

[RightCoastBias]

Orinda is ritzy, lotsa affluent white folk driving Teslas. Not my favorite place, but it's pretty with nice homes and good schools.

Being white, I've not been discriminated against there, nor have I spent enough time there to see anything like described.

But it wouldn't surprise me.

 

[Blankpage]

I suspect its the drama queen side of him. Orinda is 10 minutes from Oakland, I'm sure they're used to seeing plenty of none whites.

 

[ScarySpikes]

I used to live in Orinda. You have a mix of a lot of older folks who moved there when buying a house there was semi affordable, and rich folks who can afford to buy a house there now. It's a small enough community that I wouldn't be surprised if the checker knew the other folks in line. Dunno what was going on with the cop though. I never met anyone there that was overtly or obviously racist. (though, I'm white, and it's not like people hold up a sign for that) I have met plenty of the 'condescending liberal' types there though.

 

[Reli]

I could see Orindians being racist towards blacks or even Hispanics, but not people from India. There's probably lots of Indians there already. So, methinks drama queen. He probably did something or put off some kind of vibe that he failed to disclose to you.

 

[littlebeast]

I could see Orindians being racist towards blacks or even Hispanics, but not people from India. There's probably lots of Indians there already. So, methinks drama queen. He probably did something or put off some kind of vibe that he failed to disclose to you.

in my personal opinion, he’s got a very strong ‘put off’ vibe (i’m not a fan of his), but that doesn’t explain the cop. that said, he’s kind of a shit magnate. and i don’t trust him or anything he says. he has an unfortunate habit of embellishing facts, if you know what i mean. i’ve called him on a couple of work related issues - and he gave me a hard stare. which i returned for a long silence - until he eventually changed the subject. just doing recon to try and figure this dude out.

 

[AbsolutEnduser]

LOL at your second post.

Look I don't doubt people in a ritzy enclave of 17,000 can be suspicious or racist, but also notice how the subject has carefully observed how the checker is chatty with other people...but not with him, three persons later. Wow, the forethought to observe a perceived slight towards the future. .:wow

Some people know where to look, on purpose. But back, to the "I don't doubt Orinda can be..."

 

[littlebeast]

LOL at your second post.

Look I don't doubt people in a ritzy enclave of 17,000 can be suspicious or racist, but also notice how the subject has carefully observed how the checker is chatty with other people...but not with him, three persons later. Wow, the forethought to observe a perceived slight towards the future. .:wow

Some people know where to look, on purpose. But back, to the "I don't doubt Orinda can be..."

far as i know, orinda is just your average place. nothing particularly weird. personally, i think it’s him that’s weird. am just looking for info to confirm or deny. and still working on my decision to stay or rabbit, and oddly (or not lol) - barfers are my go-to for info. only routinely reliable source of street smarts.

 

[Abacinator]

Orinda is white af. Not surprised to hear someone of color is being treated suspiciously. It's not the first time I've heard it happening there either.

 

[ScarySpikes]

Anecdotal experience from one person I know from Orinda. He was car shopping for a new Chevy volt. He ended up with 2 deals that he was considering. He went with the one that was more expensive, because the guy selling it was an immigrant with a story about his family back home, and the guy selling the cheaper one was white.

Which, technically, is racist. As I said, condescending liberal, but not mean spirited.

 

[gnahc79]

Given the your description of your new boss, the interaction with the cop in reality could have meant to be a friendly exchange...you never know.
Yeah with the checker...if he's giving off a bad vibe that could explain it. Plus the checker may have known the other customers. Or the customers in front were actually nice to the checker, what a novel idea .
Assuming the worst in people is a horrible mindset to have. I hope it works out ok with the new boss.

 

[cfives]

I have very limited knowledge of Orinda, but it did creep me out a bit the few times that I went to, or passed through on the way to Moraga. The shopping center off the freeway had an insincere saccharine Disney feel to it, that really put me on guard.

 

[littlebeast]

I have very limited knowledge of Orinda, but it did creep me out a bit the few times that I went to, or passed through on the way to Moraga. The shopping center off the freeway had an insincere saccharine Disney feel to it, that really put me on guard.

thanks for that, and love that you mention moraga. it was one of the places i mentioned to him to check out. i only say that because IIRC, it’s beautiful. but other than that, i know very little about it. any advice i can share?

 

[Brokenlink]

I used to work in Orinda. There are plenty of Indian people in Orinda. In fact there is a pretty good population just down the road in ElSobrante. Your friend is a drama queen.

 

[mean dad]

LOL at your second post.

Look I don't doubt people in a ritzy enclave of 17,000 can be suspicious or racist, but also notice how the subject has carefully observed how the checker is chatty with other people...but not with him, three persons later. Wow, the forethought to observe a perceived slight towards the future. .:wow

Some people know where to look, on purpose. But back, to the "I don't doubt Orinda can be..."

It is not at all out of the ordinary to notice things like that.
There does not need to be any type of premeditation to be aware of your surroundings.

 

[aminalmutha]

I bet he didn’t step in shit on the sidewalk or see someone shooting up in the doorway.

 

[mercurial]

I'm from Moraga. It is a fucking time warp kind of place, feels like its 20 years behind the rest of the bay. Extremely safe, it takes 15-20 minutes of driving to get to the nearest freeway onramp. Bedroom community, used to be mostly white but now seems like there's been at least a small influx of east Asians.

 

[jt2]

he’s kind of a shit magnate.

He's a turd tycoon?
A fat cat of feces?
A plutocrat of poop?
A captain of crap?

On an only slightly more serious note, if as someone of Indian descent he felt out of place in Orinda he should check out the Windemere area in San Ramon.