Tourism Etiquette for Pacific Beach from your local resident
Posted by ThePacificBeach.com on Monday, January 9, 2012
Pacific Beach is known to have a lot of visitors, tourists to be exact, visiting us every day. What pains me is when they are very rude or have no respect for residents who actually LIVE here and are a part of their experience.
Not everyone who walks around in PB is a tourist but there is a lot. I'm a native San Diegan and Pacific Beach is my home. Here are some suggested etiquette, if you don't mind reading on.
1. Please don't make fun of 'Slo Mo'. He is our favorite rollerblader who blades to classical music with beautiful moves as he glides on the boardwalk. He's our friend, and Pacific Beach's boardwalk mascot (at least I think he suits it well). He always wears a blue tank top and has all of his padded gear. He's about 50 something. Please 'wave hi' to him instead of making fun of him behind his back. He's an awesome person. He'll wave back if he sees you waving to him.
2. Please don't stop right in the middle of the boardwalk when it's super busy where runners, rollerbladers and bikers share this with you. These guys are taking care of their health and they respect you for being here. Please don't make them accidentally trip and ruin their work out because you all of a sudden decided to stop right where you are on the boardwalk to stare at something. Please kindly step outside of the boardwalk to do your stop or go to the sand. Or better yet, check your surroundings before you do so, so you don't accidentally knock someone down.
3. Please tip your American servers. They rely on this money to pay their rent. The minimum wage in San Diego is not enough to give a resident a fair standard of living. Waitresses rely on their tips to buy their lunch and pay their rent. I know in Europe, they don't tip and many may not know but it's an etiquette to tip 15-20% of the bill to your servers. I'm not a waitress or server, but I know many who are. If they offer you great service, please tip.
4. Don't ride your bikes on the sidewalk on Garnet Ave. This is a busy street and there are a lot of people walking on the sidewalk. Also, you're not allowed to bike on the sidewalk. There are signs on every block that states that. If you see other people biking, they are not residents. They are also tourist so it doesn't make it okay to bike on the sidewalk just because you see other tourists doing it. It's unfair for walkers to stop in their tracks so you can pass by. Walkers should have the right of way, not bikers disobeying the rules.
5. Please don't stereotype that Pacific Beach residents are crazy partiers. Most of the people you see partying and making a fool of themselves do not live here. They are visiting and are tourists. Since there are so many visitors here, it's hard for you to tell which one of us lives here and which are just temporary visiting or living in the area for less than a year. You're not declared a resident here until you changed your Driver's License to your current state and address. There are some who may go a bit overboard but that percentage of residence is slim compared to the residents who just like to enjoy their wine over their good meal at their local restaurant.
Thanks for visiting Pacific Beach.
Not everyone who walks around in PB is a tourist but there is a lot. I'm a native San Diegan and Pacific Beach is my home. Here are some suggested etiquette, if you don't mind reading on.
1. Please don't make fun of 'Slo Mo'. He is our favorite rollerblader who blades to classical music with beautiful moves as he glides on the boardwalk. He's our friend, and Pacific Beach's boardwalk mascot (at least I think he suits it well). He always wears a blue tank top and has all of his padded gear. He's about 50 something. Please 'wave hi' to him instead of making fun of him behind his back. He's an awesome person. He'll wave back if he sees you waving to him.
2. Please don't stop right in the middle of the boardwalk when it's super busy where runners, rollerbladers and bikers share this with you. These guys are taking care of their health and they respect you for being here. Please don't make them accidentally trip and ruin their work out because you all of a sudden decided to stop right where you are on the boardwalk to stare at something. Please kindly step outside of the boardwalk to do your stop or go to the sand. Or better yet, check your surroundings before you do so, so you don't accidentally knock someone down.
3. Please tip your American servers. They rely on this money to pay their rent. The minimum wage in San Diego is not enough to give a resident a fair standard of living. Waitresses rely on their tips to buy their lunch and pay their rent. I know in Europe, they don't tip and many may not know but it's an etiquette to tip 15-20% of the bill to your servers. I'm not a waitress or server, but I know many who are. If they offer you great service, please tip.
4. Don't ride your bikes on the sidewalk on Garnet Ave. This is a busy street and there are a lot of people walking on the sidewalk. Also, you're not allowed to bike on the sidewalk. There are signs on every block that states that. If you see other people biking, they are not residents. They are also tourist so it doesn't make it okay to bike on the sidewalk just because you see other tourists doing it. It's unfair for walkers to stop in their tracks so you can pass by. Walkers should have the right of way, not bikers disobeying the rules.
5. Please don't stereotype that Pacific Beach residents are crazy partiers. Most of the people you see partying and making a fool of themselves do not live here. They are visiting and are tourists. Since there are so many visitors here, it's hard for you to tell which one of us lives here and which are just temporary visiting or living in the area for less than a year. You're not declared a resident here until you changed your Driver's License to your current state and address. There are some who may go a bit overboard but that percentage of residence is slim compared to the residents who just like to enjoy their wine over their good meal at their local restaurant.
Thanks for visiting Pacific Beach.
Tags: pacific beach etiquette tourists should know respect pacific beach residents
Pacific Beach is one of San Diego's famous beaches to visit and stay for a weekend or vacation. It's also a fantastic lifestyle beach with many residents living out their California dreams.
