All That Glitters is NOT Gold
-
3/14/2013
Salt Lake City and surrounding suburbs are "interesting" to live in. On the plus side: the scenery is beautiful, the health care is excellent, the climate has all four seasons (summers are hot and dry, not humid), the mountains block strong winds, the city is very clean, low crime, and there are great outdoor activities (skiing, hiking, fishing, etc.)and the people are VERY friendly, when you first arrive. On the bad side: the air quality/pollution is terrible in the winter (people that "never get sick" are also affected by it, with migraines, sinus headaches, sore throat, etc.) The cost of living is very high, not Cali high, but still very overpriced. The people who are VERY friendly, are usually Mormons. When you move into a new neighborhood, they will bring you baked goods, shovel your driveway, and offer to watch your kids, all for "free." They take these opportunities to try and convert you to become a Mormon. When they finally realize that you either have your own church/religion or that you just don't want to join their church, the acts of "kindness" stop. The funny part is that they only "work on you" for 6 months to a year; they give up too quickly. I've lived in places where other churches can keep working on you for over ten years. The bad part is that once they know that you won't join, all of the "friendliness" stops. You are no longer included in neighborhood BBQ's, and your kids stop getting birthday party invitations from the neighbor kids. (Even though we pretty much live like Mormons, we have actually been told by a Mormon Bishop, that our kids could no longer play with his kids, because we would not convert to Mormonism.) With the job market, it can be the same way. Mormons usually only hire other Mormons (no, you can't ask about religion at a job interview, but Mormon's will list their Bishop as a reference and list their LDS mission as experience, this and other ways are how they can tell). They also prefer light skinned people (unless you are fluent in Spanish). The good paying jobs usually go to very light skinned Mormons (they even discriminate within their own group). If you are anything but very white, you'd better be a doctor, or a research scientist if you want a job. There is a large LGBT population in the actual city, but many of them struggle to find a job with decent wages, even if they have a college degree, unless they go to great lengths to hide their orientation. All of my previous comments sound nasty, but that is MY experience. I am NOT speaking for everyone. Here's the funny thing, my best friend is a Mormon. For every 4 or 5 that aren't so nice, there is one that is an Angel and doesn't care about your religion and will not try to convert you. Not all Mormons are the same (of course). The only other issue is that there is no real separation of church and state here. While other kids get spring break in March, Utah's revolves around Easter. High School kids are allowed to leave campus during study hall and go across the street to a Mormon church for religious education. They claim that it's not a violation of church and state, because the Mormon church is not on school property. This happens during school, in the middle of the day. The LDS/Mormon church owns a very large amount of property/businesses here. If you are white, straight, and you are willing to convert, then this is the perfect place to live.
Brianna | Sandy, UT