There are somethings that really make people shake their head in Hawaii and you will know its a sign when they start to sound passive aggressive. Disrespectful comments will have a stare back in silence and maybe a explanation of “too bad this one” as the attitude that was displayed to a local would have made them decide the approach. Locals know there isn’t changing anyone's mind, locals know that if someone will act stupid and disrespectful they don’t regret it, so staying calm with a simple expression and statement of shame will be all that is needed.
Call Yourself a Hawaiian or Local Unlike any other state if you are born there you get a title of being certainly of the area, but if you are born in Hawaii you aren’t a Hawaiian, nor if you live there as a long time resident. By birth a person is born a Kama’aina, not self-identification, and it excludes geography. There is a racial part as well, but the race relationship is complex in its own right and it is debatable for everyone who is worthy of the title. The first way to out oneself as uninformed is by being a: seasonal resident, military resident, or temporary placed for a job is by claiming oneself as Hawaiian. Being “Hawaiian” isn’t like being “Californian” or a “Texan” its actually being ethnically Hawaiian. Even calling yourself a “Local” being part-time resident that is not born there, even being local has certain criteria to be reached. So, the safest thing is to state if you don’t know if your local or not its best to explain that you maybe: Part-time (Resident), Transplant (Resident), or Tourist (Guest). But having the local experience and socializing with Kama’aina will help you discover the mindset it takes to live local with the basics of: Aloha’aku (Give Aloha), Aloha’amai (Recieve Aloha), Niele (Nosy), Maha’oi (Imposing), Malama’aina (Land Care), Kanakapila (Pot Luck), Lokahi (Uniting), Kuleana (Responsibility). Expect us to be on hospitable, wearing aloha shirts, grass skirts, and straw hats. Hawaii has grown large with hundreds of thousands of people. Many of which have survived paycheck by paycheck and don’t have old money pushing them forward with the history of people being used for tourism exploitation and tagged workers on the fields in the plantations. There are going to be some people who worked in service industry and just have some genuine Aloha about them, but things don’t come easy in paradise, so many don’t work at luaus or at hotels and many more work corporate jobs and have never even had a change to enjoy a themed tourist marketed luau. Aloha shirts maybe formal attire, but not every single person will be wearing it daily unless they are trying to dress up appropriately for an event. Straw hats may be on the beaches or places with plenty of sun and most don’t even give grass skirts their attention as its almost disrespectful to give them acknowledgement in the islands. Much of the atmosphere that has been promised by ads is a theme park illusion that is sold to make people have certain travel expectations and isn’t the full Hawaii experience and certainly not an authentic one. What makes locals mad is that its not only a lie to the customers, but it never tells them the truth to make them sold on the idea of the “Paradise Get Away”, but where do locals escape to? Complain about the High Cost of a Stay Hawaii Resident’s really don’t like it when people mention the high cost of a stay when the hotel rooms are really large and the transportation system and food pathways simply can’t support so many people coming to the islands. There are so many tourists it is sometimes to hard to find a local around who isn’t so busy working two to three jobs to put food on the table for their family that is directly related to the high cost of living in Hawaii that has several main reasons and one of those are tourism. Hawaii has the highest cost of living because of Soft Tourism where its high-numbers of people with low spending that ups consumption of limited items being stuck in the middle of the Pacific. The soft tourism is so interruptive and inconvenient to residents it has in response created an anti-tourism phrase "Hawai'i is not your playground". The problem with too many tourists on the island is because it directly connects to: fossil fuel consumption through electricity consumption and trash production, limited foods in markets and ups food consumption, tourist rental real estate for heightened real estate costs, car traffic takes hours away on commutes, and overcrowding of paradise makes it a paradise almost exclusively for tourists. In conclusion High costs are chasing away Locals and Hawaiians from living where they were born from. The either have to be: Working for a Government employer, Working a Tourist job, Working in Medical for lower wages then the mainland, Work for a Bank or Caretaking service, or be chased away from Hawaii and complain from overseas about soft tourism forcing them to leave from high prices. Plan a Hawaii road trip that doesn’t include Mom and Pop Stores Trips of peaceful middle of nowhere start in Waikiki for the Waves and the Tourist Walk, and Honolulu as well as the North Shore have some of the best attractions of urban life and country life. But, the mom and pop stores keep people coming back and feed the locals that keep the place alive as residential hubs — seriously there is a growing amount of homelessness, poverty, and wealth distribution inequality with government intervention that destroys opportunities for small businesses unique to Hawaii. There is nothing worse than having a plan that goes to chain-restaurants or national chains that could be eaten anywhere else. Many large business owners tend to have little interest in the community and its residents as well as the local economy as many locals will endlessly gripe of how most of the money goes off island or businesses gaining enough momentum get bought out by someone off island. Showing support for smaller tasty places that may not be the best in presentation, but the most delightful in flavor goes a long way. Say you “ I don’t know how anyone could ever want to leave Hawaii.” Sorry, but when you can’t even afford lower-rates in the place you live and can’t get the luxury of time and money to visit beaches, parks, and hikes without a massively large amount of people not from Hawaii it can be frustrating. Also, considering that residents are trapped on an island it can be nice to leave the island for a get away to either the U.S. Mainland or Japan, specifically Nevada or Tokyo. And with the growing number of families that become separated from the high-costs of living in Hawaii, many people have to spend their vacations visiting family they don’t normally get to see. A person who is in Hawaii part time or on a week trip to Kapolei or Waikiki doesn’t get to judge the states way of life is from the vacation perspective. It is not even close to the correct idea of what living in Hawaii is like, versus vacationing there, so a local will not feel anything when someone says the famous phrase. The head shaking gets even worse when a local travels to another part of the world and hears exactly the same thing. Claim you have had better life possibilities elsewhere Texas has better barbeque, go there!? Japan has better safety, stay there? California has better burritos, go there?? Florida has better beaches, well, go there? a local really doesn’t care about measuring where is better or where is being compared in the living condition of the islands, especially the vacation experience. If a person feels its been over hyped the airport isn’t too far away and can be a feeling of true freedom to go back to that better place, right? While not exclusive complaint it sure is a common one. But, maybe the things that are great elsewhere isn’t what is the best Hawaii has to offer, because the nice thing about different places is their unique characteristics of how its different rather than how they are the same. And if places open up with those better things, why would anyone want to visit Hawaii if they could just go to that other place trying to imitate the other?
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