Well nick your personal experiences and mine are different. However to say it's mythology as a bit, dishonest. (I can't quite think of the word I mean to say there nick I'm not calling you a liar, perhaps it's the closer you get to NY city then because having lived in NJ you run into all sorts of asshats.
No, it really is mythology. Northeasterners are used to a faster pace and get down to business faster than southerners, on the average. Some people misunderstand that. Southerners tend to display a superficial friendliness but tend to be just as exclusive and far more judgemental of the average stranger as a typical northerner, or more so (see Keri's comment above). Get past the polite platitude and see how fast you're truly accepted into local society if you move into any small southern town as a stranger - it'll be about equal (or longer) than if the location were reversed.
I do a lot of business in Manhattan with a wide variety of clientele and everyone gets the same reasonable chance to prove themselves pleasant and decent, or not.
Extremely true. Do not mistake a reasonable expectation for swiftness with unfriendliness.
27
Kleio
Winona, MN
January 2006
JUL 08, 2007 11:01 AM
Wendy said:
Americans are polite. There is a huge difference between being polite and actually being a warm, nice person. Americans will say please and thank you and Mr. and Mrs. and may i help you and I beg your pardon but... that doesn't mean they are approachable on a subway or in a bar and it doesn't mean they will help you if you drop your groceries all over the ground.
I love NYC, for example, but one of the reasons why I wouldn't want to live there is because of how cold people are. They walk around saying "excuse me" and "thank you" like ice robots and it makes me sad. From my experience in the US, where I've only spent a large amount of time in the northeast and in the midwest, people in the midwest are MUCH kinder and much more willing to listen and to help.
I do think it's an important distinction. While I don't think that there's any more of a chance of becoming great friends with a perfect stranger out here in the midwest, people are very polite and, to use your example, it's totally not inconceivable that you'll be helped if you drop your groceries.
But then, it is rural, which means we've got a lot of farm folk out here, and they really do have different attitudes about people. There's the sense that they'll give you a hand if they see you need it, but otherwise, you've got your space, and they've got theirs, and that's the way it is.
28
zarth
Seattle, WA
December 2004
JUL 08, 2007 11:19 AM
Kleio said:
But then, it is rural, which means we've got a lot of farm folk out here, and they really do have different attitudes about people. There's the sense that they'll give you a hand if they see you need it, but otherwise, you've got your space, and they've got theirs, and that's the way it is.
Actually, even the cities are like that, at least moreso than in either the Northeast or the Northwest. I remember when I moved to Chicago for awhile. It totally shocked me that people will come up to you on the street and start talking to you. That doesn't happen in Seattle.
Wendy said:
Americans are polite. There is a huge difference between being polite and actually being a warm, nice person. Americans will say please and thank you and Mr. and Mrs. and may i help you and I beg your pardon but... that doesn't mean they are approachable on a subway or in a bar and it doesn't mean they will help you if you drop your groceries all over the ground.
I love NYC, for example, but one of the reasons why I wouldn't want to live there is because of how cold people are. They walk around saying "excuse me" and "thank you" like ice robots and it makes me sad. From my experience in the US, where I've only spent a large amount of time in the northeast and in the midwest, people in the midwest are MUCH kinder and much more willing to listen and to help.
I listen to and help randoms on the street all the time. What does it take to be considered "friendly?" Take you out back and suck your dick?
I certainly ran into friendly New Yorkers when I was there.
Of course, maybe that was just because of my incredibly awesome dick.
Rafi
Santa Monica, CA
January 2003
JUL 06, 2007 10:36 PM