This past weekend, I spent my Thanksgiving with my family in Nashville, Tennessee. I was expecting to have some sort of cultural encounter, being so far from home and hearing of the different culture in the south. However, what actually happened still came to surprise me.
While walking through downtown Nashville, we stopped to wait for my uncle to bring around the car. Out of nowhere, some stranger walks by and says “Hi.”
My dad and I look at each other and decide to just say “Hi” back.
The stranger leaves with saying, “Have a good day!”
I look at my cousin, who had been living in Nashville, and go “That guy was weird.” But I had already figured that this was common. My cousin went on to explain that outside the hustle of New York, people are much more vocal and especially in the south, they’ll just walk up to you to say anything. Now it is very possible that this guy was just weird, but I had seen this trend throughout my whole stay and it became fascinating to see that people actually want to take the time out to get to know one another.
In the city we’re in a rush to get our job done that we don’t care about the people next to us, but it was refreshing to see this new attitude.
Yeah it is a completely different feel outside of New York. When I was in Florida, people did the same thing,; everyone was so friendly it was a little creepy. But at the same time it was nice and hospitable, especially in the restaurants. Maybe New Yorkers should learn a little and be a little nicer on the streets rather than yelling and honking to get where they have to be.
This actually reminds me of the conversation I had with a friend of mines who just came up from Florida to New York City for an internship. She talked about how everyone in the South is so sociable to each other that it is weird not being so openly outgoing to everyone, especially because she found it so fascinating how she could be on the subway and so close to someone but not say a word to them. But I can agree that it is because of the fast paced culture of New York City that causes us to behave this way, which can seem different for others new to the city, and for us going outside of NYC.
Although I’m not one to travel frequently, I have experienced this “weirdness” of people just starting conversations with me all over the place, even in NYC. While on my usual run to Subway restaurant to pick up a sandwich, I was waiting on line behind a rather large and intimidating man. After only a few seconds, he begins talking to me about the IPhone 5, his rough day at work, and if he should get jalapeños on his sandwich. This struck me as completely random and I just kept nodding my head and answering his questions to be polite. I guess we, New Yorkers, because we all possess this “state of mind” where this is not seen as normal. I liked your post because it questions what we perceive as normal, and gives a different perspective of looking at the norms of our society.
That’s really funny! I heard so many stories of how people are so social outside of New York. My Japanese friend told me that it is an insult to not sit next to someone in an empty movie theater in Japan, even if you don’t know them. I agree with you and John that we might find it so strange here in NYC when someone randomly starts talking to us. John’s story reminded me of something: I was in Starbucks the other day, carrying a painting, but it was facing towards me so it was mostly covered. I was a little surprised when an old woman asked me to turn around the canvas so that she could see the painting..haha. And then I was saved by the employee behind the counter who asked what I would like.
Oh, and great post by the way!
Southern hospitality is definitely strange for New Yorkers. I went to Tennessee a few months ago, and I had a similar experience. Like what you said, people there are very nice and willing to talk to you. Besides the spontaneous greets, people in Tennessee would apologize for the smallest things, or for things that we, as New Yorkers, would not apologize for. I remember that I was waiting in line to purchase something, and the man in front of me, who was paying, turned around and said “sorry” because he thought he was taking too long. It would be nice if people in NYC could adapt this attitude too.