[Alex]

A while back I moved from a Miami suburb to the Boston area for college. People here seem less inclined to greet one another on the street and less courteous in general. Does anyone have an explanation for this, which many others have noted as well?
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Name : Alex, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 19, City : Cambridge, State : MA, Country : United States, 

[Terry24716]

I was born and have been raised in the South, and I didn’t really realize the differences in manners until I attended college. My small liberal arts college attracted about 80 percent of its student body from the North, with the remaining 20 percent coming mostly from Virginia. It was amazing to me the number of people who, at the beginning of the school term, walked quickly through the campus, looking down, never speaking to those who passed. These folks were generally from New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland, and we Virginians were very put off by what we considered “rudeness.” Gradually, as we all got to know each other and relaxed a bit, the “Yanks” became more outwardly friendly, and I was amused to hear some of my out-of-state friends tell me it was just exhausting having to look up and smile or speak to everyone they passed! Since then, I have had family from Wisconsin tell me that I am going to be stalked and killed (dramatic, obviously) because I smile and speak to strangers! It’s an interesting dichotomy, and I have my own theory: I believe that people in colder climates spend much of their fall, winter and spring shut off from each other, surrounded by only family, and they learn to recognize that tight-knit group as their social peers. In the South, before the advent of air conditioning, people sat on their front porches, visited with passing neighbors as they strolled about and generally expanded their social group to everyone they came in contact with. It’s just a personal theory, mind you.

User Detail :  

Name : Terry24716, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 36, City : Richmond, State : VA, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, 

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