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We were waiting for the rental car company to come, we were not asking any of the passersby for help. We were simply saying hello! We weren't flagging them down or anything, these were people who were walking by in the parking lot, within 10 feet of us. Typically when someone walks by me, I will say hello, or smile or something. I don't think that is the case for people in CT, they seemed to just ignore people as they walk by them. Once again, this was only our personal experience, maybe its not always the case.
I think the weird part is counting in the first place. People don't like to be taken for idiots playing a part in a joke that they don't understand, so if there's even a hint of something strange (maybe a certain kind of smile, or an attempt to keep a straight face) while you're saying hello, you might not get a natural reaction.
Seriously, how friendly is it to go into a region and count how many times people give you a particular response? The fact that you were counting from person #1 tells me that your mind was most likely already made up regarding the friendliness/unfriendliness of people walking by. Frankly, you seem a little hostile to me, but I'm sure you're very nice to people in your hometown.
Last edited by Syd02; 08-21-2007 at 03:34 PM..
Reason: clarity
I think the weird part is counting in the first place. People don't like to be taken for idiots playing a part in a joke that they don't understand, so if there's even a hint of something strange (maybe a certain kind of smile, or an attempt to keep a straight face) while you're saying hello, you might not get a natural reaction.
Seriously, how friendly is it to go into a region and count how many times people give you a particular response? The fact that you were counting from person #1 tells me that your mind was most likely already made up regarding the friendliness/unfriendliness of people walking by. Frankly, you seem a little hostile to me, but I'm sure you're very nice to people in your hometown.
Ok, I know it sounds odd. We didnt 'start' counting until after about 5 or 6 people totally ignored us! I mean, rudely ignored us. We are very normal people, my son is very clean cut, we do not look threatening, nor did we look like we were looking for a handout. We had no 'preconceived' ideas, we simply were floored by the rudeness of these people. Not only did they not respond with a smile, nod or anything, they gave us nasty looks.
I am not a hostile person at all, and up until this point in our trip, I was really impressed with the beauty of the area (the prettiest freeways/highways I have ever seen!). We were on a road trip looking at colleges for my son. This was a 14 day driving tour and we stayed in a different city each night, and we got to see MANY different areas. The people in EVERY SINGLE other city, small and large, were much friendlier 'on the whole' than those in CT. That is all I was saying. You can take this personally and get all upset, but that was not my intention.
People in CT are very reserved. They are extremely friendly and genuine once you get to know them. My family is originally from SoCal and I can tell you, people out in CA have a lot of the same characteristics as those in the South - very beat around the bush fake, but incredibly 'nice'. Materialism is rampant in most of the country, but in CT (the state with the highest per capita income) folks are incredibly modest. You know how they say those with money are the last to brag? I find that to be very true.
I'd rather have people not look at me or shoot me a weird look than someone be overly nice yet fake. It's called being real and genuine.
People here are not stupid, as I am sure they detected your lack of genuineness after the 5th or 6th "hello." Also if your hello was followed by something of importance, I'm sure you would have gotten a different response from all 23 people. Your "hellos" were being overly nice and fake - exactly what I hate about California.
I say this in good fun but - what is this great myth out there that the Atlantic states (Tri-State/mid-Atlantic region) of the USA has harsh winter weather on average?
Winter in CT is not harsh. But it is long, gray, and damp.
Summer is humid, and often damp.
Fall is usually fine. When it's not damp.
Spring (in the sense people think of it) is very brief. And damp.
People in CT are very reserved. They are extremely friendly and genuine once you get to know them. My family is originally from SoCal and I can tell you, people out in CA have a lot of the same characteristics as those in the South - very beat around the bush fake, but incredibly 'nice'. Materialism is rampant in most of the country, but in CT (the state with the highest per capita income) folks are incredibly modest. You know how they say those with money are the last to brag? I find that to be very true.
I'd rather have people not look at me or shoot me a weird look than someone be overly nice yet fake. It's called being real and genuine.
People here are not stupid, as I am sure they detected your lack of genuineness after the 5th or 6th "hello." Also if your hello was followed by something of importance, I'm sure you would have gotten a different response from all 23 people. Your "hellos" were being overly nice and fake - exactly what I hate about California.
Ok, this is my last response to this thread because its going nowhere..
This all happened in Shelton, in a shopping center on Bridgeport (I think). There was a great restaurant in there - Metro Grill (if you have never been there - you should go! It was delicious!), there was also a grocery store (Stop & Shop or something like that), I cant remember what else was in the shopping center, but plenty of things.
You have no idea if our hellos were fake, overly nice, or anything. You were not there. I was simply acknowledging their presence by saying HI. Sometimes it was a group of people, not just one person, so its not like we sat there and said HELLO 23 times. Whatever, you know, its really not that important. Im a genuinely nice person, I will continue to say to hi to people I pass on the street, whether I know them or not.
Ok, this is my last response to this thread because its going nowhere..
This all happened in Shelton, in a shopping center on Bridgeport (I think). There was a great restaurant in there - Metro Grill (if you have never been there - you should go! It was delicious!), there was also a grocery store (Stop & Shop or something like that), I cant remember what else was in the shopping center, but plenty of things.
You have no idea if our hellos were fake, overly nice, or anything. You were not there. I was simply acknowledging their presence by saying HI. Sometimes it was a group of people, not just one person, so its not like we sat there and said HELLO 23 times. Whatever, you know, its really not that important. Im a genuinely nice person, I will continue to say to hi to people I pass on the street, whether I know them or not.
Well you turned saying hello into a game. That, IMO, isn't very genuine - but we live in different parts of the country, so what's genuine to a Californian may not be to a Yankee.
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