Courtesy vs caring (Knoxville, Loudon, Charleston: transplants, 2015, new home)

[Marsh man]

Hello. My wife and I are considering Eastern Tennessee as our new home in the next year or so. Planning a couple of quick trips this summer to drive around and get a feel for the communities.
Over the years I had a fair amount of business travel to the Atlanta GA area and found the people to be generally more courteous than here in CA. But nowhere were we ever treated so nice as when we visited my son when he was stationed in Oklahoma. We have never seen so many open and unassuming folks as we did there. It was a great experience.
Now I know this is subjective, but I wonder if we will find that same behavior in the smaller towns of eastern TN? Its one thing to treat folks with courtesy, but its another thing to treat a stranger as if they have as much value as a person as anyone else in town.

[hiknapster]

You will find most people in Knoxville are not only courteous but also caring.

[linnemj]

Courtesy and caring are such subjective terms that they are difficult to measure. I can give you a few of my experiences since moving here in July of 2015.

The Knoxville area gives generously to good causes. I collect for our church group for people with developmental disabilities outside a Walmart several times a year and am amazed how many people contribute to this cause. I have also noticed that fund raisers get great response in this area.

A opinion on courtesy depends a lot on where and how you were raised. I think that people here are very courteous and have good manners. They are polite and treat people well. Of course, you can always find some exceptions. Compared to larger cities in the NE where we have lived, they are exceptionally courteous. People will stop to assist other people with tire changes, etc. here.

The only place people were more courteous drivers was the Pittsburgh area. In Pittsburgh, people almost always let people out in traffic and drive much more friendly. That is something to work on in this area!

[NYS2Tennessee]

Originally Posted by linnemj

Courtesy and caring are such subjective terms that they are difficult to measure. I can give you a few of my experiences since moving here in July of 2015.

The Knoxville area gives generously to good causes. I collect for our church group for people with developmental disabilities outside a Walmart several times a year and am amazed how many people contribute to this cause. I have also noticed that fund raisers get great response in this area.

A opinion on courtesy depends a lot on where and how you were raised. I think that people here are very courteous and have good manners. They are polite and treat people well. Of course, you can always find some exceptions. Compared to larger cities in the NE where we have lived, they are exceptionally courteous. People will stop to assist other people with tire changes, etc. here.

The only place people were more courteous drivers was the Pittsburgh area. In Pittsburgh, people almost always let people out in traffic and drive much more friendly. That is something to work on in this area!

See, I probably seem like an uncourteous driver here lol but I am so used to cars edging out into traffic, then letting them in. I genuinely don't notice when cars are trying to pull out here most of the time because they are so far back from the road still. It feels like drivers here wait for an invitation, I'm used to much more aggressive driving.

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by linnemj

The only place people were more courteous drivers was the Pittsburgh area. In Pittsburgh, people almost always let people out in traffic and drive much more friendly. That is something to work on in this area!

Originally Posted by NYS2Tennessee

See, I probably seem like an uncourteous driver here lol but I am so used to cars edging out into traffic, then letting them in. I genuinely don't notice when cars are trying to pull out here most of the time because they are so far back from the road still. It feels like drivers here wait for an invitation, I'm used to much more aggressive driving.

THIS!

The majority of people in the area, I feel, are very timid. I've been stuck behind people like that so many times. They won't even let people know that they are trying to get out in traffic.

I've lived in New England and Florida. I never saw anyone let drivers into traffic on a regular basis like they do around here. It's amazing. In Southwest Florida, if you try to let people into traffic they get aggressive.

I was driving in the Carolinas, last month, and I was astounded. There are a lot of transplants around there. If I put on my directional and tried to move into another lane, the drivers would speed up and not let me in. I forgot how rude people can be. I was almost in a few accidents because, hey, I'm from the Northeast and you aren't going to play that with me.

[SkyNSea55]

Hiknapster you got that right! Living in a Charleston SC burb now, I had to relearn my NJ driving skills. After living in Loudon TN for almost 10 years, I had forgotten what aggressive driving was all about. Knoxville area drivers are definately a kinder bunch.

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by SkyNSea55

Hiknapster you got that right! Living in a Charleston SC burb now, I had to relearn my NJ driving skills. After living in Loudon TN for almost 10 years, I had forgotten what aggressive driving was all about. Knoxville area drivers are definately a kinder bunch.

YES! Frankly, I love driving so I was having a BLAST! It's far too easy to swoop in and around traffic around here. It took me a minute to realize that I was going to get SEVERE pushback from folks over there.

I'll never understand that thinking, either. I'm a great driver, but if someone wants to move into a lane, why speed up? People like that are going to give themselves a stroke.

[NYS2Tennessee]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

YES! Frankly, I love driving so I was having a BLAST! It's far too easy to swoop in and around traffic around here. It took me a minute to realize that I was going to get SEVERE pushback from folks over there.

I'll never understand that thinking, either. I'm a great driver, but if someone wants to move into a lane, why speed up? People like that are going to give themselves a stroke.

Haha see, I never speed up to avoid letting people in, that's just mean! But I think my idea of leaving enough space and time is still drastically different than that of those that learned to drive here. I guess I'm a work in progress.
I notice a lot more distracted driving here though, I assume its the difference in cellphone laws while driving. So I get frustrated when I'm trying to let someone out or waiting behind someone and they're more interested in their cellphone then driving. Again, I'm a work in progress

[JOinGA]

Originally Posted by NYS2Tennessee

Haha see, I never speed up to avoid letting people in, that's just mean! But I think my idea of leaving enough space and time is still drastically different than that of those that learned to drive here. I guess I'm a work in progress.
I notice a lot more distracted driving here though, I assume its the difference in cellphone laws while driving. So I get frustrated when I'm trying to let someone out or waiting behind someone and they're more interested in their cellphone then driving. Again, I'm a work in progress

I will avoid letting people in if there is roadwork and they want to speed all the way up the closed lane as far as possible and try to get over at the last minute, basically cutting in front of everyone else. Is that mean?

[geranium]

Originally Posted by JOinGA

I will avoid letting people in if there is roadwork and they want to speed all the way up the closed lane as far as possible and try to get over at the last minute, basically cutting in front of everyone else. Is that mean?

No, it's not mean. It's a common sense approach to the treatment of the entitled.

Now, if we could just block those full-basket folk out of the '15-item or less' checkout lanes.