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I'd say what is wrong with this is stereotyping, OP subjective bias, and illogical and irrational generalization. The opioid epidemic and ODs are certainly in many areas all across the country--a lot of rural areas and the midwest, as well as the west. You have just stereotyped the entire country based on your own biased and subjective experiences? Maybe it is not everyone you've labeled. Maybe it is you.
I have also traveled all over the country as well as having lived in various states. My experiences do not mirror yours. I found many ignorant people spread out across the country, but concentrated in certain areas, though not as much in the NE. I found many bigoted people, but more in certain parts of the country. People are basically as friendly as you are to them. I really could not stand certain parts of the country where people appear to have no sense of humor or knowledge of the outside world. I was constantly amazed, though, at how little people in the more unpopulated West, Midwest and South knew about those outside of their geographical areas or the world in general for that matter.
You are causing this, because it is not an objective fact--it is your subjective value judgments.
Time zones do not determine personality.
Time zones do determine personality aka "local culture"...I come from across the world, by the way, from a place with notoriously unfriendly/rude culture, which was a part of why I had moved away, so I absolutely disagree with you on that. People/their behaviors - as shaped by local cultures - are very different in different regions.
I had not "labeled" every person in the East (re-read my post and title) but noted the higher frequency of rudeness...I have to draw conclusions. Higher frequency does not mean ever single person (you might have noticed I mentioned particularly nice people I met, especially in Southern parts), but there's definitely greatly increased frequency of rude or just unfriendly behaviors. Please don't take it personally....
This is not the only road trip I had done, I had done multiple others earlier (aside from Western states trips, I had done the East coast and the South trips, some Great Plains too), so...nope, it's not "me", it's real life observations.
I have a good joke that relates to this thread. When meeting somebody from the East coast, initially most are assh*les but once you get to know them they are awesome. When meeting somebody from the West coast, initially most are really nice but once you get to know them they are assh*oles. Haha. Some truth to that.
They say this, also about friendships being more real in the East vs. the West (something I stopped buying a while ago, in the East it might be more difficult to even form any kind of friendship connection if you're an "outsider")....but when someone's being a**hole outright in your face...you might not even come to "get to know" them (I'd rather not). It takes long time to really get to know someone... and first impressions do matter.
I've always found people in the West to be more friendlier than in the East, regardless of whether they are in a small town or a big city.
We have plenty of space and nature/rec opportunities, but there's just a different mindset in the East than the West.
A lot of people in small towns don't like outsiders and aren't welcoming - especially if their town isn't known for being a tourist town.
Customer service is awful just about anywhere you go these days. Road rage over really dumb stuff really isn't that weird either. Waving and smiling simply doesn't happen that much anymore.
I find it weird that I live in a town where "being nice" is really "a thing". It's not that other people are super rude elsewhere or in the other suburbs nearby, but in most other places in the area - a lot of people just don't make an effort a lot of the time to be nice - like we all belong to the same community. It's really the view that you are a consumer and you are coming into consume products and then you'll be leaving again. The town I live in still sees itself as a small town and that the people we meet and encounter are our neighbors, not people coming in to go the local mall or big box stores and then leave again.
A lot of young people simply aren't taught to respect their elders - or anyone - for that matter. That's really the heart of a lot of problems these days - though nobody wants to actually call it out. A lot of us try to teach our kids not to be jerks to other people, but the culture is really self-centered.
Anecdotally, I have encountered more rude people who belong to the boomer generation than any other. Oh Poor Karen can’t use her coupon at the department store and the clerk is going to hear about it! 🤣
Weird thing is that a lot of folks were very nice (and older, 50 and up people seemed to be all nice)...but when someone was rude, they were really rude/unfriendly in just way-out-there way. Kind of that leaves you wonder... "what was that??? and why?" Something I might expect from stressed out big city resident from a crowded neighborhood....not from supposedly peaceful small town place.
I had farmers invite me to stay on their farm as a guest, in Midwest, been called sweetie and honey in Missouri, strangers waived at me as I was unpacking my car deep in Eastern Kentucky hills. And then...when you don't expect...comes that mad road rage guy or mean store clerk and that in a safe low-crime area. It came to the point that in some places I just didn't want to explore the area any more feeling uncomfortable about potential new encounters....as after all, I'm an "outsider".
I have spent a little over half the year in the West and a bit under half the year in New York for most of the last 10 years or so.
Apart from New Yorkers and other easterners being a bit blunt, I don't really see much of a difference, especially outside the big cities. Maybe there is less saccharine-sweet, "I'm your best friend you just met!" back east. People can be a bit colder, for sure. But reservedness and rudeness are two dfferent things in my opinion.
People in the Northeast are not going to fawn over you and make you feel like the most special person in the room just because you are new.
In the state of New York (rural, upstate) people seemed outwardly polite, such as, for example, saying "sorry" all the time in public places when they slightly crossed someone's personal space (not even bumped). The entire area seems to be extremely fast paced, and can see how people can easily blow up in this kind of fast paced and crowded environment (yes, in Upstate NY, it's very fast and crowded too).
Outside the Northeast, or Mid-Atlantic for that matter, in the East in general, people aren't going to fawn over you if you're new either, you'd just be an outsider, I heard it's impossible to "break-in". May be through some church, though.
After moving to the States, I lived in the West for about 17 years and about 8 years total in the East, various parts of it, long time ago, from Deep South, to VA, to NYC. Outsider thing is very real in the East, I think.
I wonder if what I experienced was (in part) treatment of outsiders....out of state plates from far away and accent, and not dressed like locals. I did notice in one place at farmer's market how the seller was just ignoring me and talking to a local and greeting more local customers who came up, it got frustrating and I just walked away not wanting to interrupt their conversation....just very unusual.
Actually, it's quite simple. The west was populated by people who moved there from the east. People who move are more aware of the value of friendliness to strangers, so they practice it themselves. Those remaining the the east retained their suspicion of strangers, because they were never strangers themselves.
I think it’s more about the pace of urban life. The Northeast is more urban than most of the country. They’re not rude. They’re in a hurry. Rural northern New England isn’t like that.
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