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Yes, except it’s not only being friendly to people passing on the streets. It’s just about being friendly and polite in general. I’m sorry for any confusion, and no, it’s definitely not a southern thing. People in the North are too polite.
I currently live in a neighborhood in Cary/Morrisville where the residents are predominantly Indian. With the polite greetings in passing, it's been very hit-or-miss (mostly misses for over a year).
My kids go to school with their kids, though, so the kids often act as an icebreaker for the parents (as is the case in the majority of American society, I suspect ).
I think what he (OP) meant to say was that considering some Indians who were raised in India are insular and maybe are not friendly to just everyone passing on the street (maybe that’s their culture) - then that creates a negative attitude towards Indians in general. He brought up that neighbor thing as an example. OP was raised in the US so he has the same American values like saying hi to everyone, neighbors, etc. or is that a southern thing lol!
I find this to be pretty accurate. I rented a condo in Morrisville for over a year when I first moved here from Atlanta. I had Indian neighbors EVERYWHERE. None of them ever spoke to or acknowledged me, even if I initiated; when they had dinners or get-togethers, it was an all Indian affair. It's true that they can be very exclusive.
I moved to Cary and have been there about four years now; when I first moved there, it was mostly caucasian and a sprinkle of Asians and African-Americans. The community itself was less than five years old at the time. Literally within one year, the entire community has been dominated by Indians. But like another poster said, apparently they come here for tech jobs, and my community is near RTP.
I've smile and nodded in passing to several over the years, and only got dismissive looks. The few that returned my greeting looked to be maybe twenty-ish; in fact, one of the girls was VERY friendly and chatty. She said she worked in tech, and had just purchased a new Mercedes Benz. One night a few weeks later, I was trying to pull into a parking space next to her car, but it was bit tight; I didn't realize she was actually in it until she jumped out apologizing for being too close to the white line, and said she'd pull back out and straighten up so I could get in more comfortably. I think the younger generation that have been mostly raised in the states are naturally more friendly.
Americans as a culture are just more open, friendly people, but of course there are exceptions. I remember watching a documentary about British culture, and one man said in an interview, "Why are Americans always so bloody HAPPY?!!!"
My parents came to the US from India and my siblings and I were born and raised in the Triangle. Below are not generalizations, but my personal observations and perspectives
My parents came to the US/NC in the 70s and at that time the Indian community in the Triangle was very small. As a result, you had to assimilate quickly. You quickly befriended neighbors and entrusted strangers because you had no family/close friends to rely on, while also balancing the cultural differences and customs. In America, it is common to smile at and even keep eye contact with strangers, and we learned to adapt. In other countries it can be an uncomfortable interaction. (this article explains it well https://www.theatlantic.com/science/...o-much/524967/). Growing up here, we took on a lot of the customs of the west. Putting up a Christmas Tree, eating meat, and personally I don't speak the native language. With companies like Nortel and IBM in the 70s-early 90s bringing a lot of high-paying tech jobs, folks relocated from across the US. (Not saying all immigrants from India were educated). Soon we began to build a large network of Indians, and set the foundation for the what we see today in the Triangle. At the time, Indians lived all over the Triangle and weren't centralized in one area. Over time the community began to consolidate over Western Wake County as it was closer to their jobs and places of worship. Today most of those that came in the 70s are retiring, and have relocated to Western Wake and have kids that may have also relocated to this side of the Triangle.
More recently (90s-present), we've had larger influxes of Indian immigrants. They are either educated workers from throughout India that eventually or they are the relatives (educated or otherwise) of the earlier Indian community that received approval via US Immigration to come here. With the more established community, it became easier to pass on the language, exhibit your culture, and spend time among folks of similar backgrounds. Western Wake Indians still have to assimilate, but with a larger community not all are as quick to take on all-American qualities. I think many traditionally European enclaves up North were like this in the larger cities. These communities drew newly immigrated folks from a particular area of Europe as they set up life in a new country. Eventually these neighborhoods lost their insular nature as future generations assimilated and broke free of these neighborhoods. What's different here is that the neighborhoods in the northern cities were mostly low-income while the Western Wake area is more affluent. Not sure if that lends itself to more or less cultural conflict, but putting that out there.
I think the OP was just making sure that since there are many Indians in Western Wake that continue to exhibit Indian or foreign etiquette...if that was a point of contention. I assume he/she was doing what they could to put their best foot forward to assimilate vs. offending the non-Indian community.
Last edited by JQ Public; 12-29-2017 at 01:49 PM..
Many American contractors, particularly the independent tradesmen, just flat-out will not work with Indians. The Americans who are any good at what they do are busy enough, they will decline to struggle with a cultural norm of endless negotiation, and too much negotiation merely for the sport of it.
Negotiation doesn't bother me much. It is a good training ground.
But, for many Americans, endless negotiation after a contract is struck is often perceived as a core integrity issue and a strong irritant.
That seems to be different perception of the process, and can be detrimental to the Indian client reaching their goals.
Growing up, negotiating was always a point of contention between my parents and I, but I have learned to embrace it...just not to the extreme. I sometimes wonder if it is an ego thing when we negotiate vs. us actually being offensive by negotiating. All people negotiate.
I find this to be pretty accurate. I rented a condo in Morrisville for over a year when I first moved here from Atlanta. I had Indian neighbors EVERYWHERE. None of them ever spoke to or acknowledged me, even if I initiated; when they had dinners or get-togethers, it was an all Indian affair. It's true that they can be very exclusive.
I moved to Cary and have been there about four years now; when I first moved there, it was mostly caucasian and a sprinkle of Asians and African-Americans. The community itself was less than five years old at the time. Literally within one year, the entire community has been dominated by Indians. But like another poster said, apparently they come here for tech jobs, and my community is near RTP.
I've smile and nodded in passing to several over the years, and only got dismissive looks. The few that returned my greeting looked to be maybe twenty-ish; in fact, one of the girls was VERY friendly and chatty. She said she worked in tech, and had just purchased a new Mercedes Benz. One night a few weeks later, I was trying to pull into a parking space next to her car, but it was bit tight; I didn't realize she was actually in it until she jumped out apologizing for being too close to the white line, and said she'd pull back out and straighten up so I could get in more comfortably. I think the younger generation that have been mostly raised in the states are naturally more friendly.
Americans as a culture are just more open, friendly people, but of course there are exceptions. I remember watching a documentary about British culture, and one man said in an interview, "Why are Americans always so bloody HAPPY?!!!"
Odd. My neighbor told me that my community used to have a lot of people with an Indian background, and most of them moved out in the past years. Maybe they moved to your community
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