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I live in Clayton in Glen Laurel and I have also experienced this walking through Riverwood and even the downtown area. People just wave. Some people wave more excitedly than others and I have to stop and think if I actually know them. My neighborhood definitely has a good number of northern transplants. I received many homemade goodies when we moved in or neighbors would just stop by to introduce themselves. Working out in the yard on weekends some days is just not productive with the number of people walking by who stop to chat. I definitely feel more friendliness here than I did in the Boston area.
Forgive me Francios, I was being facetious. What I am expecting when I finally get to my destination in the south, is storybook ridiculous.
But "crowd" is the right term, if you look at the rampant growth rate of this area in the past decade, and the pop density/traffic now compared to even 10 years ago.
Not around here, at least in my experience, and again, that's my point. I am very cordial when walking around the neighborhood or out and about most anyplace else (shopping is probably the notable exception, but even then I am not rude, just tend to prefer to get in and out as quickly as possible as I don't like shopping). With rare exception, I always try to make eye contact and smile and say "hi" - and as I've already said, I rarely get more than a brief, frankly rather insincere looking "hi" barely blurted out - if that - often with scarcely a hint of a smile or warmth. And sometimes I will just look and smile to see if the other person will initiate a greeting - they almost NEVER do. They also almost never initiate the eye contact or a simple smile. PS it's not like I'm a threatening-looking figure. Pretty much yer avg guy.
Oh brother - no offense but please, not the whole "optimist/pessimist" thing; generally I am neither, but rather a realist. I try to look at things as they are; no more, no less. I am making some very plain statements based on observations. I'm fine w/people disagreeing, just my .02.
lol - well at least she was being friendly
Interesting. May I ask very generally what area that is? Maybe I'm just in a "bad" area.
Not that that's saying much (and probably not a very fair comparison, given how much bigger DC is) but I've spent my share of time in DC; coulda fooled me.
Gee why would I take offense to that But making it a point to insult someone as you just did, that's friendly? OK.....
Thanks for backing my point, even if unintentionally.
For groceries, me too. As I said above, shopping (esp groceries) for me is a diff story; I prefer to get in and out as quickly as possible.
Yes, it would seem so. Shame.
May I ask roughly where in N Raleigh? Who knows, maybe I am in just a "bad" area.
I should have been clearer initially, but as I have since explained, I DO do that, and the response has typically been weak, chilly even. Again that was my whole point. I had always heard, stereotypical though it may be, that southerners were more friendly. I'm not seeing it, generally.
No, I purposely stopped bathing and shaving and brushing my teeth for a few days, ate a few cloves of garlic, rolled around in the sewer, then took a stroll.
(hey ask a silly question...)
Good point to bring up: it's very much a mix, but generally couples or small groups walking along w/kids in tow etc.
I could somewhat understand a woman alone having that arm's length - to a point. ie even then IMO it's a rather weak excuse for rudeness; God forbid you simply say hello and smile as someone walks by. It's not like I'm hitting on anyone. Although now that I think of it, I haven't found them to be any less friendly than any other person or groups I've encountered.
We live in NE Raleigh, very close to Rolesville. Very close to the Wake Med North Campus.
I agree with the posters who point out that there are very few real southerners around Rasleigh anymore so the foks you describe are just bringing their yankee traditions of not speaking, etc with them. And for anybody to equate The Real Housewives of Atlanta with anything remotely southern is way off base. There is nothing REAL about that at all. And certainly nothing southern.
I'm from the Atlanta area and people here worry that The Real Housewives of Atlanta show is giving Atlanta a bad image. Atlanta is nothing like that. There was even an article in the paper today about people here don't like the show.
Last edited by staywarm2; 09-09-2009 at 05:57 PM..
Use to be a time everyone waved as they drove or walked by. I saw a decrease in that. However I found that walking through the neighborhood waving to everyone resulted in people starting to wave to you first. I think we have entered a period of expectation that people won't wave so many don't wave first. I think people know I am going to so they either beat me to it or quickly reciprocate.
I found that walking through the neighborhood waving to everyone resulted in people starting to wave to you first. I think we have entered a period of expectation that people won't wave so many don't wave first. I think people know I am going to so they either beat me to it or quickly reciprocate.
Yes, that kind of thing (happily) can be quite contagious and catch on very quick. Even if folks come from somewhere they aren't as friendly, they soon realize that people are NOT in fact crazed psycho stalkers when they wave to you, and eventually pick it up themselves
Ok...for those of you that seem to think the Southerners are not being friendly to you:
At the next meet up, please come. A few of us will get together and we'll analyze you, at no charge.
We'll then determine WHY others are not waving at you!!!
Vicki
LOL! Vicki, I love this idea!!! In fact I think I would pay to hear YOUR analysis of these situations. ROTFL!!!!
Francois, I understand about the "crowding" part. The little rural area that I grew up in was just a dusty little farming and fishing community, where kids could ride their bikes to the store without fear of being run over by a car. Not any more. It's been "discovered" and most of my parents neighbors are relocated from the North. The influx of new folks that want to be part of the community are welcomed.... they add a nice twist on what has always been. But it's hard to see big swaths of land that were in the same family for generations, sold, stripped, gated, and dotted with 500K & up McMansions that look like they belong in Cape Cod, not NC. Not to mention the wild life and coastal destruction that goes along w/ those places.
It's funny, when I was a teenager, like most kids growing up in a small town, we all wanted to get out of there and never come back. Well, now many of us couldn't afford to come back unless our parents gave us their old houses. I know this same story happens in many other places our the country. I just never expected that it would affect my little podunk place.
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But making it a point to insult someone as you just did, that's friendly? OK..... 
Real Housewives of Atlanta
