Where does it come from?

[Notaguru2]

Being from the South, we're generally laid back, slow talking, hospitable people. When I speak to people from the Northeast, I feel an angst to them like none that I experience anywhere else. Even small talk conversations are laced with a tinge of rudeness. What gives? Are Northerners perpetually pissed off? Am I reading them wrong?

On the other hand, when I visit a restaurant or something in say, New York, the servers are generally fascinated with my accent and insist on me talking endlessly.

What is so different between the northern and southern cultures?

 

[B_starinvestor]

Being from the South, we're generally laid back, slow talking, hospitable people. When I speak to people from the Northeast, I feel an angst to them like none that I experience anywhere else. Even small talk conversations are laced with a tinge of rudeness. What gives? Are Northerners perpetually pissed off? Am I reading them wrong?

On the other hand, when I visit a restaurant or something in say, New York, the servers are generally fascinated with my accent and insist on me talking endlessly.

What is so different between the northern and southern cultures?

For one, people in the north are always in a hurry and overload their schedules so as not to leave 30 seconds opened in the day to dillydally with anything.

For two, their are way more transients in the Northeast, so the tight-knit communities of the south or even midwest are not prevalent..you don't run into 20 people you know at the grocery store. Thus people are less conciliatory.

 

[nudeyorker]

I think one of the biggest things is that in NYC we walk the way people in other communities drive, so you will encounter something like sidewalk rage if you don't know how to maneuver the streets and keep traffic going.
I moved to NYC from LA and the first couple of years I thought people were so mean...but I've learned that New Yorkers are just more to the point than elsewhere, If they ask a yes or no question, they want an yes or no answer...not the story of your life.
For the most part I think NY people are nice, but I am friends with nice people and you can just put the rest on "ignore!"
I really only tend to notice it when I have returned from somewhere where people are really really nice!

 

[B_625girth]

i find it is not so much north vs south, but small, rural type communities vs metropolitan areas. I was a bill collector for the telco, and being from a small city of 45k in a rural area, I found I could get along with both types. our collections were down in the area of southern Illinois, and other reps were not getting it done. so they gave it to me, after 6 months the "unpaid balance" carry over was way down. a lot of it was just calling folks up, listening, give them a day or two extra to pay, which was against the company policies for the most part. I established a repoire with folks, but it was also important to establish don't take my kindness as a weakness. I was the exception to managment policies so they weren't too happy with me, but the numbers looked great. and when I transferred to another dept, i got a mixed review.

 

[Mem]

I get the impression that people who do things slowly are mildly retarded.

 

[D_Brecock Evileye]

I get the impression that people who do things slowly are mildly retarded.

I think the ladys on this site would argue that doing things slowly is a sign of skill and an abilaty to realy enjoy and get the most out of what you are doing.:biggrin1:

 

[arktrucker]

I get the impression that people who do things slowly are mildly retarded.

Mem.. you really don't want to start that, do you?

I had a delivery one time on Long Island. It occured to me that in one of the apartment buildings there were more people living than in my whole town. How can you live like that.

 

[Steve26]

I agree with 625girth that it's more a rural/urban thing. I work close to Boston but live in New Hampshire, and there's a marked difference in how people behave toward each other in the two places (only 35 miles apart). And in this case it's the "southerners" who are the rude and aggressive ones. :smile:

Steve

 

[crescendo69]

I get the impression that people who do things slowly are mildly retarded.

I.....................................................................
resent.............................................................
that.

 

[Phil Ayesho]

For two, their are way more transients in the Northeast, so the tight-knit communities of the south or even midwest are not prevalent..you don't run into 20 people you know at the grocery store. Thus people are less conciliatory.

I think Star has nailed this on the head.

Most Southerners I know spent their first 16 years or more in the same town.

Most Northerners I know had moved at least once or twice in that time.

Myself... we moved 4 times.

 

[parchissi]

You mentioned accents.....when I was living in the US for several years, and having a strong Australian/NewZealand accent, I was CONSTANTLY being asked to.......just speak, just say something......we LOVE your accent. I found the whole deal quite a drag and got sick of it actually, and thought people who aked me to just say something.....as if I was not a human being but some freak!!!!.....very rude and inconsiderate. Some one just said to me once - well why don't you speak AMERICAN.......and that really got my goat up!!! So chaps, when you hear a foreign accent that you like to listen to - enjoy it - BUT please!!!! Don't ask the person to just keep talking because you love their accent!!

 

[Notaguru2]

Well, I'm an Atlanta native and while you could argue that Atlanta is a melting pot, its far and away more friendly than NYC or Boston. I lived in rural and metro places in the South... its the same type of people. I known people in NYC, upstate NY, Boston, Philly and so on... they're just different it seems.

Hell, Chicago is one of my favorite places on Earth and its a hospitable town as well.

I'm sure of it... Northeasterners are pissed about something - they just won't reveal it. :biggrin1:

 

[Notaguru2]

You mentioned accents.....when I was living in the US for several years, and having a strong Australian/NewZealand accent, I was CONSTANTLY being asked to.......just speak, just say something......we LOVE your accent. I found the whole deal quite a drag and got sick of it actually, and thought people who aked me to just say something.....as if I was not a human being but some freak!!!!.....very rude and inconsiderate. Some one just said to me once - well why don't you speak AMERICAN.......and that really got my goat up!!! So chaps, when you hear a foreign accent that you like to listen to - enjoy it - BUT please!!!! Don't ask the person to just keep talking because you love their accent!!

I have an Aussie friend as well. He gets all the crocodile dundee shit too and it drives him nuts. I feel sorry for Aussies.

 

[Skull Mason]

come to new jersey motherfucka n get your face stepped on. 2012.

 

[Notaguru2]

come to new jersey motherfucka n get your face stepped on. 2012.

LOL. Damn skull - haven't a post from you in some time.

 

[D_Brecock Evileye]

You mentioned accents.....when I was living in the US for several years, and having a strong Australian/NewZealand accent, I was CONSTANTLY being asked to.......just speak, just say something......we LOVE your accent. I found the whole deal quite a drag and got sick of it actually, and thought people who aked me to just say something.....as if I was not a human being but some freak!!!!.....very rude and inconsiderate. Some one just said to me once - well why don't you speak AMERICAN.......and that really got my goat up!!! So chaps, when you hear a foreign accent that you like to listen to - enjoy it - BUT please!!!! Don't ask the person to just keep talking because you love their accent!!

I can relate to this. People in my own country but from the north have done this to me. It is strange, but I didnt take offence. :redface:

 

[Steve26]

For two, their are way more transients in the Northeast, so the tight-knit communities of the south or even midwest are not prevalent..you don't run into 20 people you know at the grocery store. Thus people are less conciliatory.

This theory didn't sound quite right to me, since when I think of "transient" I think of booming Sunbelt cities like Atlanta, Houston, Orlando, and Tampa. Also, I vaguely recalled hearing a news report to the contrary not long ago.

So I poked around online for a few minutes and found this report from the U.S. Census Bureau saying that in 2007 "the Northeast had the lowest moving rate (9 percent), followed by the Midwest (13 percent), the South (14 percent) and the West (15 percent)."

This also led me to a Pew report issued just a few weeks ago saying that 36 percent of Southerners live in their hometown, compared to 38 percent in the Northeast.

So I don't know that we can logically attribute northern "hostility," if you will, to a lack of rootedness.

Steve

 

[B_starinvestor]

This theory didn't sound quite right to me, since when I think of "transient" I think of booming Sunbelt cities like Atlanta, Houston, Orlando, and Tampa. Also, I vaguely recalled hearing a news report to the contrary not long ago.

So I poked around online for a few minutes and found this report from the U.S. Census Bureau saying that in 2007 "the Northeast had the lowest moving rate (9 percent), followed by the Midwest (13 percent), the South (14 percent) and the West (15 percent)."

This also led me to a Pew report issued just a few weeks ago saying that 36 percent of Southerners live in their hometown, compared to 38 percent in the Northeast.

So I don't know that we can logically attribute northern "hostility," if you will, to a lack of rootedness.

Steve

There are more ethnicities in NYC and Boston than any city I've ever seen, including LA and San Fran. I'm not talking minorities, I'm talking different ethnicities.

Maybe transients wasn't the correct term...but cultural differences...more cultural differences in the Northeast than anywhere else, especially the south.

 

[D_Prudence_Admonition_Drightits]

This theory didn't sound quite right to me, since when I think of "transient" I think of booming Sunbelt cities like Atlanta, Houston, Orlando, and Tampa. Also, I vaguely recalled hearing a news report to the contrary not long ago.

So I poked around online for a few minutes and found this report from the U.S. Census Bureau saying that in 2007 "the Northeast had the lowest moving rate (9 percent), followed by the Midwest (13 percent), the South (14 percent) and the West (15 percent)."

This also led me to a Pew report issued just a few weeks ago saying that 36 percent of Southerners live in their hometown, compared to 38 percent in the Northeast.

So I don't know that we can logically attribute northern "hostility," if you will, to a lack of rootedness.

Steve

Thanks for bringing up those stats because the theory of Southerns not moving around as much didn't sound right. I have always lived in southern towns with huge military bases so the population is transient.

My job requires me to travel and I have no doubt that there is a difference in attitude between the regions; but, as mentioned earlier I think the size of the town/population may also be a factor.

 

[Mem]

We were discussing how southerner react or move slower, not that they change residences less often. :biggrin1: