“New Yorkers are so RUDE!!” was something I heard over and over when I made the decision to move here. And, when I first got here, I thought my friends back home were right! In Oklahoma people are openly friendly and welcoming (for the most part), and when two people make eye contact, a smile or wave is considered normal. That is not the case here. People like to keep to themselves and carry on their business with little or no interference from others, this includes smiling. I got so offended by their cold demeanor in my first few weeks here and swore I would never lose my southern hospitality and act like them. That is, until I learned why they put on such a rough look. Dealing with the large groups of people all day, everyday, is tiring! It would be hard to smile at every person on the street you make eye contact with, so it just becomes natural to not smile. Also, there is a great number of scam artists in the city and if you look inviting, they will pounce on you with a clever scheme to get your money. And, as I’ve mentioned before, the locals get really tired of dealing with clueless tourists, so if they look like they don’t want to be approached, it will help keep others away. For the most part, the people here are just as friendly as the people at home, they just take a little longer to warm up.
Different strokes for different folks
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April 26, 2010 at 1:38 am |
I used to live in New York when I was younger. I lived near Albany and I do remember people not being super nice or friendly. Then last year when I was going to NYC with AdClub I heard this again. New Yorkers are rude and mean. For the most part that is true and for most of the reasons you stated in your post. I do agree, however when me and my group looked lost and in despair we had plenty of people come up to us and ask if we needed assistance. I found that so amazing. New York is not Oklahoma and will never be but there are nice people everywhere willing to help. I am glad you brought to light that New Yorkers are just rude because they are mean people, but because they deal with a in their day to day lives from scam artists, crowds and stressful lives.