OK, my votes go to the French and the Americans... though I have met friendly people of every nationality, wherever I have been. <BR> <BR>One of the best things about the USA, especially compared with UK, is the service. Not only do all service staff do their jobs well, courteously and with a smile, it is very clear that they are genuinely friendly. There have been so many examples. When we were in Arizona last time, and stopped in a little diner I changed my sunglasses for my normal glasses leaving my regular ones on the table. And then we left. Now you should know these are strong prescription sunglasses, were brand new at the time, and had cost me nearly £250 UK. Our waitress when she noticed came running outside, just as we were pulling out of the car park, and _ran_ after us to make sure we got them. And for all she knew they were 4.99 from Woolworths... <BR> <BR>I cant say we have had any extreme cases in the US like people taking us in or going out of their way, but the friendliness of people has been a tonic. In the UK staff in shops and restaurants and theme parks can be so miserable it is almost contagious. <BR> <BR>And the French: I did a french exchange trip at school when I was about 16. And Agnes ("Annyes") and I hit it off and are still firm friends. On that first visit I not only met her immediate family but also all her aunts and uncles and cousins, most of whom live in the surrounding villages. <BR> <BR>A few of them I met again in visits over the years but many of them I didnt meet again. When Pete and I got married in 94 Agnes and her immediate family came and I was touched that her dad videoed the whole thing. <BR> <BR>When we went to Agnes and Sylvain's wedding last summer I finally met again some of those relatives I hadnt seen for 11 - 12 years. And everyone of them had watched my wedding video and remembered me and took real care of us. Having never even met Pete they kind of "knew" him. <BR> <BR>Not only did we have a fantastic time at this small and intimate and very french wedding but it renewed again my deep love of the French. <BR> <BR>Kavey

two places to comment on---first NYC---about 10 years ago i was sent to NYC by the company I was working for for three weeks. i worked in the manhattan office during that time. while there i had to go out to meet with clients on my own. the first day or two i was completely lost of course. one morning i was standing on a corner (looking lost no doubt). a very nice man walked up to me and said, "what are you looking for?" I told him and he pointed it out to me and sent me off in the right direction. that was before the crime was cleaned up. i have been told since then that the thing with new yorkers is, they don't mind helping you the first time, but they lose patience if you don't get it the first time. <BR> <BR>other than that story i have always found the french very helpful. once in paris we had gone out to versailles. coming back to paris we got on the wrong train. about half way back we realized we were not going to end up where we thought we would in paris. so we were looking at our subway maps trying to figure out how to get to the place we wanted to go. a very nice french lady came over and helped up find the way on the map. then when we got into the station we needed to change at, she got off the train and walked up to the platform we needed to go to.

The Thai women are VERY, VERY friendly. VERY, VERY, VERY, friendly.

I have to agree with some of the above posters that I have met absolutely friendly people that restore your faith in humanity in every country I've been in-from the Italian waiters in Holland who gave us free ice cream to the Spanish woman who invited us into her house to two charming Scottish street singers in Munich. I don't think it's a nationality thing-it has to do with human nature. <BR> That said, I want to add something about NYC. Last year a few weeks before Christmas I was taking a friend from out of town to do the tourist thing-window shopping down Fifth Avenue. To our dismay, it started raining. A well dressed man in front of us was carrying two umberellas-one in a package and one under his arm. Giggling, I turned to my friend and whispered what I thought was quietly, "Why does that guy have two umberellas?" I should mention that my friend was one of those neurotics who didn't even want to come to the city for fear of being mugged. The poor guy must have heard me, because he turned around. My friend started almost running to get by him, as though he was going to accost us. He then said, noting our wet state, "I just bought this other umberella. Would you like mine?" I was so mortified that he had heard me, and of my friend's fright. I gratefully accepted the umberella. I'll never forget that. <BR> Thanks for all the posts!! Hearing about Random Acts of Kindness really made my day!!

Wow, how inspiring to read about peoples positive experiences. I must admit that one of the reasons I keep on taking trips is because there are so many extraordinary people out there. I must say that the people of Salzburg Austria went out of there way to help us when we killed our rental car, one gentleman helped to push it out of a busy street (it was raining too!) and another young sales girl called Hertz and gave us money for a bus to the train depot then took care of our returning the dead rental... Both of these people would take nothing in return.. Then there was the French lady who helped me fing the right shuttle, The British guys who helped my girlfriend and I find a B & B late at night during a busy bank holdiay weekend. Then the young French student who gave my broke girlfriend and I an inpromtu tour of Paris one Sunday afternoon and bought us coffee as well. Everywhere we go there are people who melt my heart! Keep these posts coming.

I find the Greeks among the friendliest people anywhere. Once, in Thessaloniki, my friends (male and female) and I asked a man for directions. He not only gave them, he walked us two blocks to the cafe--and then insisted on buying us coffee! Greek guides have invited me to meet their grandmothers and families. I love them!

Dear Topper: <BR>You have a blessed mission in life. Whether you are one or many, you find la creme de la creme here and bring it on up and up. In real life, I am a true therapist, and I hear stories frequently of how things work out for people...they are at the right time and right place, experiencing some kind of risk they've taken, and lo and behold, they are taken under a wing, by chance... or by some mysterious design? <BR> <BR>Perhaps this is a reverse of the question, because it has to do with how we were friends to strangers out in the Verdon, that canyon in France with turquoise waters. The winds came up wicked on what was an otherwise calm day, me, my husband and sister-in-law and we are out on the water, trying to pedal the pedal-o back with all our might and spied a family of 4 in a blow up boat. The husband big and rowing with all his might (and getting nowhere), the wife stark white with panic and two small children crying in the middle. The mother/parent called out to her and asked if they might want a tow back to the docking point and a frantic nod of the head answered yes. So it came to be that we towed a German family of 4 back to land. Other boaters tried to tag along onto us, but they were just joking. Well, it felt real good to help them out and be brief friends to people that we will probably never see again. <BR> <BR>Scanning the Waters, <BR>Dr. Fordor

Greeks were very very freindly in my expereince.

Long ago--the people on Lindos in Rhodes were the friendliest I'd ever met anywhere. I don't know whether it is still like that.