Mind Your Manners!
 

Do you think the people in your own community have better manners than the people you encounter on your trips.

When my British friends come to visit us in Southern California, they are always in awe at "how cheerful and polite" everyone is. I explained that it is because we have fab weather all year round, parking lots at the supermarkets and parking garages attached to our homes. Your thoughts...

Good question, Calamari.

My thought is that if we were always in unfamiliar surroundings, disoriented, excited and behind schedule we would behave like tourists.

Excellent point!

Qutote "When my British friends come to visit us in Southern California, they are always in awe at "how cheerful and polite" everyone is."

Hmmm, I've noticed this too and simply assumed that they were really stoned or just dimwitted, or both. After all, these are the same poeple who elected G. Davis as govenor.

"After all, these are the same poeple who elected G. Davis as govenor.'

Unfortunately for California voters, the Republican candidate last year (Mr. Simple Simon) was even worse. They were easily the two biggest losers to ever run for public office in one election. Of course, if the recall goes through, we'll have 123 idiots running for office. This is why my mai tai consumption rises dramatically during election years.
((H))

I live in a small city in Oregon. When strangers pass each other in the street, we almost always smile and say hi. We also exchange friendly greetings with clerks in stores. Relatives from the east coast always comment on how friendly everyone is here. I tend to behave this way when I go to other places as well, although I don't always get a positive--or any--response. I found people to be like this in California, also. Maybe it's all the mai tais they drink...

I think midwesterners are particularly friendly, too. And actually, I remember when i moved down to DC from NYC and was floored that someone actually helped wave us into a parking space in Georgetown. :)
But Calamari, the phrase that seems to put the biggest smile on my California co-workers' faces is "Valet Parking."

Dont forget the good Old South..I live in Texas now...People here are pretty friendly also, they smile when you pass by, which is great especially if you have a bad day.
There is nothing more comforting when you are down to have a stranger smiles at You....A smile a day keep the melancholy away...:):):)

Friendliness/Manners is one of my favorite topics, partly because I think I have an unsual perspective on it.

I grew up in Oklahoma and, while my hometown is a nice, medium-sized, college town, my parents grew up in a small Oklahoma town (pop. 1500) and retain many of their "small-town" ways. I mean, my dad is *constantly* waving and smiling at people (strangers, mind you) on the street, having conversations w/ people at the supermarket and the mall, etc. A task that should take him, say, an hour to accomplish, invariably ends up taking two because he spends so much of his time socializing with every Tom, Dick and Harry he comes across. Now, mind you, this is normal for Oklahoma. This is the culture here. People here (and I think, in the south in general) are just this way and they're lovely, sincere, down-to-earth folks who I am proud to call my neighbors.

However, when I was 18, I moved to New York City, where I ended up living for several years. Talk about one extreme to another! Those New Yorkers were tough nuts to crack! It was very different there and, eventually, I could spot a tourist from a mile away, many times because of how nice and polite they tended to be.

Interestingly enough, ALL of my friends in New York at one time or another have asked me a variation on the question, "Are all people from Oklahoma as friendly as you are?" The only other people in my circle whose "niceness" is/was commented on as much as mine was were the 6 or 7 Irish guys and gals in our group. Now those were some lovely, kind human beings!

Jennie :)

The people in the south are indeed polite and friendly--at least here in small town Alabama, and we attach great importance to teaching our children manners. After all, courtesy is just a matter of making life more pleasant and easier for others.

""Are all people from Oklahoma as friendly as you are?"

Jennie, I was in Norman about six years ago to watch my alma mater San Diego State get whacked by Oklahoma in football. Our group had the best time because the Oklahoma fans made us feel so at home. If you have to get beat on a road trip, that was the place for it.
((H))

Tom:

Hey, that's great! Norman is, indeed my home town. I'm glad you had a good time here. Us Sooners try to beat the hell out of everyone in a nice way! Ha-Ha!

Jennie :)

Yeah, Southern Californians are cheerful and polite until they get behind the wheel of a car then they become real jerks. I warn all visitors to So. Cal to be very careful at intersections because of the nasty habit drivers have here of running red lights.

Yes, there are a few CA drivers who treat red lights as "Floor It!!" instead of "stop". What's more upsetting is the larger number of drivers who treat stop signs as a mere suggestion. I'm seeing that more and more throughout the country-- but in CA, especially in the southern part, it's epidemic.

Most people in need know to be polite when requesting help. Therefore, by nature, tourists asking for directions or assistance of some sort are usually polite.

Conversely, interupt a busy person anywhere and you don't always get a polite response.

Still, there are too many complications to make assumptions about either the manners of tourists or locals.

Diablo
Ouch! Did you really have to drag Davis into this? Dude, what a buzz kill! We soon just may have Arnold Shwarteneger (sp?) for gov. and surely that will get this party started!

Maitaitom. You live in S.D.? You mix the drinks and I'll bring the Frutti de Mare pasta.

"Maitaitom. You live in S.D.? You mix the drinks and I'll bring the Frutti de Mare pasta."

Actually I live in the L.A. area, but many of my old college buddies still live in S.D. area. We're all avid Padre, Charger and Aztec fans (or as some people would say, masochists), so I come down to get my sports' fix.

As for mixing drinks, we are all San Diego State grads, so we are much more adept at bartending than most college educated people. Unfortunately, our education "might" have suffered.
((H))

I am one of the few true California natives, born and raised in L.A. - Malibu to be exact...until college.

Me too! Born and raised in LA but live in the high desert town of Ridgecrest now (and its HOT here!!). I get down to LA as often as I can for the great restaurants and to play Paddle Tennis on Venice Beach!
Shadow