Thread: General Annoyance with people

Originally Posted by Joe Lerch

Hey Rich, have you been out of commission? That doesn't sound like an NYC reaction to me! It might be time to move to the suburbs, like me.

Joe,

I have lived in NYC for 52 years and while it has always been a hectic atmosphere it has never been as rude as in the last 10 years. People are not taught at home manners which is beyond belief. I think this is not only a NYC thing I think the country is getting less mannered as a whole. I hope I am wrong.

Originally Posted by RichZ

I think the country is getting less mannered as a whole. I hope I am wrong.

I used to think so too until I started spending more time in the midwest. The people are a lot more pleasant there, sometimes maddeningly. Then you realize that some of the bad rap we get in NYC has some validity. We can't help it; we're just used to a much faster pace and higher pressure. It's no excuse, just my observation.

Until recently, I used to commute to work in NYC every day, so I've noticed the same thing as you. But being aware of the NYC temperament, I always went out of my way to helpful and pleasant to visitors. Some of my co-workers etc. used to look at me in a strange way because they weren't used to seeing me that way.

The whole Western civilization is going toward isolating the individual from the family, from the circle of friends and from the society in general. Too many people have an overblown sense of self-importance, which leads to bad manners.

Originally Posted by FiReSTaRT

The whole Western civilization is going toward isolating the individual from the family, from the circle of friends and from the society in general. Too many people have an overblown sense of self-importance, which leads to bad manners.

You can't hear me clapping but I am Well said..

Originally Posted by Joe Lerch

I used to think so too until I started spending more time in the midwest. The people are a lot more pleasant there, sometimes maddeningly. Then you realize that some of the bad rap we get in NYC has some validity. We can't help it; we're just used to a much faster pace and higher pressure. It's no excuse, just my observation.

Until recently, I used to commute to work in NYC every day, so I've noticed the same thing as you. But being aware of the NYC temperament, I always went out of my way to helpful and pleasant to visitors. Some of my co-workers etc. used to look at me in a strange way because they weren't used to seeing me that way.

Joe,

It's true NYC is high pressured and fast paced. But it is worse lately I think. Oh well.

Considering the population of NYC
I can understand the rudeness to
an extent. But, I definately can't
relate to it at all. The entire state
of WV only has 1.8 million. Charleston
the state capitol has a population of
only 50,000 and actually falling.

I suppose things here are a little more
laid back because of this.... and that's
the way I like it.

To be honest I would rather live the life
of a pauper in these hills than be a rich
man in NYC anyday.


Terry

Terry,

NYC does have good points. I was just pissed at the general rudeness that seems to prevail nowadays. I guess for me the benefits outway most of the bad things. However I have always lived in NYC and might not know any better..

Originally Posted by RichZ

Terry,

NYC does have good points. I was just pissed at the general rudeness that seems to prevail nowadays. I guess for me the benefits outway most of the bad things. However I have always lived in NYC and might not know any better..

Rich

I wouldn't mind visiting NYC at all. It would probably be
do me a world of good. It would definately be something
different.

I'm sure that one day I will make it up that way.


Terry

Originally Posted by RichZ

However I have always lived in NYC and might not know any better..

Rich,

I think maybe you don't know any better...

Actually, to be serious... it seems to me the world has changed a lot during our lifetime. People are a lot more ME focused than they used to be. The guy that accidentally kicked you had no concern for you... he was focused on himself... you got in his way, your cast likely hurt him when he kicked it -- how dare you infringe on his space! See... it's all in your point of view.

In my experience, major metro areas have always tended more toward that "me" focus than rural areas... that's why Terry sees it as so different. I can relate to his view...

I was raised in rural area of western Pennsylvania... 23-mi to the nearest grocery store. When I graduated from college I went to work in central NJ. The guy in the office across the hall started about the same time and was from the Bronx. He and his wife moved to an apartment in the same complex where I lived... in a typical suburban neighborhood. He used to say he lived in the "sticks"... I used to say I lived in the "city". I told him he didn't know what the "sticks" were. One weekend they did a getaway to the Poconos... he came back and told me he now understood "what the sticks really were". I told him to go to rural Montana someday and then tell me again what "the sticks really are".

All our responses are based on our points of reference... and most everyone has a different set of references to draw upon. For all you know, that guy was from some other part of the world and was just ignoring the space around him so he didn't have to cope. In his native culture pushing and shoving might be commonplace... in other parts of the world that's common.

BTW, that's why I left NJ 20+ years later and moved to Arizona... so I didn't have to cope with the greater NYC metro area anymore... and it worked for about 15 years. But now Phoenix has become a metro area. Alaska is starting to look better and better. I guess I'm just to ME focused....

Rich, What do you expect when TV baby sits and raises the children. Kids know if they dont make it in the real world tax payers will support them, and all we do is tell everyone else in the world how much better we are then them. Not only do we preach to the rest of the world, but then we knock on their front doors to convert them to our way of life.

I love my country and I would die for my values, but maybe thats because I have actually have values. We need to stop telling every other country how to be better and try to rescue our own society and sense of responsibility. If I was in another country with a polite well educated child and a low rate of unemployment, and a sense of personal responsibility, I would be pissed if the US told me they do things better, especially since many of the people preaching this probably never actually have been to the area of the world they are trying to convert.

However, I still wouldnt ever live anywhere else, but that doesnt mean that everywhere else should change for my sake, especially if I am not interested in living there!