Why Are New Yorkers So Grumpy?

We've all heard the terms "New York attitude" or "New York tough", right? Maybe those things have been taken a bit too far. Somewhere along the way New York has been labeled as "unfriendly" to those not from here. I'm not sure if there is actually any truth to that, but I hope it is not the case.

There is a certain swagger that people from New York have, so maybe that's where that rumor got started. From NYC, to Upstate and onto Long Island you can tell when someone is from New York. I'm just afraid that it's gotten a bit out of hand.

Are people from New York unfriendly?

After having this mentioned to me a few times by several people from out of state I wanted to find out for myself. So I set off to go for a walk around my neighborhood. I would no doubt run into a few people, especially on a nice summer day. What I found was that either this statement about us being unfriendly was absolutely true, or people just don't want to be bothered.

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I walked past person after person and to each of them I said "Good morning." Only two of the people responded back with a greeting while everyone else just ignored me completely. It appears to not just be a problem with people on the streets but also people who work with other people.

Obviously people who work in retail in any way have a reputation for maybe zoning out. I know when I was a kid and worked for Price Chopper we were told the greet the customers. The people behind the registers are most grocery stores these days just scan your groceries, hand you a receipt and don't even say a word. Is this just a New York problem, or have we just lost the ability to communicate with our fellow humans. I personally blame technology, which is ironic since you are likely ready this from your phone or tablet.

I think that we need to be more self aware of how people are perceiving us. Not greeting someone or ignoring them can be seen as rude. After spending some time in the Southwest I can tell you that they seem to be far more friendly. Maybe it's just because they don't have the constant fear of the long cold winters that we do. That's enough to make anyone grumpy.