The Most Polite City
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Having experienced both, let me first say that in order to appreciate the warmth of New Yorkers you have to take their interaction within the context of their culture, not yours. Once you do, you'll find them warm and friendly folks. My brief visit to Toronto left me with the impression of not only incredibly polite and welcoming people, but the cleanest major city I've ever seen. The subways didn't have a scratch on them, and you could eat off the floors. Having never visited India I know nothing of the cities and social experience there, but all in all, Toronto and NYC are two of my favorite cities. I miss the folks in both. Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes
Christopher Duncan wrote:
Having experienced both, let me first say that in order to appreciate the warmth of New Yorkers you have to take their interaction within the context of their culture, not yours. Once you do, you'll find them warm and friendly folks.
Same thing for most cities, even Paris.
Maximilien Lincourt Your Head A Splode - Strong Bad
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Having experienced both, let me first say that in order to appreciate the warmth of New Yorkers you have to take their interaction within the context of their culture, not yours. Once you do, you'll find them warm and friendly folks. My brief visit to Toronto left me with the impression of not only incredibly polite and welcoming people, but the cleanest major city I've ever seen. The subways didn't have a scratch on them, and you could eat off the floors. Having never visited India I know nothing of the cities and social experience there, but all in all, Toronto and NYC are two of my favorite cities. I miss the folks in both. Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes
Christopher Duncan wrote:
let me first say that in order to appreciate the warmth of New Yorkers you have to take their interaction within the context of their culture
What exactly is that? Down here we have a thing called southern hospitality, and all the people I've ever known says New Yorks aren't friendly - including my own brother. Granted, as you say it could be a culture thing, but I'm curious to know what that entails.
Christopher Duncan wrote:
but the cleanest major city I've ever seen.
Too bad I can't say that about New Orleans. :sigh: We have beautiful architecture mixed with some, lovely trash on the side of the road because lazy people litter too damn much. Kinda makes me want to visit, but I'll just take your word on the eating off the subway floor bit. :-D:-D:-D Jeremy Falcon
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Having experienced both, let me first say that in order to appreciate the warmth of New Yorkers you have to take their interaction within the context of their culture, not yours. Once you do, you'll find them warm and friendly folks. My brief visit to Toronto left me with the impression of not only incredibly polite and welcoming people, but the cleanest major city I've ever seen. The subways didn't have a scratch on them, and you could eat off the floors. Having never visited India I know nothing of the cities and social experience there, but all in all, Toronto and NYC are two of my favorite cities. I miss the folks in both. Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes
During the '80s, there was a police drama on television called "Night Heat" that was filmed in Toronto; it was supposed to represent a non-specific big city in North America. One night, during filming, the crew took a break and, when the returned, discovered the alley they had been filming in had been cleaned while they were on break! They expressed their confusion and were told that nightly cleanup is part of the regular routine. In the latter part of his career, my dad had a job like that in the city we lived in - from 4 AM to 12 noon, pick up litter and trash in the downtown core.
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Christopher Duncan wrote:
let me first say that in order to appreciate the warmth of New Yorkers you have to take their interaction within the context of their culture
What exactly is that? Down here we have a thing called southern hospitality, and all the people I've ever known says New Yorks aren't friendly - including my own brother. Granted, as you say it could be a culture thing, but I'm curious to know what that entails.
Christopher Duncan wrote:
but the cleanest major city I've ever seen.
Too bad I can't say that about New Orleans. :sigh: We have beautiful architecture mixed with some, lovely trash on the side of the road because lazy people litter too damn much. Kinda makes me want to visit, but I'll just take your word on the eating off the subway floor bit. :-D:-D:-D Jeremy Falcon
Jeremy Falcon wrote:
lovely trash on the side of the road because lazy people litter too damn much.
That's called "character".
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Jeremy Falcon wrote:
lovely trash on the side of the road because lazy people litter too damn much.
That's called "character".
So are zits, but nobody wants them. :-> Jeremy Falcon
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Christopher Duncan wrote:
let me first say that in order to appreciate the warmth of New Yorkers you have to take their interaction within the context of their culture
What exactly is that? Down here we have a thing called southern hospitality, and all the people I've ever known says New Yorks aren't friendly - including my own brother. Granted, as you say it could be a culture thing, but I'm curious to know what that entails.
Christopher Duncan wrote:
but the cleanest major city I've ever seen.
Too bad I can't say that about New Orleans. :sigh: We have beautiful architecture mixed with some, lovely trash on the side of the road because lazy people litter too damn much. Kinda makes me want to visit, but I'll just take your word on the eating off the subway floor bit. :-D:-D:-D Jeremy Falcon
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I'd like to visit, but haven't. I'm just surprised New York made that list. Jeremy Falcon
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Christopher Duncan wrote:
let me first say that in order to appreciate the warmth of New Yorkers you have to take their interaction within the context of their culture
What exactly is that? Down here we have a thing called southern hospitality, and all the people I've ever known says New Yorks aren't friendly - including my own brother. Granted, as you say it could be a culture thing, but I'm curious to know what that entails.
Christopher Duncan wrote:
but the cleanest major city I've ever seen.
Too bad I can't say that about New Orleans. :sigh: We have beautiful architecture mixed with some, lovely trash on the side of the road because lazy people litter too damn much. Kinda makes me want to visit, but I'll just take your word on the eating off the subway floor bit. :-D:-D:-D Jeremy Falcon
Jeremy Falcon wrote:
Down here we have a thing called southern hospitality, and all the people I've ever known says New Yorks aren't friendly
New Yorkers have a much more direct, emotional, fast paced and sometimes aggressive manner of communicating. Having been raised in the south, the first time I had dinner with some Italian friends I was sure that there was going to be blood on the floor before desert. However, I soon learned that because everyone talks that way, no offense is given or taken (unless it's really meant). In the south, with it's more laid back culture, this is seen as abrupt and rude. However, that comes from judging people based on what acceptable behavior is in the south, not in the culture that New Yorkers were raised in, which is an incorrect assessment. However, this is not uncommon. Most folks judge people based on their own criteria, often in complete ignorance of the other person's culture and perspective. Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes
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Having experienced both, let me first say that in order to appreciate the warmth of New Yorkers you have to take their interaction within the context of their culture, not yours. Once you do, you'll find them warm and friendly folks. My brief visit to Toronto left me with the impression of not only incredibly polite and welcoming people, but the cleanest major city I've ever seen. The subways didn't have a scratch on them, and you could eat off the floors. Having never visited India I know nothing of the cities and social experience there, but all in all, Toronto and NYC are two of my favorite cities. I miss the folks in both. Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes
Christopher, I agree. I have also found New Yorkers to be friendly and open people. It is a great, great city. I live in Toronto and it is not quite as clean and safe as it once was... but it is still okay. But I would have to say that NYC is the friendliest city I have been to, and I have been to a few. Chadlling
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Jeremy Falcon wrote:
Down here we have a thing called southern hospitality, and all the people I've ever known says New Yorks aren't friendly
New Yorkers have a much more direct, emotional, fast paced and sometimes aggressive manner of communicating. Having been raised in the south, the first time I had dinner with some Italian friends I was sure that there was going to be blood on the floor before desert. However, I soon learned that because everyone talks that way, no offense is given or taken (unless it's really meant). In the south, with it's more laid back culture, this is seen as abrupt and rude. However, that comes from judging people based on what acceptable behavior is in the south, not in the culture that New Yorkers were raised in, which is an incorrect assessment. However, this is not uncommon. Most folks judge people based on their own criteria, often in complete ignorance of the other person's culture and perspective. Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes
Christopher Duncan wrote:
However, this is not uncommon. Most folks judge people based on their own criteria, often in complete ignorance of the other person's culture and perspective.
I can believe this. I just found it odd to see NYC up there and was wondering. Jeremy Falcon
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According to this unscientific study two of the 3 most polite cities in the world are in North America... New York City and Toronto. Indian cities were at the bottom of the list with Mumbai coming in last. [http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap\_travel/20060621/ap\_tr\_ge/travel\_briefs\_polite\_cities](<a href=)[^]" rel="nofollow">http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap_travel/20060621/ap_tr_ge/travel_briefs_polite_cities[^][[http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap\_travel/20060621/ap\_tr\_ge/travel\_briefs\_polite\_cities](<a href= "New Window")[^]">^]
Chadlling wrote:
New York City
:omg: Have they heard NYC is called "home of the rude"? I worked there for a year, and must say there is a lot of truth in it.
My programming blahblahblah blog. If you ever find anything useful here, please let me know to remove it. -- modified at 13:31 Wednesday 21st June, 2006
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Christopher Duncan wrote:
let me first say that in order to appreciate the warmth of New Yorkers you have to take their interaction within the context of their culture
What exactly is that? Down here we have a thing called southern hospitality, and all the people I've ever known says New Yorks aren't friendly - including my own brother. Granted, as you say it could be a culture thing, but I'm curious to know what that entails.
Christopher Duncan wrote:
but the cleanest major city I've ever seen.
Too bad I can't say that about New Orleans. :sigh: We have beautiful architecture mixed with some, lovely trash on the side of the road because lazy people litter too damn much. Kinda makes me want to visit, but I'll just take your word on the eating off the subway floor bit. :-D:-D:-D Jeremy Falcon
I grew up in Long Island and CT, and then moved to SC. My initial reaction was that southern hospitality was a load of crap. I found southerners generally unaccepting and suspicious of northerners. They were polite, but it was difficult to get beyond a certain level as an outsider. It was almost as though they were always defensive. Now, 14 years later, I know how to deal with southerners better and don't feel the same and have come to feel that SC is my home. I've never felt New Yorkers were rude. Abrupt maybe and they don't hold back if you piss them off, but they've been plenty helpful and friendly to me. then again that could be because I know how deal with them. BW
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
-- Steven Wright -
Chadlling wrote:
New York City
:omg: Have they heard NYC is called "home of the rude"? I worked there for a year, and must say there is a lot of truth in it.
My programming blahblahblah blog. If you ever find anything useful here, please let me know to remove it. -- modified at 13:31 Wednesday 21st June, 2006
Nemanja Trifunovic wrote:
Have they heard NYC is called "home of the rude"?
I've always heard this too.
Nemanja Trifunovic wrote:
I worked there for a year, and must say there is a lot of truth in it.
Well, I think a year is long enough to understand their culture. I think Jim Crafton is from NYC so maybe if he sees this post he'll clue me in. Jeremy Falcon
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According to this unscientific study two of the 3 most polite cities in the world are in North America... New York City and Toronto. Indian cities were at the bottom of the list with Mumbai coming in last. [http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap\_travel/20060621/ap\_tr\_ge/travel\_briefs\_polite\_cities](<a href=)[^]" rel="nofollow">http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap_travel/20060621/ap_tr_ge/travel_briefs_polite_cities[^][[http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap\_travel/20060621/ap\_tr\_ge/travel\_briefs\_polite\_cities](<a href= "New Window")[^]">^]
It's hard to judge politeness across different cultures. I can't speak for all of India, but people in my state don't say thank you, sorry, please etc all that often - that is not part of our language system. The Malayalam equivalents of those words are only used formally. Similarly opening doors for others is not something people do - if you tried to do that, you'd just get a lot of curious glances. When I first worked abroad, I was quite surprised by how often people would say "how are you" to you, and then they'd walk away without waiting for an answer. Initially I thought this was pretty weird and that this was a sort of pseudo-politeness. Later I got used to it. It's pretty much the same in Toronto. People just wish you well, and ask you how you are, and walk away without waiting for a conversation - it's a different sort of culture from what we have back in India. Eventually, you have to understand how a society behaves, before judging how polite or rude people are. I still haven't fully got used to the Canadian politeness, and I am sure most people find me pretty rude and weird - specially on the phone. Oh well - I have to work on it. So, thanks a lot to everyone for reading my post, and I hope you are all in good health, and sorry if I took away your time, and thanks once again. :rolleyes: Regards, Nish
Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
Currently working on C++/CLI in Action for Manning Publications. Also visit the Ultimate Toolbox blog (New) -
Christopher, I agree. I have also found New Yorkers to be friendly and open people. It is a great, great city. I live in Toronto and it is not quite as clean and safe as it once was... but it is still okay. But I would have to say that NYC is the friendliest city I have been to, and I have been to a few. Chadlling
Chadlling wrote:
But I would have to say that NYC is the friendliest city I have been to, and I have been to a few.
That's good to hear. We are planning on a NYC visit soon :-) Regards, Nish
Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
Currently working on C++/CLI in Action for Manning Publications. Also visit the Ultimate Toolbox blog (New) -
Nemanja Trifunovic wrote:
Have they heard NYC is called "home of the rude"?
I've always heard this too.
Nemanja Trifunovic wrote:
I worked there for a year, and must say there is a lot of truth in it.
Well, I think a year is long enough to understand their culture. I think Jim Crafton is from NYC so maybe if he sees this post he'll clue me in. Jeremy Falcon
Jeremy Falcon wrote:
I think Jim Crafton is from NYC so maybe if he sees this post he'll clue me in.
Or cut you off and flip you the bird! ;P
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Having experienced both, let me first say that in order to appreciate the warmth of New Yorkers you have to take their interaction within the context of their culture, not yours. Once you do, you'll find them warm and friendly folks. My brief visit to Toronto left me with the impression of not only incredibly polite and welcoming people, but the cleanest major city I've ever seen. The subways didn't have a scratch on them, and you could eat off the floors. Having never visited India I know nothing of the cities and social experience there, but all in all, Toronto and NYC are two of my favorite cities. I miss the folks in both. Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes
There is no way NYC is more polite than Atlanta or Charleston. Charleston was declared to be the most polite city in USA in one of the previous surveys.
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I grew up in Long Island and CT, and then moved to SC. My initial reaction was that southern hospitality was a load of crap. I found southerners generally unaccepting and suspicious of northerners. They were polite, but it was difficult to get beyond a certain level as an outsider. It was almost as though they were always defensive. Now, 14 years later, I know how to deal with southerners better and don't feel the same and have come to feel that SC is my home. I've never felt New Yorkers were rude. Abrupt maybe and they don't hold back if you piss them off, but they've been plenty helpful and friendly to me. then again that could be because I know how deal with them. BW
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
-- Steven Wrightbrianwelsch wrote:
I found southerners generally unaccepting and suspicious of northerners.
Well, I've never been to SC, but I'm sure there are expections to the rule in some cities down here. And, I'll say this, by and large more people are unfriendly in New Orleans than where I grew up. Probably that way in most cities.
brianwelsch wrote:
I know how to deal with southerners better and don't feel the same and have come to feel that SC is my home.
Maybe you just lost your accent and you're now normal. ;P
brianwelsch wrote:
then again that could be because I know how deal with them.
I dunno. I've never been. I've just heard stories. But, Christopher could be dead on the money with the cultural differences part ya know. Jeremy Falcon
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Jeremy Falcon wrote:
I think Jim Crafton is from NYC so maybe if he sees this post he'll clue me in.
Or cut you off and flip you the bird! ;P
:laugh::laugh::laugh: Jeremy Falcon
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According to this unscientific study two of the 3 most polite cities in the world are in North America... New York City and Toronto. Indian cities were at the bottom of the list with Mumbai coming in last. [http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap\_travel/20060621/ap\_tr\_ge/travel\_briefs\_polite\_cities](<a href=)[^]" rel="nofollow">http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap_travel/20060621/ap_tr_ge/travel_briefs_polite_cities[^][[http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap\_travel/20060621/ap\_tr\_ge/travel\_briefs\_polite\_cities](<a href= "New Window")[^]">^]
I live in NYC. I really don't care if people here are nice or polite. Hell, I don't expect people to be pleasant when they're crammed face to face with a bunch of other strangers at 8 am in a subway train that smells like god-knows-what. This city has sooo many amazing things to do/see/hear/taste/etc that I'm too busy enjoying the place to care if some guy at a deli is rude, or if a cab driver is yelling at pedestrians. Josh