# Here's a question for you all...where was the friendliest or unfriendliest or darn right strange place you have ever lived in or at?



## Ruby Rose (Jan 3, 2021)

The time that jumps to memory was when we were posted (once more) from Calgary, Alberta to Toronto, Ontario. With every posting, I have list in hand to register kids in school, dentist and doctor, etc. As I entered the busy waiting room of a clinic and waited my turn, I gabbed away but no responses. Maybe they didn't approve of my cowboys boots or jeans! Then a voice from across the room addressed to me stated loud and clear, "You're not from here, are you?" He was an elderly dude and others enjoyed silence. Needless to say, I did not register there...I merely left.


----------



## Pinky (Jan 3, 2021)

Ruby Rose said:


> The time that jumps to memory was when we were posted (once more) from Calgary, Alberta to Toronto, Ontario. With every posting, I have list in hand to register kids in school, dentist and doctor, etc. As I entered the busy waiting room of a clinic and waited my turn, I gabbed away but no responses. Maybe they didn't approve of my cowboys boots or jeans! Then a voice from across the room addressed to me stated loud and clear, "You're not from here, are you?" He was an elderly dude and others enjoyed silence. Needless to say, I did not register there...I merely left.


I'm sorry to hear about your experience. It wouldn't have happened at my clinic!


----------



## Pinky (Jan 3, 2021)

1986, we went on vacation to Maine with my sister and her 2 young boys. On the way, we stopped at a McDonald's. It seemed as though everyone was staring at us. I guess they had seen few Asians. Another night, an entire family did the same thing - stared and stared, with goofy grins on their faces. It was a very odd feeling, like being monkeys in a zoo. 

I guess it wasn't unfriendliness .. just ignorance.


----------



## Aunt Bea (Jan 3, 2021)

I've always been leery of people that start telling me TMI within minutes of meeting them.

I suppose it goes back to the old notion of not falling in with the bad kids on the first day of school.

No offense intended it's just the way that I'm wired.

The most standoffish place that I've ever lived in is my current apartment complex.  I've lived here for 12 years and only know a couple of people well enough to say hello or nod when we meet.  I attribute it to my age and resting bitch face.   I'm fine with the extreme social distancing.


----------



## Ruby Rose (Jan 3, 2021)

Pinky said:


> I'm sorry to hear about your experience. It wouldn't have happened at my clinic!


Thank you for your kind words. I should have been able to sense the atmosphere right off the bat and not waste my breath. I must relate the friendliest place we were posted to which is St John's, Newfoundland (the rock as we called it). The very day we arrived on the ferry, our car acted up and had to be taken to a nearby garage. We had offers right and left to accompany them to their respective homes to wait. They were all strangers to us but so welcoming, I will never forget that time. Mind you, we were referred to as 'mainlanders' for the entire three years we were there.


----------



## Pepper (Jan 3, 2021)

When we first moved to rural Wisconsin we did so as my husband had lived there before and loved the place.  He had so many friends and some prior romances.  We're in a bar one night.  I go to the bathroom, it is for one person only.  There was a line outside and I heard 2 of his female friends talking.  About me!

One said "whoever thought he would marry a short Jew from NY?"

I sank to the floor in relief.  At least they didn't say "whoever thought he would marry a short, fat Jew from NY?"

I wasn't fat at all, but the words seem to go together so I was grateful not to hear it.

When I left the bathroom and went back to the bar one of his male friends began making Jew jokes at me and said "we used to have one Jew in this town."

Oy vay.


----------



## hollydolly (Jan 3, 2021)

The unfriendliest place I ever visited was Leeds a very large city  in the north of England. We had been driving down in bad weather to London from Scotland, and  the snow got so bad we had to stop 1/2 way , we couldn't go any further, and we were not near any hotels , just  an area with a pub and houses.. ... we went  into the nearest pub ..and if anyone has seen the pub scene in American werewolf in London..it was exactly like that. !! Sheer silence as we walked through the door from the locals, as though the devil himself had just walked in.. and whatever we asked the landlord for..  eg food (it was the afternoon)..we were met with a stony faced NO, yet we could see they had snacks &  pork pies etc behind the bar .. !!

WE ended up having to sleep in the truck in the snow after trudging through it to find a little shop where we could buy some biscuits and cold drinks .. so much for northern English supposed to be the friendliest people in England.. I would never visit there again...


----------



## hollydolly (Jan 3, 2021)

Ruby Rose said:


> Thank you for your kind words. I should have been able to sense the atmosphere right off the bat and not waste my breath. I must relate the friendliest place we were posted to which is St John's, Newfoundland (the rock as we called it). The very day we arrived on the ferry, our car acted up and had to be taken to a nearby garage. We had offers right and left to accompany them to their respective homes to wait. They were all strangers to us but so welcoming, I will never forget that time. Mind you, we were referred to as 'mainlanders' for the entire three years we were there.


I have a friend who lives in St Johns


----------



## Pepper (Jan 3, 2021)

Good grief, Holly!  I needed to attend the U of Leeds for a seminar.  Stayed 2 days.  Met really unfriendly folks, some of whom wouldn't even answer a question!  Of course I blamed myself, but now after all these years I can blame them!  Thanks luv!


----------



## hollydolly (Jan 3, 2021)

Pepper said:


> Good grief, Holly!  I needed to attend the U of Leeds for a seminar.  Stayed 2 days.  Met really unfriendly folks, some of whom wouldn't even answer a question!  Of course I blamed myself, but now after all these years I can blame them!  Thanks luv!


Well thank Goodness for that...I'm pleased to hear someone else had a similar experience, after years of hearing how friendly these people are supposed to be, before and even since


----------



## JustBonee (Jan 3, 2021)

Strange place  ... a one time experience,  for about maybe 4-5 months,  we moved to a  small town in Louisiana. 
We leased a home  while my husband tried out a new position.  
It was too bizarre for me  - the owners'  son broke into the house TWICE  trying to get "his belongings " out.  
I tried to pass the time by getting a part time job.  That didn't work out too well either.  People were not accepting of anyone not from the area. 

We had to move out of there!  
We  went to Baton Rouge and found a townhouse to rent  while  I convinced my husband to move back to our home in   Houston. 
Baton Rouge was nice and so was the townhouse,  but the daily drive for my husband wasn't.

I think I kissed the ground when we got back to Houston!


----------



## MarciKS (Jan 3, 2021)

Wichita KS. I guess it's not socially acceptable to talk to strangers there. I think it's because of the crime rate. People are creepy there. It's a completely unnerving environment for me.


----------



## Pinky (Jan 3, 2021)

My nephew and his wife bought a house in a community about 45 mins. away from Toronto. A couple of summers ago, we stopped into a pub-style place on a Saturday afternoon. They were setting up for their open-mic night. The 2 women proprietors were rather unfriendly looking. We went to a table in the outdoor section. It turned out they were not serving drinks ... ?? It also seemed they were not serving food ... ?? Oddest experience. Anyway, we left as they continued to set up for the evening. It does sometimes make us wonder if these people are racially discriminating, as we were 3 mixed-race couples. I don't know what else to think, though I don't like to think that way.


----------



## Don M. (Jan 3, 2021)

MarciKS said:


> Wichita KS. I guess it's not socially acceptable to talk to strangers there. I think it's because of the crime rate. People are creepy there. It's a completely unnerving environment for me.


I'll agree with you on that.  We lived there for about 4 years....late 60's to early 70's, and it was kind of a strange place.  We never had any problems, but the people weren't very "social".  When I got an offer to transfer to Kansas City, we jumped on that....much nicer.  Plus, that area seemed to be the "bullseye" for tornadoes....every year, we had to run to the underground shelter, 2 or 3 times.   We never got hit, but we came awfully close a couple of times.


----------



## Packerjohn (Jan 3, 2021)

Pinawa, Manitoba.  They advertise themselves as "Discover the Secret."  Yes, we moved there because of the scenery along the Winnipeg River & the small town atmosphere.  Well, we moved there & we discovered their little secret!  It proved to be the most unfriendly place I ever lived in & I have moved 13 times in my life.  It appears that the place was composed of some "old stiff upper lips" British expat who moved there for work in 1963 at Atomic Energy of Canada reactor.  They kept bragging how they have been there since 1963.  I was born in this province in the 40s.  God awful people in that town.  Not good examples for British expat community.  They were probably miserable back where they came from too!


----------



## Ruby Rose (Jan 3, 2021)

Packerjohn said:


> Pinawa, Manitoba.  They advertise themselves as "Discover the Secret."  Yes, we moved there because of the scenery along the Winnipeg River & the small town atmosphere.  Well, we moved there & we discovered their little secret!  It proved to be the most unfriendly place I ever lived in & I have moved 13 times in my life.  It appears that the place was composed of some "old stiff upper lips" British expat who moved there for work in 1963 at Atomic Energy of Canada reactor.  They kept bragging how they have been there since 1963.  I was born in this province in the 40s.  God awful people in that town.  Not good examples for British expat community.  They were probably miserable back where they came from too!


I am sorry to hear that but am not surprised as I presently live in Rural Manitoba and have done so for ten years and I am still the 'newbie'. I have actually approached a few people in town and was informed that they had no need for 'a new friend' as they had all lived there for many, many years. To say I was rather stunned with this response would be putting it mildly. Perhaps it is because I am part French? Anyways, I get along great with all the animals (and there are many) on the ranch and I sleep good with the silence about me.


----------



## Ruby Rose (Jan 3, 2021)

Aunt Bea said:


> I've always been leery of people that start telling me TMI within minutes of meeting them.
> 
> I suppose it goes back to the old notion of not falling in with the bad kids on the first day of school.
> 
> ...


You know, I agree with you TMI all at once is not healthy and could also be dangerous. I used to be inclined to be a tad gregarious (but not as much anymore...I have lost my voice that way) which is part and parcel of always moving (this is my 24th and hopefully the last) and always being the 'newbie' and can't figure out as yet why race, religion, age, etc, etc should make a difference but it does. Another factor that gets in the way is going from a Military environment to Civy street.


----------



## Kathleen’s Place (Jan 3, 2021)

Pepper said:


> When we first moved to rural Wisconsin we did so as my husband had lived there before and loved the place.  He had so many friends and some prior romances.  We're in a bar one night.  I go to the bathroom, it is for one person only.  There was a line outside and I heard 2 of his female friends talking.  About me!
> 
> One said "whoever thought he would marry a short Jew from NY?"
> 
> ...


Oh my gos!!! NowI understand why you asked where I lived!!!!  That wasn’t just plain rude, it was IGNORANT, and I’m so sorry it happened to you.  I grew up in Berlin WI...were you anywhere near there?


----------



## Kathleen’s Place (Jan 3, 2021)

hollydolly said:


> The unfriendliest place I ever visited was Leeds a very large city  in the north of England. We had been driving down in bad weather to London from Scotland, and  the snow got so bad we had to stop 1/2 way , we couldn't go any further, and we were not near any hotels , just  an area with a pub and houses.. ... we went  into the nearest pub ..and if anyone has seen the pub scene in American werewolf in London..it was exactly like that. !! Sheer silence as we walked through the door from the locals, as though the devil himself had just walked in.. and whatever we asked the landlord for..  eg food (it was the afternoon)..we were met with a stony faced NO, yet we could see they had snacks &  pork pies etc behind the bar .. !!
> 
> WE ended up having to sleep in the truck in the snow after trudging through it to find a little shop where we could buy some biscuits and cold drinks .. so much for northern English supposed to be the friendliest people in England.. I would never visit there again...


Good grief!  You guys have REALLY had bad experiences!!!!!!


----------



## Kathleen’s Place (Jan 3, 2021)

Pinky said:


> My nephew and his wife bought a house in a community about 45 mins. away from Toronto. A couple of summers ago, we stopped into a pub-style place on a Saturday afternoon. They were setting up for their open-mic night. The 2 women proprietors were rather unfriendly looking. We went to a table in the outdoor section. It turned out they were not serving drinks ... ?? It also seemed they were not serving food ... ?? Oddest experience. Anyway, we left as they continued to set up for the evening. It does sometimes make us wonder if these people are racially discriminating, as we were 3 mixed-race couples. I don't know what else to think, though I don't like to think that way.


Oh Pinky, I hope not.  I hate to hear about something like that...especially in this day and age


----------



## Kathleen’s Place (Jan 3, 2021)

Ruby Rose said:


> I am sorry to hear that but am not surprised as I presently live in Rural Manitoba and have done so for ten years and I am still the 'newbie'. I have actually approached a few people in town and was informed that they had no need for 'a new friend' as they had all lived there for many, many years. To say I was rather stunned with this response would be putting it mildly. Perhaps it is because I am part French? Anyways, I get along great with all the animals (and there are many) on the ranch and I sleep good with the silence about me.


Wish we had a “shaking my head in disbelief” emoji.


----------



## Pinky (Jan 3, 2021)

Kathleen’s Place said:


> Oh Pinky, I hope not.  I hate to hear about something like that...especially in this day and age


You'd think not, in this day and age, as you say @Kathleen’s Place 
It's not a regular occurrence, though it happens occasionally. We've been together since 1972 - a long time. Our family is multi-cultural, and we love it. We do still get stares though.


----------



## Ellen Marie (Jan 3, 2021)

I lived for three months in a room along the Via Delorosa, off the choir loft of a Catholic Church,  my very small window opened over the street, watching the Christians carry the cross to Calvary several times a day in several different languages.


----------



## Pepper (Jan 3, 2021)

Kathleen’s Place said:


> Oh my gos!!! NowI understand why you asked where I lived!!!!  That wasn’t just plain rude, it was IGNORANT, and I’m so sorry it happened to you.  I grew up in Berlin WI...were you anywhere near there?


Oh no, KP, it was kind of a coincidence.  I've been meaning to ask you for awhile, but didn't want to be nosy and then, conveniently, this thread opened.  I don't know Berlin WI; I do know Berlin NH. Also lived NH, btw. 

I've learned it's never a good thing to live only with white people.  It's dangerous!  They get ingrown, like a toenail.


----------



## Ellen Marie (Jan 3, 2021)

I also lived on San Nicolas Island for a year. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Nicolas_Island


----------



## Ruthanne (Jan 3, 2021)

For a little while I lived in a hotel in Berkeley CA way back in the 70s.  The characters there went from funny to scary.  Had to share a bathroom with the entire hotel and one day I went in there in the morning only to find someone had left a turd in the shower....I still can't get that image out of my head 

The restaurant there did make the best avocado sandwiches I've ever had, though.


----------



## officerripley (Jan 3, 2021)

Pepper said:


> Oh no, KP, it was kind of a coincidence.  I've been meaning to ask you for awhile, but didn't want to be nosy and then, conveniently, this thread opened.  I don't know Berlin WI; I do know Berlin NH. Also lived NH, btw.
> 
> I've learned it's never a good thing to live only with white people.  It's dangerous!  They get ingrown, like a toenail.


I lived in a small, ski resort town in NH for a while; the people there started off mildly friendly 'till they found out I was from Calif.; then it went sideways fast.


----------



## officerripley (Jan 3, 2021)

Ruby Rose said:


> Thank you for your kind words. I should have been able to sense the atmosphere right off the bat and not waste my breath. I must relate the friendliest place we were posted to which is St John's, Newfoundland (the rock as we called it). The very day we arrived on the ferry, our car acted up and had to be taken to a nearby garage. We had offers right and left to accompany them to their respective homes to wait. They were all strangers to us but so welcoming, I will never forget that time. Mind you, we were referred to as 'mainlanders' for the entire three years we were there.


Wasn't Newfoundland one of the places in Canada that so graciously & warmly put up the people on U.S. ground flights on 9/11? IIRC, I think it was.


----------



## hollydolly (Jan 3, 2021)

officerripley said:


> I lived in a small, ski resort town in NH for a while; the people there started off mildly friendly 'till they found out I was from Calif.; then it went sideways fast.


explain please,  to a Non-American , why that would have happened ?


----------



## Pepper (Jan 3, 2021)

Are you talking about the North Conway area @officerripley?  Many of the folks who work up there are not necessarily from NH.


----------



## PamfromTx (Jan 3, 2021)

Pinky said:


> 1986, we went on vacation to Maine with my sister and her 2 young boys. On the way, we stopped at a McDonald's. It seemed as though everyone was staring at us. I guess they had seen few Asians. Another night, an entire family did the same thing - stared and stared, with goofy grins on their faces. It was a very odd feeling, like being monkeys in a zoo.
> 
> I guess it wasn't unfriendliness .. just ignorance.


I get the same rude stares; a Mexican American woman with a white man is still frowned on in parts of our nation, unfortunately.  Do I care?   Of course not.
@Pinky


----------



## Pepper (Jan 3, 2021)

oops


----------



## officerripley (Jan 3, 2021)

hollydolly said:


> explain please,  to a Non-American , why that would have happened ?


Well, IIRC, the first time it came up was some1 who had lived in that small NH town her whole life (in fact, she'd never even traveled once out of that county) asked me where I was from with the "strange accent"  I had. (I pronounced 'R's too heavily it turns out.) When I replied "California", she got an even deeper frown on her face & said "Ugh, California!" Hurt my feelings because she so obviously was not joking, so I said, "Why, what's wrong with being from Calif.?", she said "Oh, all you Californians think you're better than everyone else!" (And this was long before all the rich techies & Silicon Valley thing was going.) And I had more than one conversation like that in NH.

Heck, just here recently I've seen comments here on SF about Californians that as near as I can tell are not said in jest.


----------



## Pepper (Jan 3, 2021)

We were all jealous of you @officerripley!  Everyone wanted to be from California back then!


----------



## PamfromTx (Jan 3, 2021)

PamfromTx said:


> I get the same rude stares; a Mexican American woman with a white man is still frowned on in parts of our nation, unfortunately.  Do I care?   Of course not.
> @Pinky


----------



## officerripley (Jan 3, 2021)

Pepper said:


> Are you talking about the North Conway area @officerripley?  Many of the folks who work up there are not necessarily from NH.


Yep, that's the place. When I was there, near as I could tell, almost everyone was from there; the few that weren't were from other parts of New England.


----------



## officerripley (Jan 3, 2021)

Pepper said:


> We were all jealous of you @officerripley!  Everyone wanted to be from California back then!


Nice of you to say, Pepper, thanks   but the people there in NH and Rhode Island (other place I lived with first huzz) sure didn't act like they were jealous, they acted totally disgusted as soon as they found out where I was from.


----------



## officerripley (Jan 3, 2021)

PamfromTx said:


> View attachment 143040


What a great pic, thanks for posting!


----------



## Pepper (Jan 3, 2021)

officerripley said:


> Nice of you to say, Pepper, thanks   but the people there in NH and Rhode Island (other place I lived with first huzz) sure didn't act like they were jealous, they acted totally disgusted as soon as they found out where I was from.


That's because they were jealous.  We all wanted to be California Girls.
What decade were you there?  NE, I mean.


----------



## Pinky (Jan 3, 2021)

PamfromTx said:


> I get the same rude stares; a Mexican American woman with a white man is still frowned on in parts of our nation, unfortunately.  Do I care?   Of course not.
> @Pinky


@PamfromTx  .. it doesn't hurt me, or make me uneasy. I just think it's very rude and ignorant.


----------



## RadishRose (Jan 3, 2021)

I've lived in CT all my life, but have visited all of New England, places in NY, NJ, FL and PA; Los Angeles CA and Sonoma, CA. Also several areas of Mexico.

Maybe I'm not savvy enough, but I have never felt I was treated rudely. Maybe I was just lucky. I will say, that Northeastern PA is the friendliest.

I have never heard of down grading Californians either. Not as far as I can recall, anyway.


----------



## Pepper (Jan 3, 2021)

On our way to California, stopped off in Wyoming.  1963.  On a tour, my father couldn't drive yet.  Ok. So this father & son team want to feel my head and see my horns.   Behind them, some fellow travelers were snickering.

Life today so much better in so many ways.

eta--tolja, white folks make me nervous, and I've got blue eyes & blond hair


----------



## PamfromTx (Jan 3, 2021)

officerripley said:


> What a great pic, thanks for posting!


Thanks, pic is about 80 years old.


----------



## officerripley (Jan 3, 2021)

Pepper said:


> That's because they were jealous.  We all wanted to be California Girls.
> What decade were you there?  NE, I mean.


It was the 70s.


----------



## officerripley (Jan 3, 2021)

Pepper said:


> On our way to California, stopped off in Wyoming.  1963.  On a tour, my father couldn't drive yet.  Ok. So this father & son team want to feel my head and see my horns.   Behind them, some fellow travelers were snickering.
> 
> Life today so much better in so many ways.
> 
> eta--tolja, white folks make me nervous, and I've got blue eyes & blond hair


"Life today so much better in so many ways." I so totally agree with that!


----------



## PamfromTx (Jan 3, 2021)

PamfromTx said:


> Thanks, pic is about 80 years old.


I cannot ever be serious.  Have you noticed?  lol


----------



## Lewkat (Jan 3, 2021)

The rudest place I ever visited by far was Western Switzerland.  They all acted like Parisians which come in a close second.


----------



## hollydolly (Jan 3, 2021)

Lewkat said:


> The rudest place I ever visited by far was Western Switzerland.  They all acted like Parisians which come in a close second.


I'll second that...Parisians are verrry rude...... it always makes me laugh when people say they'd love to visit Romantic Paris.. *ugh*


----------



## Ruby Rose (Jan 3, 2021)

officerripley said:


> Wasn't Newfoundland one of the places in Canada that so graciously & warmly put up the people on U.S. ground flights on 9/11? IIRC, I think it was.


Yep...sure was.


----------



## Ruby Rose (Jan 3, 2021)

hollydolly said:


> I'll second that...Parisians are verrry rude...... it always makes me laugh when people say they'd love to visit Romantic Paris.. *ugh*


From experience  and I speak French BUT not a 'classy French' so I totally agree...verry rude!


----------



## Lewkat (Jan 3, 2021)

Ruby Rose said:


> Yep...sure was.


The folks from Newfoundland and Labrador are extremely hospitable.  We were stuck in Labrador in the mid 50s  and those people were primo.


----------



## Nathan (Jan 3, 2021)

PamfromTx said:


> I get the same rude stares; a Mexican American woman with a white man is still frowned on in parts of our nation, unfortunately.  Do I care?   Of course not.
> @Pinky


I was hard pressed to add to this thread until I read your post-  I recall when I was with my former wife who was Mexican-American- we would get some looks from people sometimes, when in public.


----------



## PamfromTx (Jan 3, 2021)

Nathan said:


> I was hard pressed to add to this thread until I read your post-  I recall when I was with my former wife who was Mexican-American- we would get some looks from people sometimes, when in public.


Only those who have *experienced* 'this' will understand @Nathan     Thanks for understanding.


----------



## Pepper (Jan 3, 2021)

PamfromTx said:


> I get the same rude stares; a Mexican American woman with a white man is still frowned on in parts of our nation, unfortunately.  Do I care?   Of course not.
> @Pinky


By "in parts of our nation" you must be referring to the stupider parts.  Los estupidos.


----------



## asp3 (Jan 3, 2021)

I can't think of anyplace that was particularly friendly, unfriendly or unusual.  The closest was one that was somewhat unusual for us.  We moved to an apartment complex in Sunnyvale, California that was closer to the school we wanted our boys to go to.  Unbeknownst to us it was the first choice apartment complex for engineers from Israel and their families when they came to work in the Silicon Valley.

Since there was a high percentage of people from Israel they lived as they would at home.  What we noticed that was different compared with other places we lived is the families seemed to yell at each other more often and were generally louder than families in other areas where we lived.  Evidently it isn't uncommon for people to keep their doors unlocked and for kids to just walk into their friend's homes so a couple of our kids friends did that a few times before we let them know we lived a bit differently and knocked and waited for people to answer.

Although they were generally friendly they did tend to stick together.  However our kids had several friends in their families and got well along with them.

I wouldn't have changed our decision to live there knowing what we would have experienced.  We eventually moved across the street from the complex and enjoyed a somewhat quieter environment.


----------



## Pepper (Jan 3, 2021)

You can take the Israeli out of the kibbutz but you can't take the kibbutz out of the Israeli.


----------



## Kathleen’s Place (Jan 3, 2021)

PamfromTx said:


> View attachment 143040


Good, I’m glad ignorant people don’t bother you


----------



## Ruby Rose (Jan 4, 2021)

You gals and guys have got me thinking back . . . to Newfoundland and Alberta days, two very friendly Provinces and I wonder if, perhaps, the smell of "yeast" in the air coming from one's basement was part and parcel of it. Lots of friends were at my door in these two places. When one's husband is always away, a hobby is very nice to have!


----------



## Packerjohn (Jan 4, 2021)

Ruby Rose said:


> I am sorry to hear that but am not surprised as I presently live in Rural Manitoba and have done so for ten years and I am still the 'newbie'. I have actually approached a few people in town and was informed that they had no need for 'a new friend' as they had all lived there for many, many years. To say I was rather stunned with this response would be putting it mildly. Perhaps it is because I am part French? Anyways, I get along great with all the animals (and there are many) on the ranch and I sleep good with the silence about me.


Hi Ruby Rose:  Your story reminds me of the time we went to a senior luncheon in the city of Steinbach.  It was at the senior center.  My wife & I tried to sit with these 2 ladies because they had 2 empty chairs at their table.  We were told that we could not sit there as the chairs were reserved for their friends who are still coming.  Talk about "stuck in the mud" women.

Everytime we went any place in Steinbach we were always asked the same 2 questions:
1. What is your name?  They wanted to know if we had Mennonite names.  We did not!
2. What church do we belong to?  Steinbach had 31 churches when we lived there.

Talk about a city where the seniors all had some sort of small "village" mentality.  LOL


----------



## Pepper (Jan 4, 2021)

You're always in trouble when the first thing a stranger asks is "what church do you go to?"


----------



## Murrmurr (Jan 4, 2021)

I've never come across general unfriendliness in my travels but a strange (to me) thing happened in Thailand every day. The wind would come up and I saw people gathering up their stuff and running to take shelter because a monsoon was imminent. Every afternoon of every day. They lasted anywhere from 15-20 minutes to 90 or so.


----------



## Pepper (Jan 4, 2021)

Does unfriendly weather count?  Sure, why not!


----------



## officerripley (Jan 4, 2021)

Packerjohn said:


> Hi Ruby Rose:  Your story reminds me of the time we went to a senior luncheon in the city of Steinbach.  It was at the senior center.  My wife & I tried to sit with these 2 ladies because they had 2 empty chairs at their table.  We were told that we could not sit there as the chairs were reserved for their friends who are still coming.  Talk about "stuck in the mud" women.
> 
> Everytime we went any place in Steinbach we were always asked the same 2 questions:
> 1. What is your name?  They wanted to know if we had Mennonite names.  We did not!
> ...


Your experience at the senior center is something I've heard about a lot from my niece-in-law; she was an activities director for years at seniors/independent living/assisted living centers and she said that was common at all the places she worked, that for new people at the centers, it was like being the new kid at first day of junior high (middle) school; even though there was never official assigned seating, the "cool kids" (the seniors who'd been there the longest) would not allow newcomers to sit at their tables and were unfriendly for a long time toward newcomers. (She thought it was caused by the fact that at the living places, you had people who really didn;t want to be there, they'd rather be still in their 40s and in their nice big homes, so when people are unhappy they act like snotty adolescents and teenagers.)


----------



## Ruby Rose (Jan 4, 2021)

Packerjohn said:


> Hi Ruby Rose:  Your story reminds me of the time we went to a senior luncheon in the city of Steinbach.  It was at the senior center.  My wife & I tried to sit with these 2 ladies because they had 2 empty chairs at their table.  We were told that we could not sit there as the chairs were reserved for their friends who are still coming.  Talk about "stuck in the mud" women.
> 
> Everytime we went any place in Steinbach we were always asked the same 2 questions:
> 1. What is your name?  They wanted to know if we had Mennonite names.  We did not!
> ...


Memories...lots of memories..I have been to Steinbach. One of my problems was trying to get a seat on the bus!!! It was always being saved!!!


----------



## fuzzybuddy (Jan 5, 2021)

What was the friendliest place, the unfriendliest place, and  the strangest place I lived in. That's easy, New York City. "Strange" does not begin to describe NYC. Where else do the homeless march in parades? Where else does the "Five Families" do not refer to the socially elite? NYC has the tallest buildings, and the biggest rats. It can be unfriendly, you can be alone in a crowd of thousands. And it's the friendliest, everybody gets thrown together, so we're all in the same boat.


----------



## Pepper (Jan 5, 2021)

I have never met friendlier or more helpful people than I have in NYC and I've been around.  Maybe you don't inspire those qualities in strangers?  I do.  That's part of it.


----------



## CinnamonSugar (Jan 5, 2021)

When my oldest was a baby we traveled to Key West.  Saw a couple sites on arrival, settled into motel room, got ready to go out and get something for supper.  We heard there was lots going on at night.  Put the baby in the stroller, started toward center of town.  Carnival atmosphere with lots of people.  The farther we walked, the slower we went.  Finally we stopped.  Nothing physical we could point to, but we both felt the presence of *something*not right... it was almost like a literal wall.  We turned around and ordered pizza delivered to our motel room.  

Went out the next day, did the tours (right in the places we'd been the night before)... everything was hunky dory.  Still don't know what that was but it was weird.


----------



## Autumn (Jan 5, 2021)

Absolutely the friendliest place was Littleton, NH in the White Mountains.  My husband and I spent a lot of summers there.  We would be gone all winter, and our first day back when we went out to breakfast, the waitress would automatically bring me tea instead of coffee and ask my husband if he wanted his usual order.  All the other patrons would drop by our booth to catch us up on local happenings.  Strangers always spoke to us on the street, and when we went into Wal-Mart at 7am, everyone would say good morning.


----------



## Butterfly (Jan 5, 2021)

hollydolly said:


> I'll second that...Parisians are verrry rude...... it always makes me laugh when people say they'd love to visit Romantic Paris.. *ugh*


I agree with you.  Parisians are quite rude.  Although I loved seeing some of the sights (Notre Dame cathedral!), I didn't see anything romantic about Paris, either.


----------



## Butterfly (Jan 5, 2021)

Pepper said:


> I have never met friendlier or more helpful people than I have in NYC and I've been around.  Maybe you don't inspire those qualities in strangers?  I do.  That's part of it.



I never had any problem with NYC, either.


----------

