Are people from the Northern part of the US really rude?

Question

Down here in the south we are just so friendly and I've not been up north and there is that stigma of them being rude and I just want to know if it's true.

Answer 1

I think you really mean "northeasterner", which I am... I would say that we aren't so much rude (though don't get me wrong, lots are) so much as we mind our own business. We don't talk to strangers, start up conversations on the train, look each other in the eye... but if you trip on the sidewalk people will help you. We hold doors for each other. If you need directions, we'll give them to you. If you smile, we smile back. We're just self-absorbed a lot of the time. We're stand-offish which can seem rude to others.

Answer 2

I am from the north, Philadelphia and NYC, but I have lived in the south< ATL, Dallas, and I am dating a southerner, so i think i have a pretty well rounded idea of the differences between the standard northerner, vs. the standard southerner...

you are right, sort of, northerners are far more blunt and to the poin t than your average southerner.. probably because in northern cities, they are walking (as opposed to driving) cities, so you are constantly confronted with people everywhere you go... so eventually, whether its weariness, laziness, or time management, you learn to just tell people what you want/need/think out-right instead of spending a ton of time saying the same thing... this doesn't make them more "rude" just more blunt... southerners have just as mean and justa as kind hearts as northerners, they just seem to smile to your face a loit more, and I think that this is for the opposite reason, when you spend most of your day driving from a to b people can be a pleasant diversion and interactions between people are far less frequent so it is easier to keep a smile on your face and a more pleasant attitude at first, regardless of what is truly in the southerners hearts...

so i guess it is just a difference in culture...

Answer 3

No, I don't think we're any more rude than southerners. I just think that we're not as nosy or open with total strangers. In the Northeast (which is what I think you're referring to) we mind our own business and don't offer up any unnecessary info about our personal lives. We don't look strangers in the eyes or get too close to each other (unless absolutely necessary). As long as you're not in dire need of companionship from total strangers on crowded streets, trains or buses, you should be all right. I don't think there is anything wrong with it at all! However, we do help those in need when we see them. But if you did need help in some way here, you'd have to ask because no one is going to walk right up to you and offer it. I've been to the South and found it to be somewhat intrusive. Also the rampant KKK action that drove my family up north in the first place was no help.

Answer 4

I lived in the south for years and now I live in the north, and I agree with most of the people here...It's mainly a surface thing.
Southerners tend to have a much more languid, easy-going attitude; Northerners have places to BE! But most people are just as genuinely nice underneath.

But it also makes a difference if you are talking east VS west coast, as well.

Answer 5

I'm from the north and of course I'm biased and will say that we are not rude. To us, there is a difference between being friendly and being nosy. I've been to a few southern states and it has taken me aback at times at the forwardness of their friendliness. Making small talk is not our forte, it's probably because we move at a faster pace and seem to be in a rush to get everywhere, but I wouldn't mistaken it for rudeness.

Answer 6

Not at all. I grew up in the South and found them to be quite rude and cold. I moved back to the North at 17. I am glad I did.

Answer 7

There are rude people in the south also. I know as I've lived from NC all the way to AZ.

Just as there are rude people down south, there are nice people up north.

Answer 8

As someone who has traveled extensively, I can tell you for a fact there is a major difference. In New York and Wisconsin, people seem to have contempt for others. I hated living up North so much that I will never, ever, go back. Men seem to have no respect for women up there, and you're lucky not to get hit with a door coming in after one of these cold creatures. They do not wave to one another and family may live 2 miles away from and not speak to one another. Southerners are always thrilled to see friends and loved ones. Think of it this way in these terms: southern gentlemen and southern hospitality-not Northern!

Answer 9

I was born in Mississippi and raised in MS, LA, and TX. I moved to MA at the age of 27.

Personally, I prefer the Northern attitude and mentality. I grew up with people who would smile at you and be "nice" to your face while stabbing you in the back. Southerners are taught to be nice to EVERYONE, even your worst enemy because it is all in how a thing looks. So, it's hard to trust that someone being nice to you actually likes you!
In the North, you know where you stand. There isn't any of this fake sweetness thing happening. Either they like you or they don't and you definitely know it!

It is not a difference in "small town" vs "big city" mentality because Dallas and Fort Worth are HUGE citiies. It's a difference in how you are taught to mind your manners.

Answer 10

Yes and no, same as anywhere. There's that perception however, and I think part of it could be that big city living calls for different skills as opposed to living in a small town. Survival skills, perhaps? And when most think of the east, it's the larger cities, like New York, Baltimore, Boston, etc. It's just a different culture. If everything is moving a mile a minute, so are you.