Friendliness in Phoenix, Arizona


Since I grew up in Minnesota, I know about friendliness. It's something of a cliché, Minnesota friendliness, similar to the friendliness that Canadians are famous for. Of course, not everyone there is friendly, there are some stinkers, as I'm sure that they are actually some friendly people in France. That's the way that stereotypes work. Much of what we see is actually based on our expectations.

I've only lived three places in my life: Minneapolis, Phoenix, and Los Angeles. And I've found people to be friendly there about the same. I've never been back east, but I have friends who grew up there, and while their friendliness is different from mine (if you ask them what time it is, they ask you if they look like Big Ben to you?!), it's just in subtle ways of communication.

As I was looking at the 1950s ad at the top of this post about making friends in Mesa, Arizona, I'm reminded that people tend to be more friendly if they think they'll get some money for it. Now calm down here, I'm not talking about people scamming or anything like that, I've just noted that people tend to be much more friendly at a garage sale if I'm handing them a quarter. Amazing how that works!

Friendliness is about trust. I've known a lot of people who have good reason not to trust, and they tend to be startled when a complete stranger says, "Good morning!" Speaking for myself, I love to be acknowledged. I wave to neighbors, I say hello to people that I pass in the morning when I walk for coffee. If someone has their head down, or is looking away, I won't push it, but if they glance at me I'll smile and be friendly. I do get a reward for it, which is hearing a friendly voice and maybe seeing a smile. I make friends easily.

Thank you for being friendly!

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