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| Guadalquivir river path ---> glum |
On the flip side, when I went running on the Vistula river in Krakow, and it was about 13 degrees F (-8 C) out, everyone I passed smiled and nodded and waved. Now, I am sure that in reality, there is no correlation between weather and friendliness, but I thought that people in the warmer climes would be more engaging; I mean, you are outside, it is a beautiful day and it is not 13 degrees F outside! Rejoice!
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| Vistula River path --> very cheerful |
After seeing several people with glum faces, I started trying to make eye contact with people and then smiling at them and basically out of the couple dozen people who I tested this on, one person smiled back. What is happening here (besides them probably thinking that I am loco in the cabeza! I mean, they may not be wrong)?
So then I thought that maybe it was just a city thing. I mean, if you are in San Francisco versus being in a small California town, you will probably get more people just going about their business and not saying hello to every passerby, whereas in a small town, we wave at everyone, whether we know them or not. However, even in San Francisco, if you are running on a path next to the ocean, you may still give a brief nod of solidarity to other runners.
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| Pacific promenade --> slight nod |
Anyway, then I went to the Costa del Sol to a small town on the coast, and ran along the promenade there, and tried to make eye contact (loco!) and still was not getting any response.
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| Mediterranean promenade --> still glum |
And then it rained. You know me; I never let a bit of wet deter me, and I went out for my daily run along the beach. There were not a lot of people out. It was raining and very windy and the drops were pelting my face and I could not even hear my music. But then it happened! The few people going the other way were smiling! Even a guy on a bike looked straight at me and WAVED! I was so happy!
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| Rainy day at the beach --> Happy as! |
I mean, look, I have not made any lifelong friends from this experience, but it turns out that braving adversary together seems to be the ticket. Maybe that explains why the Polish people were friendly? Braving the cold = we are in this together!
What is the vibe like on your normal walking or running route? What is your theory about cold vs hot and friendliness?
It's hard to say. With the news being so glum lately, maybe people are just in their own heads and thoughts. That said, I am a person who says hi or at least smiles at everyone I pass on the walking path, and I know more than I really need to know about strangers because I end up in conversations a lot!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting! I've heard that parts of Spain are not friendly to tourists, so could it be that?
ReplyDeleteIn my neighborhood people will at least wave, but unless both parties have dogs or kids they usually don't stop to chit chat. I've had a few great experiences with neighborhoods when I travel - Port Clinton, Ohio, the place we stayed in Buffalo, Rochester, and St. Pete last month are a few that come to mind. In all of these places when I was walking around the hood people would not only say hi but ask how I was. Like you say, I'm not making lifelong friends, but it really adds to the experience.