OT - Are Yankees rude?

[LiveMusic]

I've been taking a friend's sales calls for a week now while he is on vacation. The calls are coming from the NY, NJ, CT area from radio ads.

 

I am not casting stones at all, just reporting. I'm sure there are gobs or great people from New England.

 

Ya know the proverbial "yankees are rude" stereotype. From what I can tell, it has some truth to it. No doubt, I've had some "nice" callers. But gee, I've had some jerks too.

 

My observation is that this is highly unusual for me. People in the south, the people I communicate with 99% of the time, just do not talk to people like this.

 

I have everything from very brusque conversations where they are just very "short" with me to hangups. Three people have hung up on me when I answered their question. They got what they wanted and slam. I've had customer service calls where the caller is downright rude.

 

Again, new territory for me.

 

I wonder what caused these differences.

[antimatter]

http://www.destinationhollywood.com/celebrities/images/robertdeniro_taxidriver_01.jpg

 

Are you talkin' to me?

 

But really, I agree. It's a rude enviornment around the tri state area. Traffic, property taxes, pollution? Beats me.

[AlanThomas]

I always thought Derek Jeeter seemed pretty nice...

[KenElevenShadows]

East Coast - this is a GROSS generalization, but many strike me as abrupt, perhaps sometimes rude, but not flighty. You make a friend, it's a friend for long-term. Because of the latter, I'm more than willing to put up with the former!

[Kendrix]

Its all relative.

Ita partly just a matter of style.

Rudeness to someone from the Carolinas is just a common -blue collar means of expreessing yourself in NY.

A southrerner may take umbrage- while a native New Yorker wouldnt consider it rude at all.

 

IMHO- There definately are differences- but the term "rude" reflects a judgment that comes from a particilar perspective/frame of reference.

 

Id also note some folks consider Chinese to be particularly rude. Note that many Chinese have in common with New Yorkers a very densely populated urban setting. You cant successfully walk down some streets in Shanghai without acting "rudely" by some standards.

[Psychotronic]

Part of the problem is that we New Yorkers are quite geocentric, without really knowing it consciously. What's that mean? We think where we live is the best, and everywhere else sucks. We're smart, and everybody else is dumb. Add to that the sense of entitlement that some people have, which causes them to abandon any semblance of courtesy.

[Rim]

Kendrix makes a good point. In the "Yankee" region, the behaviour is accepted, but I do see how it would be considered rude elsewhere.

 

I pretty much grew up in NY (Long Island) but have now lived in northern VA for 13 years. I'm still making an adjustment on saying hello back, to say, the person behind the convenience store counter. I still have the NY in me where I normally would not initiate that conversation.

 

In NY (generality coming), time is considered such a precious commodity that people have done without the customary hellos. You go in the convenience store, bring your stuff to the counter, you pay then you leave. Many times, words are not even spoken. On the contrary, when you see someone "chatting it up" with a cashier, you think they're from out of town or they have nothing better to do. And if your chatting is slowing down the cashier and holding up the line, then you're just being annoying.

 

Which brings me to a funny story. I'd go to this car wash here in VA and like I said, I tend to be in NY mode: go in, get my car washed, pay, then go - not really saying a word to anyone (well, I say thank you to the folks wiping down my car). Anyway, the last time, I asked the cashier if I could use a closed door (which was normally open) to go outside. He said yes but he also said he thought I was deaf (he actually meant mute, but whatever). I said what? He said, cuz I never hear you say anything. He didn't say it in a joking matter so I just went outside to wait for my car. The little sh!t was giving me an evil look through the glass in the door! Finally, I looked at him directly and gave him a "what are you lookin at?" gesture. When I got my car back, I went inside and just started kinda yelling at him. Yes, I was that "crazy" guy at that moment. He was backpedalling, pointing to other customers that they say hello and stuff like that. I basically told him there are other car washes around. And I haven't been back since. Like I said, I tend not to initiate those kinds of courtesies but I will return them. This guy didn't say anything to me either so that's why I never said anything back.

 

Man, I guess I'm bored at work - diarrhea of the mouth (or fingers).

[flyscots]

Try living in Britain. I'm sure the weather plays a major role. Here a 'convenience store' smile is rare and usually forced. Most people are miserable most of the time. The first reaction is to dislike someone and find out what is wrong with them, this is why I prefer living in the US where usually his is reversed.

[LiveMusic]

Originally posted by flyscots:

Try living in Britain. I'm sure the weather plays a major role. Here a 'convenience store' smile is rare and usually forced. Most people are miserable most of the time. The first reaction is to dislike someone and find out what is wrong with them, this is why I prefer living in the US where usually his is reversed.

I would not have thought that. I mean, like, I know the Beatles!

[Jeff Klopmeyer]

When you don't smile at a stranger in the South, it's rude.

 

When you do smile at a stranger in New York, Boston, London, and even occasionally L.A., you might be maced.

 

The world is a many-faceted gem.

 

- Jeff

[phaeton]

I would say most everyone in the world would say that Yanks are rude...

 

btw, what flyscots says totally blows me away.

[Dan South]

What's a yankee? Do you mean a baseball player from the Bronx? Was Babe Ruth rude? Joe Di Maggio? Mickey Mantle? They seemed like nice guys to me.

 

Or do you mean an American (as in, "Yankee, go home!")? I've met plenty of rude Americans, but I would never go as far as classifying all of my countrymen as rude.

 

Those are the only two definitions of "yankee" in MY dictionary.

[Lee Tyler]

Main Entry: [1]Yan·kee

Pronunciation: 'ya[ng]-kE

Function: noun

Etymology: origin unknown

Date: 1758

1 a : a native or inhabitant of New England b : a native or inhabitant of the northern U.S.

2 : a native or inhabitant of the U.S.

- Yan·kee·dom /-kE-d&m/ noun

- Yan·kee·ism /-kE-"i-z&m/ noun

[Alndln]

There's at least 1 of everyone on every block of the USA.Now Blow Me!!

[BP3]

I find the French to be quite pleasant.

[Jode]

Anyone who doesn't think Yankees are rude should come endure one snowbird season with me at the beach. Just one. For the record, "Yankee" means anyone who is not a native Southerner who takes great pleasure in vacationing in the south and telling us how to live. In my opinion, northeastern Yankees, especially those from The City, are much easier to take than midwestern ones. More attitude, but generally more fun and more carefree. The snowbirds I deal with, from God-forsaken places like Wisconsin and Minnesota, are just cold, petty, miserable, CHEAP! don't forget CHEAP! people. Restaurants in my town lose their shirts every winter on anything that's not nailed down: salt, pepper, napkins, condiment packets, even lemons. One restaurant manager I know had to start charging extra for lemon wedges because the cheap sons'a bitches were squeezing them into their (free) ice water, adding sugar, and making lemonade. He was losing money on lemon wedges, fer crissakes.

 

Put it to you this way. I made only one New Year's resolution, and that was to not take any shit off any snowbirds this year, and to give as good as I got. I only had to follow it once. A couple came in my shoe store, and the wife made a comment about wanting to get her husband in some sandals, to which he replied, "Not gonna happen." Knowing it was hopeless and just making small talk, I said, "Well, you never know. We got my grandfather his first pair ever at age 82, and they're all he ever wants to wear." Asshole looks at me and says, "He must be mentally ill." What the fuck did you say?

 

In nearly four years, I had never thrown anyone out of my store. It was fun.

 

I really give every human being an equal chance to be my friend, I really do. But still... stereotypes don't just pop out of thin air, people. From January til March, where I live, if you have gray hair and that godawful nails-on-a-chalkboard midwestern accent, chances are you're an asshole. The statistics support it.

[Barandine Vondenger]

I was ALWAYS dissapointed in folkes till i dee-cided to never expect more than breathing out of folkes .

If you ain't a'tryin' to be better than you were yesterday, everyday then you are dead meat anyway.

dead meat cast stones and talk about foreigners like foreigners was not as goode as them.

it's really easy to work that jaw or in this case some fangers 'gainst a writ board.

how about you workin' that SOUL.

that's a leetle tougher now ain't it?

let us warm our hearts, by the fire of our committment: to strive to be better than we were.

WHAT ELSE IS THERE? money? things? sex?

it's people. hearts. souls.

 

.

your soul. work it! work it!

[Jeff Klopmeyer]

Originally posted by Dan South:

Was Babe Ruth rude? Joe Di Maggio? Mickey Mantle? They seemed like nice guys to me.

I'd heard that Mantle was an all-out prick, and that Joe could be a hard-ass, and that Babe pretty much walked all over everybody around him. And that all three of them were nasty drunks.

 

Bad analogy, man. Those guys in the Bronx weren't (and aren't) known for their people skills.

 

Jeter, perhaps, seems possibly okay.

 

- Jeff

[Blue Strat]

Most of the folks I've met from Pennsylvania are nice, even the black folks from Philly that I work with. I guess it all depends on what part of the north they're from. One of the guys in my two year school was from Illinois. He was a jack-ass at times, but I managed to get along with him. Hell, I manage to get along with most everyone. But still, I'm not all that convinced that yankees are mostly friendly.

 

Yankee - Anyone from the states that made up the Union between 1860 and 1865.

 

Southerner - Anyone born and raised in the states that made up the Confederacy 1860 - 1865

 

I'm a southerner.

[not coaster MODERATOR]

Originally posted by Psychotronic:

Part of the problem is that we New Yorkers are quite geocentric, without really knowing it consciously. What's that mean? We think where we live is the best, and everywhere else sucks. We're smart, and everybody else is dumb. Add to that the sense of entitlement that some people have, which causes them to abandon any semblance of courtesy.

mmmmm...... ny

 

http://www.angelfire.com/nv/207/strippedcarsbrooklyn3.jpg

 

or california

 

http://www.hollisterranch.com/images/_hr_gallery/hr_classic.jpg

 

so tough to choose

[phaeton]

Part of the problem is that we New Yorkers are quite geocentric, without really knowing it consciously. What's that mean? We think where we live is the best, and everywhere else sucks. We're smart, and everybody else is dumb. Add to that the sense of entitlement that some people have, which causes them to abandon any semblance of courtesy.

 

This is actually something i've observed in a lot of places. Seems like no matter where you go, there are the locals that are convinced their way of live is correct (and they've got all the justifications and excuses at hand), and everywhere else is fscked up.

 

Another thing that's interesting, is that people forget how to drive defensively as soon as they cross over the state line. I realise the driving laws might be slightly different from state to state, but they aren't *that* different.

And no matter where you go, you'll find laws against driving 20 miles over the speed limit, running red lights or cutting people off in traffic. I have no idea how to explain this, either.

[Alndln]

Originally posted by Jeff Da Weasel:

I'd heard that Mantle was an all-out prick, and that Joe could be a hard-ass, and that Babe pretty much walked all over everybody around him. And that all three of them were nasty drunks.

Mantle was from Oaklahoma,Ruth from Baltimore and Dimaggio from San Fran.Ruth(the only Yankee out of the 3) grew up in his father's bar and was beaten daily,then given to a Catholic foster home where it continued,but turned out to be the one with the most generous disposition.Go figure.

[whitefang]

It's all a matter of reletivity. I've always found southerners to be quite pleasant, before I grew my hair in the '60's. Even then, when travelling to the south, the hospitality was overwhelming. However, many of my BLACK acquaintances say they have never experienced it.

 

As a Detroiter, and an autoworker, I knew plenty of southerners over the years. I've never had any qualms about any of them. I've found the ratio of nice-guy to asshole to be on par with many of my northern friends.

 

I've never understood the ability of anyone who would travel to another part of the country and act like they own the place. When I was in Tennessee some years back, I was witness to some of that brand of ill-manner. I simply chalked it up more to poor upbringing than regional eccentricity. At least, I was brought up better than that.

 

Whitefang

[bassix]

If you want to see rude come to the Netherlands. Peasants here eat newyorkers for breakfast.

[Blue Strat]

Originally posted by whitefang:

It's all a matter of reletivity. I've always found southerners to be quite pleasant, before I grew my hair in the '60's. Even then, when travelling to the south, the hospitality was overwhelming. However, many of my BLACK acquaintances say they have never experienced it.

I was raised to believe that everyone should be treated with respect until they prove they are undeserving. Whites and blacks are all people and we should all be treated equal. You can't judge a race by a single person.

 

However, as a whole, I believe that there are a lot of black folks out there that feel I owe them something because I'm white and southern, and I'm not ashamed of it. I'm as proud of my heritage as they are of theirs.

 

I also feel that a lot of yankees look at southerners as stupid, uneducated, backwoods hicks due to our slow, unhurried mannerisms and speach. There's still a lot of shit that stays stirred up from the reconstruction era in the south, and continues to effect north/south relations to this day.

[offramp]

Originally posted by bassix:

If you want to see rude come to the Netherlands. Peasants here eat newyorkers for breakfast.

Well,now, in your case, we can blame it on the diet.

[Dan South]

Originally posted by Lee Tyler:

Main Entry: [1]Yan·kee

Pronunciation: 'ya[ng]-kE

Function: noun

Etymology: origin unknown

Date: 1758

1 a : a native or inhabitant of New England b : a native or inhabitant of the northern U.S.

2 : a native or inhabitant of the U.S.

- Yan·kee·dom /-kE-d&m/ noun

- Yan·kee·ism /-kE-"i-z&m/ noun

Where did you find that, in the "I fuck my sister while my brother-in-law is out over yonder skinnin' possums" dictionary?

 

So if a Yankee is from New England, why is there so much talk of New York in this assinine thread?

 

If a Yankee is a resident of the northern US, does that mean that people from Oregon and Montana and Wyoming are Yankees?

 

It's a fucked up word, like spic or ho or fag or nigger. It's a word used by small minded people who want a convenient excuse to look down on someone else. Don't disparage a person until you've walked ten miles in their shoes, as the saying goes.

 

You have permission to refer to us as Northerners from now on, if you wish, even though my name is South. But you can blow that Yankee word out you asshole with last night's chile, because as far as I'm concerned, it's not a word that has a legitimate reason for existing.

[Dan South]

Originally posted by Jeff Da Weasel:

Originally posted by Dan South:

Was Babe Ruth rude? Joe Di Maggio? Mickey Mantle? They seemed like nice guys to me.

I'd heard that Mantle was an all-out prick, and that Joe could be a hard-ass, and that Babe pretty much walked all over everybody around him. And that all three of them were nasty drunks.

 

Bad analogy, man. Those guys in the Bronx weren't (and aren't) known for their people skills.

 

I included Mantle because I knew that he was from the south. I wasn't sure where the other two were from, but nevertheless, your response reinforces the point that I was trying to make. If Mantle was a bastard who happens to be from Oklahoma, well, I suppose that living in a cold weather state isn't necessarily the cause of impoliteness in every case, now is it?

[Lee Tyler]

Where did you find that, in the "I fuck my sister while my brother-in-law is out over yonder skinnin' possums" dictionary?

Uh...Merriam-Webster on line.

[Dan South]

Originally posted by Lee Tyler:

Where did you find that, in the "I fuck my sister while my brother-in-law is out over yonder skinnin' possums" dictionary?

Uh...Merriam-Webster on line.

Wasn't Webster a yankee from Connecticut?