Okay so one would think that the temperament and the vibes from others wouldn't change from one state to the next. Let me tell you something... it does. I will never forget my first holiday season down here. Let me tell the story:
Trav didn't move down yet permanently, but he was visiting for the holidays and decided to stay from Thanksgiving until New Years (yes, he didn't have a job so he could do that). I decided to take him to Walmart for god knows what now, but we were there for something we thought was important. Everything was normal right up until we were walking out and this man stopped Trav in the parking lot to ask what our plans were for the holidays and to have a very merry Christmas and all that jazz. I never saw Trav so like "what the fuck" in my life.
Let me say this about my birth state: people can be nice. People can be nice in public. But mostly, there isn't such pleasantries in the middle of parking lots or walking down the streets as there are here in the south. Down here, everyone is smiling and willing to talk to one another whether they are known to each other or not. If you're in Albany and you walk too close to someone, most likely that person is going to be perturbed, forget pleasantries. There's no random "hi's" or "hello's".
People talk down here. We can be sitting at a restaurant and someone in the table next to us will overhear our conversation and pitch in like its no big deal. The funny thing is though, it doesnt feel rude, it doesn't bother anyone, it just happens.
All of this happens all year round, but there is an even bigger sense of it during the holidays. Like people want others to know that they are appreciated. In NY no one cared. I certainly didn't. And granted, I am not the first one to say "hi, how are you" or "happy holidays" but I wont ignore the person that said it to me either like I would in NY.
Its just that different.
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