We think we're a friendly race

vorbis

I've heard plenty about how the americans are this and that. However, I'm over in Boston and I'd have to say that the Americans are hands down the friendliest people I've met especially when asking directions. On numerous occasions (I get lost easily ) I'd ask one guy and he'd actually stop a few other passerbys for me and ask them on my behalf.

You could be there with three or four people debating the best way to get where you're going. Other times, you might be just looking at two different streets and they'd ask you if you were looking for a place. I'm not saying the Irish wouldn't give you directions but they generally wouldn't be as helpful.

Royale with Cheese

That was my impression first time I arrived in America. We were lost looking for our room and people stopped and helped us without us even asking them. However there's other ways they're unfriendly, and annoying. I can't remember any because my mind's like a sieve.

TheVan

Americans can be very friendly but unfortunately we sometimes mistake it for genuine friendliness....if you walk into a shop over there, the staff seem really friendly, in reality it's put on. I find that really disconcerting. On the other hand in terms of giving directions etc they are great!

6ix

Like every nationality, they have their faults, but their willingness to help in shops etc always puts Ireland to shame.

Its such service-oriented society, quite a change from here where you're lucky to get a grunted 'thanks' when you shell out your money in most shops.

Crucifix

I don't think we really think we're a friendly race, just other people do.

stevenmu

Yeah, spent a summer in Boston. Maybe it's different in other parts of America but I found that once you get past the fake friendlieness and plastic smiles of people in shops/resteraunts, there is a very genuine and open friendlyness to them. I'd meet people and within minutes we'd be chatting away like best friends. By contrast us Irish and other Europeans are much more closed and reserved. I think Irish people are just as likely to give help with directions, but it's out of politeness, Americans seem much more eager to be friendly and helpfull.

Larianne

Places like Boston and Chicago have a big Irish background anyway and will be more friendly to you. But if you are a French person looking for directions in the States, I doubt people would be as friendly!! (as they don't like them much!)

Pigman II

Yeah I remember the first time I went to NewYork I couldn't get over how rude and sullen everyone was (that even goes for both people working service jobs as well as just the general public). I was about to write off the country as a whole based on these experiences but then I took a trip up to Boston and It was (literally) like a whole other world. Nearly all nice friendly people everywhere you went and there was a just calmer vibe to the place in general. Wouldn't mind going back there again sometime tbh.

connundrum

We were friendly. Then we found the evil money. Now our reputation as 'the land of a thousand welcomes' is fading fast and we don't really seem to bothered by it

Wanna buy my cultural identity? :rolleyes:

Big Nelly

The majority of people are friendly. Then you go to Dublin and you see why the atitude is changing. Its not the atitude of the Irish people as a whole but it seems to be more a Dublin problem.

They are so many ignorant people in Dublin it is beyond belief(not saying everyone but just a point of view). You ask anyone anything and half the time you get "Fu*k off culchie" or "where is your tractor". Great advertisement for Ireland. Go to Cork/Galway and the people are so nice. Dublin people seem to have this atitude that they are the best and everyone looks up to them and the that everyone owes them something. Well Im sorry to say thats not the truth.

now Im not saying every Dublin person is like this. I live in Dublin because of work but in the area I live the majority of the people are from a country background and mostly Cavan where I am from. Even the local is owned by a Cavan man but the kids and so on would call themselves Dublin people but at least they have respect and you can have a conversation with them. Say what you like but Dublin gives alot of tourist a bad view of Irish life.

Anyone I know that comes over I tell them get off the plane. Hop in car and drive off down country somewhere and have the time of your life. The Irish pub is one of our main attraction and is a World wide known tourist concept but go into a Dublin pub and it aint much like the ad. Go into a country pub and you will prob end up sipping pints with the locals and having a chat.

I was in NY and found alot of the people very false. All smiles and blah blah blah but went down to the Irish area in Queens where a few mates where staying and it was great. Everyone where helpful but not false help.

6ix

Yeah I would agree. NY is a bit more hustle and bustle than other american cities. It isn't quite as friendly as San Francisco for example, but that's to be expected given the size of the cities. In general though, Americans are helpful if you ask for their assistance, no matter what city you're in.

Big Nelly

6ix wrote:

Yeah I would agree. NY is a bit more hustle and bustle than other american cities. It isn't quite as friendly as San Francisco for example, but that's to be expected given the size of the cities. In general though, Americans are helpful if you ask for their assistance, no matter what city you're in.

NY they where helpful, especially one woman when me, girlfriend and mate where on underground. We got numbers mixed up and next thing realised that the train had stopped, girlfriend hopped out but doors closed before we could. Ended up on other side of city. She came over and told us exactly which underground to get to get back over to her. Was so funny. I couldnt stop laughing and to be fair she was laughing her head off as well.

but alot of them is false smiles and so on and after about 3 weeks you get sick of it.

OsamaBinLaden

Big Nelly wrote:

The majority of people are friendly. Then you go to Dublin and you see why the atitude is changing. Its not the atitude of the Irish people as a whole but it seems to be more a Dublin problem.

They are so many ignorant people in Dublin it is beyond belief(not saying everyone but just a point of view). You ask anyone anything and half the time you get "Fu*k off culchie" or "where is your tractor". Great advertisement for Ireland. Go to Cork/Galway and the people are so nice. Dublin people seem to have this atitude that they are the best and everyone looks up to them and the that everyone owes them something. Well Im sorry to say thats not the truth.

now Im not saying every Dublin person is like this. I live in Dublin because of work but in the area I live the majority of the people are from a country background and mostly Cavan where I am from. Even the local is owned by a Cavan man but the kids and so on would call themselves Dublin people but at least they have respect and you can have a conversation with them. Say what you like but Dublin gives alot of tourist a bad view of Irish life.

try being someone from Leixlip. you go into Dublin and you are called a culchie. go down the country and you are labelled as a dub. country folk can be just as nasty to dubs are dubs are to them. it's mostly friendly ribbing though. i've never seen it get nasty.

homah_7ft

6ix wrote:

Yeah I would agree. NY is a bit more hustle and bustle than other american cities. It isn't quite as friendly as San Francisco for example, but that's to be expected given the size of the cities. In general though, Americans are helpful if you ask for their assistance, no matter what city you're in.

I would definately agree with this. People asked me if I needed directions, without me asking, in San Francisco and suggested places to go etc.

vorbis

vorbis wrote:

I've heard plenty about how the americans are this and that. However, I'm over in Boston and I'd have to say that the Americans are hands down the friendliest people I've met especially when asking directions. On numerous occasions (I get lost easily ) I'd ask one guy and he'd actually stop a few other passerbys for me and ask them on my behalf.

You could be there with three or four people debating the best way to get where you're going. Other times, you might be just looking at two different streets and they'd ask you if you were looking for a place. I'm not saying the Irish wouldn't give you directions but they generally wouldn't be as helpful.

People are usually helpful to me, I find. In Ireland, like.
When I was trying to find out the new bus stop for the 66 one time - after that crash a couple years ago they changed it to somewhere along the quays, and damned if I knew where - a passerby I asked didn't know, so they asked someone else as well. When I was in Cork looking for somewhere, a nice person offered to lead me most of the way since they were in that general direction.

Boston was alright I guess. I didn't notice any particular friendliness, but I didn't notice much of a lack either.

ionapaul

I've lived for almost 5 years in the States (various locations in California) and another 24 years in Ireland, and I can say hand on heart Americans are the friendlier of the two peoples, in fact the friendliest I have ever met. So many people willing to open their hearts, homes and cars to my friends and I, it was amazing. Possibly this was because people are generally friendlier to foreigners...though are Irish people friendlier to Americans over other Irish? We all know the answer to that, typical comment you hear here when someone announces they are American, 'F*ck Bush, what an idiot, America is awful'...

dédé

Larianne wrote:

Places like Boston and Chicago have a big Irish background anyway and will be more friendly to you. But if you are a French person looking for directions in the States, I doubt people would be as friendly!! (as they don't like them much!)

Yeah I can tell you that's true!!!

faceman

TheVan wrote:

Americans can be very friendly but unfortunately we sometimes mistake it for genuine friendliness....if you walk into a shop over there, the staff seem really friendly, in reality it's put on. I find that really disconcerting.

Id rather that then some of the service we get in ireland!!

Ruu_Old

Most people where i live are very friendly, but the "thank you come again!" thing in the shops is drilled into them in training The only other annoying thing about America is the plastic patriotic people who come out of from under their rocks every once in a while. No joke, someone living near us has 10 American flags in their lawn in a row and one "Support our Troops", sickening!

scuba steve

ya i found the americans are more friendly too. They seem to go out of their way to help others more than other people

Setun

When I was in the US I originally thought "jeez these folks are downright nice people". I then realised that their generosity was merely a means of teasing out a few extra dollars from my wallet. Call me cynical, but it sure as heck felt like that. Some frisco jeweller girl being very nice started saying how she loved "Eireann", and how her relatives were from there, then asked where it was:
"Is Eireann west of here?"
"Er, yes. Eventually."
I suppose she was right though.

40crush41

ah Pigman II -new yorkers just have a place to be is all.. and then the general public.. well, they're just tourist pretending like they know where they are so they don't look lost. yea? no?


oh and also -Bostonians are amazing people. -Love that city.. even at Fenway Park they were kind enough to joke around with me while I was wearing a Yankees shirt. (red sox have an unnatual hatred towards yankees... to the point when a little boy is asked who gets coal in their stockings from Santa he answered 'The Yankees.') yeaa.. they're that nice.


Sure I agree, in general I'd say we answer a call when needed.. some areas are a lot better at hospitality than others though.. thats for sure (*the south*)

Dermington

ionapaul wrote:

I've lived for almost 5 years in the States (various locations in California) and another 24 years in Ireland, and I can say hand on heart Americans are the friendlier of the two peoples, in fact the friendliest I have ever met. So many people willing to open their hearts, homes and cars to my friends and I, it was amazing. Possibly this was because people are generally friendlier to foreigners...though are Irish people friendlier to Americans over other Irish? We all know the answer to that, typical comment you hear here when someone announces they are American, 'F*ck Bush, what an idiot, America is awful'...

I respect people with your attitude. I went to america a few years ago (florida) and i totally agree with what you are saying.

I did find the initial "false" niceness to throw me somewhat. Unfortunately it seems the majority of americans that I have met in my lifetime I did not get on with.

That says nothing of the people others have met or the country as a whole.

Hobbes

US is like Europe. You can't equate one state to be the exact same as the other.

For example try asking for directions in New York and you will find they aren't as friendly. As metioned SF people are generally friendly. San Digeo too although not if your not in a car

Also depends a lot on where you are. Try asking for directions at 11pm in the Combat Zone in Boston.

mise_me_fein_V2

Americans are fake a lot of the time.
I thought the black Americans were friendly, well some of them.

They'd come up and talk to ya, same as we do here.

Americans are false I think.

Irish people are friendly. I work with lots of foreigners and they say this, if they could only get out of Dublin, they'd see how real Irish people are more friendly.

40crush41

True that Hobbes. just look at ny state: theres upstate, nyc, long island... very different areas to say the least.

DonkeyStyle \o/

I think everyone everywhere is friendly until they get mugged/stabbed/raped/hassled by some random stranger... I wouldn't blame anyone for not stopping to give directions... so many freaks out there.

Siogfinsceal

was in a town down the country at the weekend. Lots of people were very friendly but when I drove into the town where I hadnt been before I went to go park in a car park. I needed to check if I needed to pay. As I was driving in another lady was driving out. I stopped and rolled down my window to ask her. She stopped, glared at me and then drove off!. We up the town and had to buy a fair few items so the nice guy gave me a large box to put them all in. Walked down the shop with this huge box in my hands and this woman walks in the door of the shop. Im about 2 ft away from the door but instead of holding it open for me she let it slam and walked by! I was shocked at th esheer ignorance and rudeness of these people it gives the rest o fus a bad name - we are going to soon lose are reputation as a friendly race

fischerspooner

Irish people are friendly enough I suppose, but in the US and Canada etc. they seem to be more enthusiastic for some reason, lord knows why, maybe it's because they don't meet foreigners often. As for all of you moaning about dubs being unfriendly, it's not like country folk are any friendlier than we are.

boardy

fischerspooner wrote:

Irish people are friendly enough I suppose, but in the US and Canada etc. they seem to be more enthusiastic for some reason, lord knows why, maybe it's because they don't meet foreigners often.

Maybe they are just friendly?
What amazes me are the posts about the false and insincere Americans. Are some so insecure that they will question all acts of kindness and friendliness and assume that there is an ulterior motive?

dédé

boardy wrote:

Maybe they are just friendly?
What amazes me are the posts about the false and insincere Americans. Are some so insecure that they will question all acts of kindness and friendliness and assume that there is an ulterior motive?

Well I can tell you they're very hypocritical people coz when I was there I could hear them speak (they didn't know I understood them) and they were not as friendly as you seem to be thinking. I'm not generalizing of course, but as a foreigner you have to be careful, they'll do everything they can to take your money.

Blackjack

déd&#233 wrote:

Well I can tell you they're very hypocritical people coz when I was there I could hear them speak (they didn't know I understood them) and they were not as friendly as you seem to be thinking. I'm not generalizing of course, but as a foreigner you have to be careful, they'll do everything they can to take your money.

Anyone who's job it is to sell things will do what they can to sell you things. It's no different in any other country.

dédé

Blackjack wrote:

Anyone who's job it is to sell things will do what they can to sell you things. It's no different in any other country.

I fully agree with you on that point. Except that the people I heard were not working!
Maybe it's only because I'm French, I don't know how they behave to Irish people.
Anyway, I truelly believe Irish people are much more friendly.

fischerspooner

boardy wrote:

Maybe they are just friendly?
What amazes me are the posts about the false and insincere Americans. Are some so insecure that they will question all acts of kindness and friendliness and assume that there is an ulterior motive?

when you live in ireland and then you're subjected to this "friendliness" in America of course you're going to be sceptical, coming from where we do.

boardy

fischerspooner wrote:

when you live in ireland and then you're subjected to this "friendliness" in America of course you're going to be sceptical, coming from where we do.

Granted ............

déd&#233 wrote:

Well I can tell you they're very hypocritical people coz when I was there I could hear them speak (they didn't know I understood them) and they were not as friendly as you seem to be thinking. I'm not generalizing of course, but as a foreigner you have to be careful, they'll do everything they can to take your money.

All 295,734,134 of them?
From my 16 years living there, I found the majority to be genuine and friendly people.

dédé

All 295,734,134 of them?
From my 16 years living there, I found the majority to be genuine and friendly people.[/QUOTE]

Not all of them of course, I also met some very nice people (I still have friends there). It must be because they don't like French people since you all seem to think they're nice. Next time I go I won't say I'm French and see how they behave.

fly_agaric

Big Nelly wrote:

Go to Cork/Galway and the people are so nice.

Unless they hear the grate of a jackeen accent!:D
I jest, I jest... (sort of).

xzanti

I was under the impression we were simply a nationality rather than a race (not being smart) tbh... I could be/probably am completely wrong

modular

Definitely varies from place to place. Of course there'll be dodginess in Dublin City Centre, just as there'd be dodginess in inner city NY.

However, when I went to Galway, I found the place to have a very friendly atmosphere, hard to explain. Also, the buskers were much better than anywhere else I've seen.

Willymuncher

After being in Oklahoma City for the past few months, I have to say every person I met was very friendly, course it varies from place to place, but in general I find the Americans to be very polite....those who I've met anyway.

40crush41

DonkeyStyle \o/ wrote:

I think everyone everywhere is friendly until they get mugged/stabbed/raped/hassled by some random stranger... I wouldn't blame anyone for not stopping to give directions... so many freaks out there.

Nice call -can't blame anyone for wanting to be safe. Take the idea a step further.. just leads an area with higher crime to become impersonal, which then seems like the people are unfriendly, but really they are just people.. some being nice/others not once you get to know them.
hmm reminds me of the hypothetical question:
If you saw someone stuck on the side of the road, would you stop and help?
I'm pretty positive I wouldn't. I figure I would try to get the license plate if possible and call for help.


fischerspooner -you're prob going somewhere with that foreigners idea.


Dede -I'm confused about what you said, they talked about how to get your money, but they weren't selling you anything? We're they planning to rob you? I'll let you clarify that first
And nope -I havn't experienced all of this country, but from what I know.. a lot of people loved/would love to go to France so I don't know why the would be rude to you since we were from France.. perhaps u just met some winners we have our share of them.

Ruu_Old

True about not stopping and giving directions or helping with a car problem etc. Certain parts of the US, from my experience, East St.Louis is a death trap. I was down there on business in a hotel not that far from East St.Louis and the lady in the hotel told me not to go near the place. She said someone was shot recently after they stopped when their car was broken down. A few people in the hotel were there at the time also backed up the lady and what she had said. Driving through East St.Louis a few days later, i can see what they were talking about, what a mess of a spot!:rolleyes: