# Are Europeans really unfriendlier than Americans? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 29, 2015, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-europeans-really-unfriendlier-than-americans/721105 "2015-05-29T11:36:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-europeans-really-unfriendlier-than-americans/721105/61 "2015-05-29T22:23:39Z")
> [@protoboard](#): > > But people in the Pacific Northwest _are_ very smug and humorless, not that there aren’t exceptions. What is your frame of reference? Smug and humorless compared to whom? Just yourself? Have you lived or spent time in places where people weren’t smug and humorless? If the only frame of reference is you, personally… Than perhaps it is just humanity that is subjectively smug and humorless and you are the lone outlier in this grey, grey world. Or, you know, it is something else. ---
**Author:** ![protoboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@protoboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/protoboard)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-europeans-really-unfriendlier-than-americans/721105/62 "2015-05-29T22:31:51Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > What is your frame of reference? Smug and humorless compared to whom? Just yourself? Have you lived or spent time in places where people weren’t smug and humorless? If the only frame of reference is you, personally… > > Than perhaps it is just humanity that is subjectively smug and humorless and you are the lone outlier in this grey, grey world. Or, you know, it is something else. I see you are from the West Coast too. You see, I find this attitude is ESPECIALLY prevalent on our coast. Maybe it’s a holdover of the Wild West everyman for himself mentality, but I just think a lot of people here really are insufferable pricks to the “have nots”. And yes, I’ve traveled to many different parts of North America and while I think humanity pretty much sucks everywhere, the West Coast is the absolute dregs when it comes to unwarranted snobbery and self righteous standoffishness. England seems pretty bad too, tons of humorless and smug people there also. Oddly for all the stuff you hear about Southerners and Midwesterners being narrow minded I find that most of the people I know from there are a lot more open and friendly than the people from my home region. Most of them only have positive things to say about the West Coast too, while West Coasters never have anything nice to say about anywhere that is not the West Coast, aside from Hawaii. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-europeans-really-unfriendlier-than-americans/721105/63 "2015-05-29T23:34:58Z")
You’re nuts, plain and simple. The above post has so much wrong in it it might as well be Republican. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-europeans-really-unfriendlier-than-americans/721105/64 "2015-05-30T00:06:11Z")
> [@protoboard](#): > > I see you are from the West Coast too. I was born back East and have lived both there ( multiple cities ) and in the Midwest. I have been out West for quite a while though. That much is accurate. > [@](#): > > You see, I find this attitude is ESPECIALLY prevalent on our coast. Maybe it’s a holdover of the Wild West everyman for himself mentality, but I just think a lot of people here really are insufferable pricks to the “have nots”. > > Oddly for all the stuff you hear about Southerners and Midwesterners being narrow minded I find that most of the people I know from there are a lot more open and friendly than the people from my home region. Regional cultures do differ, but I suspect you’re seeing the surface and mistaking it for the substance. Southerners very generally have a tradition of hospitality, but a lot of that can be skin deep and outward warmth can mask a lot of internal hositility or at least diffidence. My mother’s side of the family is almost entirely southern - they can be as nasty as anyone ( not necessarily nast_ier_ ), they just usually aren’t in your face about it. As folks have said, people pretty much are people. The poor are treated bad _everywhere_. This is a fact. But honestly for all the paternalism and condescension ( par for the course ), the urban, liberal Pacific coast is probably on average more compassionate to the poor than many parts of the country ( and most of the world ). I know folks that preferred other regional cultural attitudes. Horses for courses. But your “grass is greener” syndrome is really causing you to dig in your heels on this argument to the point where it seems hyperbolic and is causing people frustration. Hence a lot of the pushback you’re getting. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-europeans-really-unfriendlier-than-americans/721105/65 "2015-05-30T00:22:04Z")
The people in this thread are behaving exactly the way I thought they would. ---
**Author:** ![protoboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@protoboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/protoboard)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-europeans-really-unfriendlier-than-americans/721105/66 "2015-05-30T00:24:21Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > The people in this thread are behaving exactly the way I thought they would. What amazes me is that they have the nerve to tell me I am the one being uncivil and rude. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-europeans-really-unfriendlier-than-americans/721105/67 "2015-05-30T00:35:50Z")
> [@protoboard](#): > > What amazes me is that they have the nerve to tell me I am the one being uncivil and rude. :eek: You’re the only person in this thread who has called someone rude (ok, Darth Panda did too in the context of saying how most Parisians are _not_ rude). We don’t think you’re rude, we’re just tired of your whining and lack of self-awareness. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-europeans-really-unfriendlier-than-americans/721105/68 "2015-05-30T00:44:55Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > The people in this thread are behaving exactly the way I thought they would. > [@protoboard](#): > > What amazes me is that they have the nerve to tell me I am the one being uncivil and rude. :eek: My _Irony Meter 2015_ also exploded. I can’t wait to get another updated model next year. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-europeans-really-unfriendlier-than-americans/721105/69 "2015-05-30T00:53:23Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Americans are some of the friendliest people I have ever interacted with. Continental Euros are probably the second least friednly, after the undisputed Kings, Gulf and Peninsula Arabs. I haven’t had too many interections with Gulf Arabs but those in the Levant are extremely generous and outgoing. Same with Egypt. I can’t remember who said it but someone said when you go from Egypt to Israel you’re going tom the politest country in the world to the rudest. ---
**Author:** ![Subterraneanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Subterraneanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Subterraneanus)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-europeans-really-unfriendlier-than-americans/721105/70 "2015-05-30T02:47:25Z")
> [@protoboard](#): > > Exactly. I’m actually a really friendly and positive person in general. I almost never complain or show dissatisfaction with anything. Like if I have mediocre service at a restaurant, I’ll still tip fairly if not generously. > > But people in the Pacific Northwest _are_ very smug and humorless, not that there aren’t exceptions. I don’t think people are exactly like Oregonians everywhere else in the world. It’s a well-documented phenomenon that Pacific Northwesterners are not the warmest or most charitable people. I find people elsewhere in general where I’ve traveled are way more receptive to things like small talk, have a better sense of humor and aren’t so damn afraid of people they aren’t related to or haven’t known since kindergarten. I would almost describe Oregon and Washington as being culturally incestuous. You’re a complete fucking moron. ---
**Author:** ![Helena330](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/helena330/32/531_2.png) [@Helena330](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena330)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-europeans-really-unfriendlier-than-americans/721105/71 "2015-05-30T04:02:46Z")
> [@protoboard](#): > > Exactly. I’m actually a really friendly and positive person in general. I almost never complain or show dissatisfaction with anything. Like if I have mediocre service at a restaurant, I’ll still tip fairly if not generously. > > But people in the Pacific Northwest _are_ very smug and humorless, not that there aren’t exceptions. I don’t think people are exactly like Oregonians everywhere else in the world. **It’s a well-documented phenomenon that Pacific Northwesterners are not the warmest or most charitable people.** I find people elsewhere in general where I’ve traveled are way more receptive to things like small talk, have a better sense of humor and aren’t so damn afraid of people they aren’t related to or haven’t known since kindergarten. I would almost describe Oregon and Washington as being culturally incestuous. Cite? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-europeans-really-unfriendlier-than-americans/721105/72 "2015-05-30T04:39:32Z")
> [@tonyfop](#): > > After 20 years in the Navy, and port visits in about 30 countries, I can definitively say that people everywhere are… wait for it… people. Well, except for Jews, of course. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-europeans-really-unfriendlier-than-americans/721105/73 "2015-05-30T11:32:45Z")
I wouldn’t say “unfriendly,” just more direct and less willing to sugar-coat things. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-europeans-really-unfriendlier-than-americans/721105/74 "2015-05-30T11:48:45Z")
Have you considered the possibility that you suffer from depression, protoboard? Really. Really, really, really. Get some sort of psychological counseling to find what the problem is. If you truly want to not be so unhappy all the time, it’s something you ought to consider. I’m not saying this to be nasty to you. I’m trying to help you. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-europeans-really-unfriendlier-than-americans/721105/75 "2015-05-30T11:54:06Z")
> [@protoboard](#): > > I’d really like to live in the UK or Germany because America is very authoritarian and workers’ rights here suck. But if the people are even ruder and selfish than the people here I might just stay in the States. Can someone please tell me it’s better there? Unless it’s actually not. I think you’ll find that most countries are sufficiently unfriendly not to be too keen on people thinking they can just up sticks and move in from overseas, without first investigating things like immigration rules and work permits. Likewise most of them will have different customs and conventions as to what is polite, or rude, or over-familiar, and so on. A fair proportion of American complaints about French unfriendliness might well have something to do with not opening the initial conversation with a simple “Bonjour”, for example. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-europeans-really-unfriendlier-than-americans/721105/76 "2015-05-30T12:00:41Z")
My apologies. The post above was supposed to go in the other thread that protoboard started. ---
**Author:** ![Rune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-europeans-really-unfriendlier-than-americans/721105/77 "2015-05-30T14:14:34Z")
> [@protoboard](#): > > Are Europeans really unfriendlier than Americans? No, scientific surveys have unequivocally concluded that Europeans are vastly kinder than Americans. They’re also vastly more intelligent, athletic, taller, good looking, not so fat, have better fashion sense, better cooking skills, and European girls have larger and firmer breasts. Except Swedes. They suck big time. But stay away. We don’t want your kind over here. Or if you absolutely most, go to Stockholm. ---
**Author:** ![protoboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@protoboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/protoboard)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-europeans-really-unfriendlier-than-americans/721105/78 "2015-05-30T20:48:05Z")
> [@Helena330](#): > > Cite? 🙂 > **[Seattle Freeze](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_Freeze)** > > The Seattle Freeze is, according to widely held belief, a difficulty with making new friends in the American city of Seattle, Washington, particularly for transplants from other areas. A 2005 article in The Seattle Times written by Julia Sommerfeld appears to be the first known use of the term, although the phenomenon was documented during rapid population increases in the early 1920s, World War II, and the 1980s. The phenomenon is sometimes found or associated with Portland, Oregon; Vancouver,... ---
**Author:** ![protoboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@protoboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/protoboard)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-europeans-really-unfriendlier-than-americans/721105/79 "2015-05-30T20:49:25Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > My apologies. The post above was supposed to go in the other thread that protoboard started. I’m pretty sure I do suffer depression actually. But I don’t think it’s just a chemical thing, I think my personality and values are just really far away from the mainstream for human beings and I don’t get along with others because of it. ---
**Author:** ![protoboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@protoboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/protoboard)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-europeans-really-unfriendlier-than-americans/721105/80 "2015-05-30T20:53:34Z")
BTW, I don’t get why I’ve got so much hostility for “bitching” here when the BBQ pit is specifically meant for bitching lol [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-europeans-really-unfriendlier-than-americans/721105.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-europeans-really-unfriendlier-than-americans/721105.md?page=5)