# Are there any places where the population isn't nice? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 1, 2017, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-places-where-the-population-isnt-nice/792591 "2017-08-01T17:00:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2017, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-places-where-the-population-isnt-nice/792591/61 "2017-08-04T10:22:07Z")
With the discussion about New Orleans, sparked by **Ludovic** ’s impression of the people there – though not outright nasty – “wanting to be anywhere else than interacting with you” (some finding this description of NO folk, surprising) – I know nothing first-hand of New Orleans (British, never visited the New World); but was put in mind of somewhere nearer home for me. It seems to have been a constant for many decades that many foreigners visiting the area which used to be Yugoslavia, have reported experiencing / witnessing distinctly unpleasant conduct from a considerable number of the local people: what with the protracted tragic events there around the recent turn of the century, it would be understandable – though not exactly praiseworthy – to form the impression that “there’s something badly wrong with that lot”. In this connection, the Serbs tend to get an especially “bad rap”. I have spent two brief holidays, decades ago now, in Yugoslavia before its break-up – majority of time there spent in Serbia, based on Belgrade. I was perhaps lucky in never having been on the receiving end of any outrageous behaviour there, or elsewhere in “former-Yugo”; but my strong feeling in Serbia, was like that of **Ludovic** in New Orleans: it seemed that the locals were just not interested in me and my companion, didn’t want to have to bother with us, and wished we would just go away. (A few were pleasant and friendly.) Something of the same impression got, from my one visit to China –- aligning with **Shunpiker** ’s experience in post #3: the locals weren’t actively unpleasant, just in the main not interested (except when there was a chance of making money out of us). Again – the occasional person did come across as disinterestedly agreeable and friendly. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2017, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-places-where-the-population-isnt-nice/792591/62 "2017-08-04T11:48:31Z")
New Orleans sucks. You get the small time con men coming up to you and saying “I can tell you where you got your shoes, what city you got your shoes, and what street you got your shoes…” Or you get the people coming up to you and giving you a “ticket” for not having enough fun and then asking for a “donation” to some “charity”. It isn’t safe, you’re just a big fish in a shark tank. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2017, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-places-where-the-population-isnt-nice/792591/63 "2017-08-04T20:49:26Z")
Isn’t sdmb to a large degree a board full of middle class (and richer), educated white professionals? Obviously not everyone, but many/most of us? Because that will change how people treat you. I remember a joke Greg giraldo did about hot women traveling, how their experience is not the same as it is for average men. People aren’t lining up to help you if you aren’t a hot woman. Anyway, going to Japan or South Korea as an upper class white guy vs going as a lower class black guy probably aren’t the same in how people treat you. But I don’t know much about it. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2017, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-places-where-the-population-isnt-nice/792591/64 "2017-08-05T01:23:23Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > [Bolinas, CA.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolinas,_California) You can’t find it\*, and if you do, they don’t want you there. > > \*All the signs pointing to it from Route 1 have been destroyed, presumably by the locals residents, and the state has agreed not to put up any more. > > My other suggestion is Quebec City for non-Francophones. My only evidence for this is my father’s experiences there when my parents visited back in the 80’s. Aw, I spent an evening with an ex-boyfriend at a local bar enjoying a blues band and going through a bottle of Bailey’s about 10 years ago. Yeah, you have to know how to get there, but it’s not hard to find, and I didn’t find any overtly unfriendly people. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2017, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-places-where-the-population-isnt-nice/792591/65 "2017-08-05T03:15:54Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > As a long-time resident of Indonesia, I strenuously object to the idea that non-Muslims are nicer than Muslims in that country. Sure, there are cultural differences between Java and Bali (not to mention the gazillion other places in Indonesia). But instances where anyone has been anything but super-nice to me, in the 17+ years I’ve been in the country, are vanishing rare. Christians, Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus – everyone has been kind and welcoming. > > Now, if you are talking about Muslim residents of Bali (you don’t mean Tenganan, right - they aren’t especially friendly, but they also aren’t Muslim), that’s a somewhat different situation. Unfortunately there ARE religious tensions in Indonesia, and Balinese Muslims, as a minority group, may not be the happiest folks on island. I still find it hard to believe the “vibe” is less friendly, but I will concede that I don’t have a lot of personal experience talking to folks in Balinese Muslim communities. This is why I didn’t want to go into details: I read the stuff about New Orleans and New Englend, and how different people react to different things, and I just thought: if you go there, you will notice the difference, and maybe you’ll like it or maybe not. Something similar could be said about parts of the USA: to me, some parts just seem foreign. So I have got a personal opinion, but maybe that’s just me: ---
**Author:** ![ssgenius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@ssgenius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ssgenius)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2017, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-places-where-the-population-isnt-nice/792591/66 "2017-08-05T05:57:00Z")
This goes back to the 18th century but I think it is still relevant When James Cook and his crew visited Tahiti, they found the locals there very very friendly much more than England. So much, that many of his crew did not want to leave Tahiti to return back to England. When I visited Tahiti (and the surrounding islands, many of the tour guides said the same thing also applies today. The locals in Polynesia are very warm and friendly, more so that almost any other place these tour guides visit on a regular basis. > **[Tahiti](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tahiti)** > > Tahiti (English: /təˈhiːti/; Tahitian \[taˈhiti\]; French pronunciation: ​\[ta.i.ti\]; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Australia. Divided into two parts, Tahiti Nui (bigger, northwestern part) and Tahiti Iti (smaller, southeastern part), the island was formed from volcanic activity; it is high and mountainous with Tahit... ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2017, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-places-where-the-population-isnt-nice/792591/67 "2017-08-05T06:03:44Z")
> [@rbroome](#): > > From the wide range of responses so far about places literally all over the world, I suspect that our measurements are at fault. That is, asking individuals this question is the demonstrably wrong way to approach the question. That said, I don’t really know what the correct approach is. There really isn’t any correct approach, because it’s silly to say a whole population “isn’t nice” (whatever the hell that’s supposed to mean), especially if you’ve only been somewhere as a tourist. By the same token, when someone says of another country, “They people are friendly,” I just ignore the statement. There are just too many factors and variables for either statement to be meaningful. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2017, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-places-where-the-population-isnt-nice/792591/68 "2017-08-05T06:34:45Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > This is why I didn’t want to go into details Okay. But I would be interested to know what you meant - were you talking about Balinese Muslims vs. Balinese Hindus? Or were you saying “I traveled various regions in Indonesia, including Bali, and thought that Balinese were nicer than the people in the Muslim regions I visited”? I promise not to argue, I’m just curious. Can you tell me where you were in Indonesia? I’ve traveled a fair bit around the country, but haven’t been everywhere, for sure. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2017, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-places-where-the-population-isnt-nice/792591/69 "2017-08-05T07:40:35Z")
> [@steatopygia](#): > > People in big cities (NY, Philly) tend to be less nice than people in small towns. I would say that is a normal adaptation to the increased stress of city life. Some of this is just different expectations of what’s “nice”, though. Someone from a big city might find the culture of a small town to be more intrusive than nice. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2017, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-places-where-the-population-isnt-nice/792591/70 "2017-08-05T12:14:56Z")
For instance, city folk think that engaging in random conversation with total strangers for no real reason is extremely rude behavior, and will respond in kind. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2017, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-places-where-the-population-isnt-nice/792591/71 "2017-08-05T13:18:55Z")
Mountain West? ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2017, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-places-where-the-population-isnt-nice/792591/72 "2017-08-05T13:23:10Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > New Orleans sucks. You get the small time con men coming up to you and saying “I can tell you where you got your shoes, what city you got your shoes, and what street you got your shoes…” Or you get the people coming up to you and giving you a “ticket” for not having enough fun and then asking for a “donation” to some “charity”. It isn’t safe, you’re just a big fish in a shark tank. +1 New Orleans is like a city of grifters and carnies. ---
**Author:** ![Corry\_El](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@Corry\_El](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corry_El)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2017, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-places-where-the-population-isnt-nice/792591/73 "2017-08-05T15:34:06Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > 1. People aren’t lining up to help you if you aren’t a hot woman. > > 2. Anyway, going to Japan or South Korea as an upper class white guy vs going as a lower class black guy probably aren’t the same in how people treat you. But I don’t know much about it. 1. Nor as likely to sexually harass you. And that behavior, open sexual harassment of attractive young women, does seem to vary by culture (and sub culture within the US, the general default for many answers here). Good point but I think pretty well known hot young women and average middle age guys are treated differently in a variety of ways, places and contexts, sometimes plus sometimes minus. 2. This one is a mix of supposedly greater racism in those countries\* with something maybe more subtle. The flip side of the reverence for education in Confucian countries which is a factor in their great success as societies in general, is lack of respect for uneducated people. In US culture the uneducated might be looked down on quietly, but there’s a strong tendency to pay lip service to the ‘street smarts’ and ‘genuineness’ of less educated people and not appear a ‘snob’ or ‘elitist’ by _openly_ looking down on lack of education. By same token Americans tend to define ‘class’ more in terms of money. In those countries IME there’s just a more open preference towards more educated people and less reticence to express it, especially as applied to outsiders. As a standalone besides money, race or other stuff. - probably so to some degree, though perhaps also more honesty what people really think than the current US upper middle class PC standard. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2017, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-places-where-the-population-isnt-nice/792591/74 "2017-08-05T17:50:09Z")
Coming off the hovercraft in Calias, France we found that if you did not speak French, they would not even look at us. Other than very poor areas the far East, have I been slammed by such smells of rot and lack of sewage treatment. France is not that poor IMO. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2017, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-places-where-the-population-isnt-nice/792591/75 "2017-08-05T20:08:00Z")
You can break the ice with “mon aéroglisseur est plein d’anguilles.” ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2017, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-places-where-the-population-isnt-nice/792591/76 "2017-08-05T20:09:34Z")
I have never been to Pakistan, but a guy who was bicycling around the world said, during an interview during a stopover in Bangkok, that villagers would come out and throw rocks at him. Said that was his only really hairy experience and was glad to get out of that country. I knew a Peace Corps Volunteer who had served in Kazakhstan and said they REALLY hated Americans and that he could really feel that. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2017, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-places-where-the-population-isnt-nice/792591/77 "2017-08-05T20:12:29Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I have never been to Pakistan, but a guy who was bicycling around the world said, during an interview during a stopover in Bangkok, that villagers would come out and throw rocks at him. Said that was his only really hairy experience and was glad to get out of that country. > > . Was he riding on the sidewalk? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2017, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-places-where-the-population-isnt-nice/792591/78 "2017-08-05T20:17:25Z")
Does Pakistan even _have_ sidewalks? ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2017, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-places-where-the-population-isnt-nice/792591/79 "2017-08-06T03:14:48Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > +1 New Orleans is like a city of grifters and carnies. Fact is, News Orleans is a city that has a few grifters and carnies, like any city, but in News Orleans there are a few more conspicuous places on the typical itinerary where a visitor is likely to encounter them. What has not been mentioned about New Orleans is its veneer of southern “Yall come back” culture, which will make it appear friendly to a first-time visitor, but if one remains long enough to see an underbelly that is common to any metropolis, a different view could come into focus. ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2017, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-places-where-the-population-isnt-nice/792591/80 "2017-08-06T08:45:37Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I have never been to Pakistan, but a guy who was bicycling around the world said, during an interview during a stopover in Bangkok, that villagers would come out and throw rocks at him. Said that was his only really hairy experience and was glad to get out of that country. “Opposite side of the coin” re that country, from the experience of a friend of mine who travelled in Pakistan a couple of decades ago. Admittedly he didn’t go to the utter back of beyond – he was travelling by rail. He’s a decidedly reserved and privacy-valuing sort: he found the people endlessly friendly, attentive (in an intendedly good way), and super-interactive. He spent most of the time wishing to heaven that they’d just leave him alone. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-places-where-the-population-isnt-nice/792591.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-places-where-the-population-isnt-nice/792591.md?page=5)