(no subject)

[randomness]

Two incidents of unprovoked rudeness from middle-aged white male strangers remind me of why Boston has the brusque reputation it does.

It's slightly different from New York, where getting in someone's way is a cardinal sin. As dirque once put it, "Just don't waste my time," is the rule in New York.

Maybe it's the in-person analogy to driving habits in the two cities: in New York, most of the obnoxious driving behavior seems to be from someone trying to getting ahead. In Boston, it often looks like random spite.

It probably also helps that middle-aged white men are the "default person" here, so what they do sets the image and model for the place.

Comments

[achinhibitor.livejournal.com]

What were the particular details of the rudenesses? On top of how people behave differently in different places (in Boston, they don't wait for people to get off the subway car before trying to cram themselves into the subway car), there are different standards for what is permitted and what is rude. But yeah, New England has been famous for cold behavior since colonial times.