I would like to know why some women and men were giving me filthy looks when I was in San Jose in July?

Question

I am a 25-year old Australian man who went on holiday to California in July. In general, us Aussies usually smile at eachother, say "hi" and don't bother to give eachother nasty looks, however, I got a shock to receive dirty looks from some people. I was just wondering if that is the norm there? Is it a really negative place?

Answer 1

I lived in California for 14 years and Americans just generally like to look at each other.   Maybe some of them were jealous of you?  For the most part I think Americans are wonderful people and outgoing.  I am not generalizing!  I live in the UK now and I think British people are wonderful.  I think people are people wherever you go.

Answer 2

if i am walking down a high street some where and it packed i have never said hi to any one i don't know.

but if its thru a park and i am with my wee girl i may smile and acknowledge a stranger.

but hey don't get upset about it cause whats the chance's of you ever seeing at least 99.9% of those people again?

Answer 3

san jose, didnt u know, the entire population were replaced overnite by alien clones,  but then again thats an improvement and the old place can only get better.

Answer 4

Depends what part of SJ you were in...

I would have smiled and said "Hey" back, I'm just a bit north of SJ. Not all Californians are stuck up snooty dogs.

=D

Answer 5

They are a bunch of snobs. Or very reserved.

I used to live in Hawaii where everyone would wave and say hi to each other, even in passing cars going  in the opposite direction.I was raised in stuck up Cal. and at first I didn't know what to think about all of the friendly people in Hawaii but got used to waving very fast.

when I moved back to the mainland, I tried to still be friendly and say hi but people looked at me like I was crazy.

Don't worry about it too much, at least you don't have to live around them.

Answer 6

sadly, it's the norm to only say hi to people we know. were you saying hi to the people who were giving you dirty looks?

Answer 7

What were you wearing at the time?  Did some part of your clothing attract their attention?  Or were you doing something that made them stop and give you 'filthy looks'?

Answer 8

I can only speak for where i live we are reserved.We usually only say hi to people we know.