Was my experience typical?

Question

Hi! I recently visited Boston for the second time and wanted to know if I just had some bad luck or if my experiences were normal.

The first time I visited Boston was 2 years ago. My boyfriend and I parked around the Quincy Market area and walked along an area with some Irish Pubs only to have a man in his 40s or 50s yell out to my boyfriend to "Cut your f-ing hair!!". We figured he was just a drunk guy and tried to forget about it, but about 2 weeks ago we went to Boston for the weekend and stayed around the Harvard Square area and had a young guy (early-mid 20s) yell out to my bf to cut his hair again! And in a really aggressive upset way. And this guy was definitely not 'some crazy drunk'. In fact, I really wouldn't have expected it from how he looked, and he was walking alone too (so it wasn't a case of guys-in-a-group-acting-retarded). I don't understand. Is Boston typically like this? My bf and I are both from Montreal, a really multi-cultural artsy place, and I definitely noticed that there weren't many 'different' looking people in Boston, but really if we were walking in Montreal or NYC people would not have looked twice at us. Anyone have any idea what's up?

Answer 1

i'm australian, so i have no idea! haha

great story though

Answer 2

Sorry, that was me ...he he

Answer 3

Men in Boston are opinionated and rude.

Answer 4

Harvard Square isn't in Boston, but in a different city, Cambridge.

Believe it or not, Massachusetts people are fairly conservative (but our politicians and judges are not).

Long or eccentric hair has never really taken root in Boston or in surrounding cities and towns.

Answer 5

Some people in Boston have no qualms about speaking their mind. It doesn't sound typical to me. I'm from MA but have never lived in Boston.  

Answer 6

I'm so sorry to hear of your bad experiences in our beautiful city. No, I don't think your experience was typical - especially in Harvard Square. Boston and Cambridge are home to numerous colleges and universities which attract the world's best and brightest. Many of the students who come to Boston to be educated end up finding jobs and staying in the area, contributing to the diversity.

The best time to visit is in the fall. The weather is great in September and October and the students are in town bringing a great deal of life to the city.  

Answer 7

That is DEFINATLY NOT typical at all.  I live in Boston and I have all my life and never have heard anyone say that.  Some people are just dumb and say stuff like that to get people mad.

Answer 8

This sounds very strange! I wonder what people from Boston will tell you about this! I've never been there, but I can't imagine this happening twice in any place where I've been to!

Answer 9

wow, that seems unusual. I think you just ran into some local jerks. Boston is usually more open minded than that

Answer 10

Your experience is very, very strange.  Lots of guys with long hair in Boston; Boston/Cambridge is the #1 city in the world as a center of university students (Montreal is #2, by the way), Boston was a

hippie centre (I was one), and Massachusetts is just about the most liberal State in the USA (and Boston tied with San Francisco as the most liberal and tolerant city).

Boston/Cambridge is  full of "different looking" people and like Montreal is one of the great multi-cultural cities of the world but in Boston the "different looking" people are not concentrated in certain sections as is the case in Montreal.

The only things missing in Boston for a Montrealer to feel at home is an area so full of clubs for music as is the Berri-Plateau area, smoked meat, and overnight late bus service.  

Answer 11

Very strange and not typical.  Especially in Harvard Square of all places.  Half the people around there have long hair.  

Answer 12

Have bf cut hair. End of story.

h**l in Cambridge there are women with longer hair on their legs than you bf has on his head .

Why worry about something 2 people out of 1.2 million said?

Answer 13

he he he!