Here's a question for you all...where was the friendliest or unfriendliest or darn right strange place you have ever lived in or at?

Ruby Rose

Ruby Rose

Location: Canadian Prairies
The time that jumps to memory was when we were posted (once more) from Calgary, Alberta to Toronto, Ontario. With every posting, I have list in hand to register kids in school, dentist and doctor, etc. As I entered the busy waiting room of a clinic and waited my turn, I gabbed away but no responses. Maybe they didn't approve of my cowboys boots or jeans! Then a voice from across the room addressed to me stated loud and clear, "You're not from here, are you?" He was an elderly dude and others enjoyed silence. Needless to say, I did not register there...I merely left.
 

Ruby Rose said:
The time that jumps to memory was when we were posted (once more) from Calgary, Alberta to Toronto, Ontario. With every posting, I have list in hand to register kids in school, dentist and doctor, etc. As I entered the busy waiting room of a clinic and waited my turn, I gabbed away but no responses. Maybe they didn't approve of my cowboys boots or jeans! Then a voice from across the room addressed to me stated loud and clear, "You're not from here, are you?" He was an elderly dude and others enjoyed silence. Needless to say, I did not register there...I merely left.
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I'm sorry to hear about your experience. It wouldn't have happened at my clinic!
 
1986, we went on vacation to Maine with my sister and her 2 young boys. On the way, we stopped at a McDonald's. It seemed as though everyone was staring at us. I guess they had seen few Asians. Another night, an entire family did the same thing - stared and stared, with goofy grins on their faces. It was a very odd feeling, like being monkeys in a zoo.

I guess it wasn't unfriendliness .. just ignorance.
 

I've always been leery of people that start telling me TMI within minutes of meeting them.

I suppose it goes back to the old notion of not falling in with the bad kids on the first day of school.

No offense intended it's just the way that I'm wired.

The most standoffish place that I've ever lived in is my current apartment complex. I've lived here for 12 years and only know a couple of people well enough to say hello or nod when we meet. I attribute it to my age and resting bitch face. I'm fine with the extreme social distancing.
 
Pinky said:
I'm sorry to hear about your experience. It wouldn't have happened at my clinic!
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Thank you for your kind words. I should have been able to sense the atmosphere right off the bat and not waste my breath. I must relate the friendliest place we were posted to which is St John's, Newfoundland (the rock as we called it). The very day we arrived on the ferry, our car acted up and had to be taken to a nearby garage. We had offers right and left to accompany them to their respective homes to wait. They were all strangers to us but so welcoming, I will never forget that time. Mind you, we were referred to as 'mainlanders' for the entire three years we were there.
 
When we first moved to rural Wisconsin we did so as my husband had lived there before and loved the place. He had so many friends and some prior romances. We're in a bar one night. I go to the bathroom, it is for one person only. There was a line outside and I heard 2 of his female friends talking. About me!

One said "whoever thought he would marry a short Jew from NY?"

I sank to the floor in relief. At least they didn't say "whoever thought he would marry a short, fat Jew from NY?"

I wasn't fat at all, but the words seem to go together so I was grateful not to hear it.

When I left the bathroom and went back to the bar one of his male friends began making Jew jokes at me and said "we used to have one Jew in this town."

Oy vay.
 
The unfriendliest place I ever visited was Leeds a very large city in the north of England. We had been driving down in bad weather to London from Scotland, and the snow got so bad we had to stop 1/2 way , we couldn't go any further, and we were not near any hotels , just an area with a pub and houses.. ... we went into the nearest pub ..and if anyone has seen the pub scene in American werewolf in London..it was exactly like that. !! Sheer silence as we walked through the door from the locals, as though the devil himself had just walked in.. and whatever we asked the landlord for.. eg food (it was the afternoon)..we were met with a stony faced NO, yet we could see they had snacks & pork pies etc behind the bar .. !!

WE ended up having to sleep in the truck in the snow after trudging through it to find a little shop where we could buy some biscuits and cold drinks .. so much for northern English supposed to be the friendliest people in England.. I would never visit there again...
 
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Ruby Rose said:
Thank you for your kind words. I should have been able to sense the atmosphere right off the bat and not waste my breath. I must relate the friendliest place we were posted to which is St John's, Newfoundland (the rock as we called it). The very day we arrived on the ferry, our car acted up and had to be taken to a nearby garage. We had offers right and left to accompany them to their respective homes to wait. They were all strangers to us but so welcoming, I will never forget that time. Mind you, we were referred to as 'mainlanders' for the entire three years we were there.
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I have a friend who lives in St Johns (y)
 
Good grief, Holly! I needed to attend the U of Leeds for a seminar. Stayed 2 days. Met really unfriendly folks, some of whom wouldn't even answer a question! Of course I blamed myself, but now after all these years I can blame them! Thanks luv!
 
Pepper said:
Good grief, Holly! I needed to attend the U of Leeds for a seminar. Stayed 2 days. Met really unfriendly folks, some of whom wouldn't even answer a question! Of course I blamed myself, but now after all these years I can blame them! Thanks luv!
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Well thank Goodness for that...I'm pleased to hear someone else had a similar experience, after years of hearing how friendly these people are supposed to be, before and even since
 
Strange place ... a one time experience, for about maybe 4-5 months, we moved to a small town in Louisiana.
We leased a home while my husband tried out a new position.
It was too bizarre for me - the owners' son broke into the house TWICE trying to get "his belongings " out.
I tried to pass the time by getting a part time job. That didn't work out too well either. People were not accepting of anyone not from the area.

We had to move out of there!
We went to Baton Rouge and found a townhouse to rent while I convinced my husband to move back to our home in Houston.
Baton Rouge was nice and so was the townhouse, but the daily drive for my husband wasn't.

I think I kissed the ground when we got back to Houston!
 
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My nephew and his wife bought a house in a community about 45 mins. away from Toronto. A couple of summers ago, we stopped into a pub-style place on a Saturday afternoon. They were setting up for their open-mic night. The 2 women proprietors were rather unfriendly looking. We went to a table in the outdoor section. It turned out they were not serving drinks ... ?? It also seemed they were not serving food ... ?? Oddest experience. Anyway, we left as they continued to set up for the evening. It does sometimes make us wonder if these people are racially discriminating, as we were 3 mixed-race couples. I don't know what else to think, though I don't like to think that way.
 
MarciKS said:
Wichita KS. I guess it's not socially acceptable to talk to strangers there. I think it's because of the crime rate. People are creepy there. It's a completely unnerving environment for me.
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I'll agree with you on that. We lived there for about 4 years....late 60's to early 70's, and it was kind of a strange place. We never had any problems, but the people weren't very "social". When I got an offer to transfer to Kansas City, we jumped on that....much nicer. Plus, that area seemed to be the "bullseye" for tornadoes....every year, we had to run to the underground shelter, 2 or 3 times. We never got hit, but we came awfully close a couple of times.
 
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Pinawa, Manitoba. They advertise themselves as "Discover the Secret." Yes, we moved there because of the scenery along the Winnipeg River & the small town atmosphere. Well, we moved there & we discovered their little secret! It proved to be the most unfriendly place I ever lived in & I have moved 13 times in my life. It appears that the place was composed of some "old stiff upper lips" British expat who moved there for work in 1963 at Atomic Energy of Canada reactor. They kept bragging how they have been there since 1963. I was born in this province in the 40s. God awful people in that town. Not good examples for British expat community. They were probably miserable back where they came from too!
 
Packerjohn said:
Pinawa, Manitoba. They advertise themselves as "Discover the Secret." Yes, we moved there because of the scenery along the Winnipeg River & the small town atmosphere. Well, we moved there & we discovered their little secret! It proved to be the most unfriendly place I ever lived in & I have moved 13 times in my life. It appears that the place was composed of some "old stiff upper lips" British expat who moved there for work in 1963 at Atomic Energy of Canada reactor. They kept bragging how they have been there since 1963. I was born in this province in the 40s. God awful people in that town. Not good examples for British expat community. They were probably miserable back where they came from too!
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I am sorry to hear that but am not surprised as I presently live in Rural Manitoba and have done so for ten years and I am still the 'newbie'. I have actually approached a few people in town and was informed that they had no need for 'a new friend' as they had all lived there for many, many years. To say I was rather stunned with this response would be putting it mildly. Perhaps it is because I am part French? Anyways, I get along great with all the animals (and there are many) on the ranch and I sleep good with the silence about me.
 
Aunt Bea said:
I've always been leery of people that start telling me TMI within minutes of meeting them.

I suppose it goes back to the old notion of not falling in with the bad kids on the first day of school.

No offense intended it's just the way that I'm wired.

The most standoffish place that I've ever lived in is my current apartment complex. I've lived here for 12 years and only know a couple of people well enough to say hello or nod when we meet. I attribute it to my age and resting bitch face. I'm fine with the extreme social distancing.
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You know, I agree with you TMI all at once is not healthy and could also be dangerous. I used to be inclined to be a tad gregarious (but not as much anymore...I have lost my voice that way) which is part and parcel of always moving (this is my 24th and hopefully the last) and always being the 'newbie' and can't figure out as yet why race, religion, age, etc, etc should make a difference but it does. Another factor that gets in the way is going from a Military environment to Civy street.
 
Pepper said:
When we first moved to rural Wisconsin we did so as my husband had lived there before and loved the place. He had so many friends and some prior romances. We're in a bar one night. I go to the bathroom, it is for one person only. There was a line outside and I heard 2 of his female friends talking. About me!

One said "whoever thought he would marry a short Jew from NY?"

I sank to the floor in relief. At least they didn't say "whoever thought he would marry a short, fat Jew from NY?"

I wasn't fat at all, but the words seem to go together so I was grateful not to hear it.

When I left the bathroom and went back to the bar one of his male friends began making Jew jokes at me and said "we used to have one Jew in this town."

Oy vay.
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Oh my gos!!! NowI understand why you asked where I lived!!!! That wasn’t just plain rude, it was IGNORANT, and I’m so sorry it happened to you. I grew up in Berlin WI...were you anywhere near there?
 
hollydolly said:
The unfriendliest place I ever visited was Leeds a very large city in the north of England. We had been driving down in bad weather to London from Scotland, and the snow got so bad we had to stop 1/2 way , we couldn't go any further, and we were not near any hotels , just an area with a pub and houses.. ... we went into the nearest pub ..and if anyone has seen the pub scene in American werewolf in London..it was exactly like that. !! Sheer silence as we walked through the door from the locals, as though the devil himself had just walked in.. and whatever we asked the landlord for.. eg food (it was the afternoon)..we were met with a stony faced NO, yet we could see they had snacks & pork pies etc behind the bar .. !!

WE ended up having to sleep in the truck in the snow after trudging through it to find a little shop where we could buy some biscuits and cold drinks .. so much for northern English supposed to be the friendliest people in England.. I would never visit there again...
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Good grief! You guys have REALLY had bad experiences!!!!!!
 
Pinky said:
My nephew and his wife bought a house in a community about 45 mins. away from Toronto. A couple of summers ago, we stopped into a pub-style place on a Saturday afternoon. They were setting up for their open-mic night. The 2 women proprietors were rather unfriendly looking. We went to a table in the outdoor section. It turned out they were not serving drinks ... ?? It also seemed they were not serving food ... ?? Oddest experience. Anyway, we left as they continued to set up for the evening. It does sometimes make us wonder if these people are racially discriminating, as we were 3 mixed-race couples. I don't know what else to think, though I don't like to think that way.
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Oh Pinky, I hope not. I hate to hear about something like that...especially in this day and age😔
 
Ruby Rose said:
I am sorry to hear that but am not surprised as I presently live in Rural Manitoba and have done so for ten years and I am still the 'newbie'. I have actually approached a few people in town and was informed that they had no need for 'a new friend' as they had all lived there for many, many years. To say I was rather stunned with this response would be putting it mildly. Perhaps it is because I am part French? Anyways, I get along great with all the animals (and there are many) on the ranch and I sleep good with the silence about me.
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Wish we had a “shaking my head in disbelief” emoji.
 
Kathleen’s Place said:
Oh my gos!!! NowI understand why you asked where I lived!!!! That wasn’t just plain rude, it was IGNORANT, and I’m so sorry it happened to you. I grew up in Berlin WI...were you anywhere near there?
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Oh no, KP, it was kind of a coincidence. I've been meaning to ask you for awhile, but didn't want to be nosy and then, conveniently, this thread opened. I don't know Berlin WI; I do know Berlin NH. Also lived NH, btw.

I've learned it's never a good thing to live only with white people. It's dangerous! They get ingrown, like a toenail.
 
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