It is hard to be humble now a says, always have to watch your back and suspect everyone. I was enjoying our conversation with the 3 women, so they took advantage of it, they could hardly speak English, just mainly smiles. I had lots of friends when younger after 50 we moved busy so very few and they are miles away. Most of the neighbors are WOKE, moved off or passed on.
Of course, I'm glad we didn't have to shoot anyone It was just really frustrating being robbed and them acting so nice.
After reading thru this thread, I get the idea that friendliness is perhaps being confused with a cry for attention. If one dresses a certain way in hopes of striking up conversations about an interest or lifestyle, then I don't see that as being necessarily friendly but more seeking attention. Western dressed folks are everywhere around here. It doesn't signal any interest other than they like western wear. In this day and time, anyone seeming overly friendly may be scrutinized. Overly friendly folks are usually trying to steal from you, sell you something, sell their religion, serve legal papers, or get information.
Don't necessarily go with this. We wear western clothes, including cowboy hats sometimes, because I was in professional rodeo for a number of years and we still highly support it. We have seen a number of men wearing cowboy hats, that have absolutely nothing to do with rodeo, horses, livestock, ranching. A lot of young Mexican guys like wearing cowboy hats. A number of them can be seen at local Boot Barn shopping around or just talking (in Spanish of course). I lived a part-time lifestyle of a rodeo cowboy, which included learning how to rope a steer. Had my own horse. There is absolutely no way that I'm a "nightclub cowboy" aka "urban cowboy". And, I love it when my wife wears her western clothing with either a baseball cap or cowboy hat. Her previous husband didn't like her wearing either and wanted her to look "big city". She didn't want that, but put up with it. I'm friendly because there just seems to be not enough "friendliness" around much anymore, especially in big cities. I was raised totally farm/country in northeastern Indiana's hog farming area. My first job, after my Navy time, was working on the stagecoach ride at Knott's Berry Farm. That was my very first start in wearing western attire and I loved it.
I don't understand your reference to big city look. What is the big city look? I agree that there is not enough genuine friendliness going around, but fail to see how dress or lifestyle has anything to do with friendliness.
Cody can you do this one? I can, I did it for my kids ,[all in their 50s] a couple years ago, they filmed it and put it on Fakebook. Everybody said I did a good job with it,
I was at my favorite Chinese buffet on Wednesday and struck up a conversation with a woman who was sitting by the door waiting for a friend. We must have talked for 15 minutes. She's from Iowa, moved to Charlottesville years ago to be with an ailing parent rather than haul her mother out west to live with them, does not like what the city has become, is looking for a place 20+ acres out my way, her husband is a welder, they got no kids, etc etc etc. I have conversations like that with strangers all the time. I've been this way all my life, even in the "citified" DC metro region. I would be on the subway there, and while everyone else had that don't-make-eye-contact 1,000 mile stare, I'm having a conversation with a fellow passenger. The vast majority of people are not out to "get you." The world does not live in a constant state of "Stranger Danger." I can't recall anyone who was on guard when I'd start to chat...well, maybe one or two.
Silver, I dress for attention too.. May not get the kind I want but I still try. Of course I wasn't dressed for the robbery. We go out to the local saloon here, they do have dress code so to speak. We also have a club more into modern dress and have a pole on the dance floor for those who want to 'express themselves' I was called out by one of my young female friends and did a little jig on it myself for a couple minutes.
Very true, but there is a difference in a genuine friendly person and one with alterative motives. It takes me a few seconds, maybe minutes, to size up a situation and decide how to engage or disengage in conversation with a stranger. How one is dressed has no bearing on my decision to engage or not engage. I always greet everyone with good morning or afternoon, and if they want to talk they will. If they greet me first with something like, "Good morning, have you heard the good news," I know where the conversation is headed. "Good morning, you look familiar, " is another one that raises suspicion. Something like, "Good morning, how is your day," is very common and I reply, "Great and how is yours." Sometime that leads to a good conversation and sometimes just a person spilling their life story looking for sympathy. I have become aware that sometimes I am the one that is making the conversation uncomfortable. When they asked, "How is your day" and I go on about recovering from surgery or some illness, then I realize they want out of the conversation. Sports fans trying to start a conversation with something like, "How about those Raiders," has me answering, "Golly gee, I haven't seen that movie in years. Wasn't Harrison Ford the star in the Raiders of the Lost Ark?" That lets them know I don't care to talk about sports.
Cody I wasn't trying to criticize or be flippant with you. I was kidding around. What if someone walks up and says something like " howdy cowboy" will that be calling you night club or an urban cowboy?
Sometimes it really comes in handy to talk to strangers. Once, when we were living in Turkey, we flew to Rome to see family and connect up with some friends who were going to come over from Greece to meet up with us. Wires got crossed and we didn't know where they were staying and they didn't know where we were staying. Having no way of getting in touch (way before cellphones or internet), we were resigned to missing them. In a shoe store, I got to talking to an American tourist woman. I mentioned that we were visiting from Turkey and she said, "Oh, what a coincidence! We met a nice young couple on the boat from Greece who used to live in Turkey and said they were meeting with friends here." Then she mentioned their names. I asked if, by any chance, they knew where they were staying and she said, sure, they're staying at our hotel. Hallelujah! (Or, in this case, alleluia!) We called the hotel, they were there and the reunion was back on. The Other Half says I would talk to a hatrack.
I did a Club Med on the island of Martinique. There were guests there from all over the world. One day I was in line to go water skiing and started to chat with this girl behind me. Turns out she lived on the same street that I did, maybe 4 blocks up the road.
It's a Small World After All, It's a Small World After All, It's a Small World After All, It's a Small, Small, World. Now that'll be in your head for the next two days. Tag, no tag-backs!
I will track you down. It was kind of funny, because when I asked where she lived, she forgot where she was and started naming the street (it's a very unique name), then caught herself and said "Virginia, in the United States." When I finished the name of the street for her, she about freaked out. And it is a small world.