I am/am not Genuinely Interested in You [Delete as Appropriate]

A little while ago I travelled to the US for my brother's wedding and posted a few miscellaneous observations on my return. Here's one I forgot to post.

“Hey how y’all doing today?” In Oklahoma if you see a stranger on the street you automatically say hello. That’s not something I’ve encountered since I moved from my village in Suffolk about ten years ago. Perhaps it’s easier given how few Americans you see walking on the average street!

I'm still convinced that the US is the leading cultural changemaker and we're all just in the process of catching up. But Poland in my lifetime will never be a place where you smile at strangers in the street, nor in a shop automatically engage with your 'server' in not-unpleasant but essentially meaningless prefaces to purchasing such as:

-          “how are you doing today?”

-           “I am good thank you, how are you?”

-          “oh I am doing just great”

“that’s great. What can I do for you today, sir?"

After a while I found myself longing for a warty cashier to snap at me "Slucham" (I'm listening) whilst doing her best to disprove the statement. On the plane back I decided that on balance I rather like the Polish strangers/shop mannerisms. It's much easier if you're having a bad/bland or introverted day.

It takes some getting used to as an English person – the UK is a bit closer to the US in terms of  that automatic friendliness – but I came home with the realisation that there is a genuineness about the Poles’ indifference which I  appreciate much more. It makes their affection, when it does happen, that much the more, well, affecting. 

Since writing this I've remembered that there are plenty of times when someone in a service role has been perfectly friendly here, it's just that that's the almost the norm in the US and generally so in the UK, but by-and-large the exception in Polska.

I've since started a guerilla campaign of  smiling and saying good day to old people as it's a costless and enjoyable way of surprising someone with a bit of old fashioned manners but I've also, recently, been finding my teeth grate at some bad email practices - ignoring emails or replying with curt "OK"s is not the done thing in my neck of the woods. But then, as an English teacher, I'm probably bottom of everyone's to-do list!