f r e s h s t a r t
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
The not-so-friendly Midwest?
I grabbed a quick bite to eat with a classmate before class last night. She was actually the first person I met at orientation--we went to the same wrong place and found our way to the opening reception together, but I've barely spoken to her since. She's from Miami, and has been in Chicago for just over a month. She's made some friends, totally loves the public transportation here, but says that it's been hard adjusting to the way that people are here. I was curious about what she meant by that, and asked her to elaborate.
She said that she feels like people are more reserved, seem close-lipped about what they think, and don't act like themselves. She said that she'd rather know up front whether someone was an asshole or really sweet, and not have to get through a polite front to find out. Steven (who is from Oklahoma) has made similar comments about people not saying what they mean--that he was used to people being more blunt. I remember thinking that East Coast people weren't very friendly when I first moved to Massachusetts, but perhaps it was just the people I met. Perhaps in my classmate's and Steven's cases it's the fact that they were mostly meeting a bunch of law students--people who might be wanting to make a good impression since they know they'll be seeing you almost every day for the next year. I dunno.
I feel like what I say to people and how I act around them corresponds to the length of our acquaintance and the type of relationship we have. I'm not going to spill my guts to everyone I meet, but I don't think that makes me reserved, just selective.
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