Comments on: Student columnist: hospitality lacking in Bay Area

By: A silver lining to ed budget cuts | Tri-City Beat

A silver lining to ed budget cuts | Tri-City Beat — Wed, 19 May 2010 08:05:22 +0000

[...] Here’s the latest student column, by the Newark student board rep. Next month, we’ll hear from New Haven Unified’s Leslie Salvador. [...]

By: kai

kai — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 22:00:02 +0000

Californians have to be among the rudest people on earth. Mostly because they are from (almost) everywhere but California. All those rude East Coasters and rude immigrants. There is no civility here–just everyone looking our for the narcissistic self absorbing self. Screw you, ya I’m cutting in line, etc–what ever it takes to get ahead mentality.

Manners and courtesy are a lost art here –plain and simple.

By: Jon Simon

Jon Simon — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:49:34 +0000

It’s just a cultural difference, not necessarily good or bad. My Israeli friend commented on how fake Americans are because we ask things like, “How are you?” as a greeting, not as a truly curious and caring gesture. I’m usually not a cultural relativist, but in this case I am.

Personally, I agree with Ms. Salvador; everyday courtesy makes life nicer. Please. Thank you. Sorry.

By: VOR

VOR — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:10:50 +0000

Our daughter, who was born and raised here, is now residing in the southeastern part of the U.S. She has commented many times on the differences between the two coasts. She enjoys the friendliness she experiences during trips to the grocery store or shops, but is frustrated by the narrow mindedness also encountered, which in many instances is a reflection of that good ol’ time religious upbringing.

I agree with Eyesbright, that when somebody in the South says, “Y’all come back and see us, ya here,” it doesn’t necessarily mean you should.

When you get too many people living close together, as we do here in the Bay Area, people become more protective of their personal space. It happens in any large metro area. If Leslie visited Atlanta she would see that same condition.

By: ummm

ummm — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 05:33:34 +0000

Nothing about the district and your views on it as a student? It’s mind-boggling to me you do not use this space as something to talk about your school board’s decisions

By: Marty

Marty — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 04:58:56 +0000

A colleague of mine traveled around Australia for a few months and upon returning he commented on the contrast between the warm reception he found there and the self obsession and coldness prevalent in the souls of many Californians. His further point was that people in the Bay Area couldn’t give a sh– about any aspect of your life because they were so involved with themselves.

I think he is misunderstanding his Bay Area brethren. We’re not rude and self obsessed, we’ve just evolved into a ultra sophisticated species that has no need for a “veneer of courtesy”.

By: Eyesbright

Eyesbright — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 02:30:44 +0000

I hate to pop your bubble but a veneer of courtesy, illustrated via the use of “ma’am,” “sir,” “thank you” and “you’re welcome” can often be exactly that – a veneer. I’m from the south. My mother was born in Hattiesburg. You have to live in the south for a while and pay attention to more than words to begin to see through that veneer (which is noticably thinner in some places than others). It’s quite common to hear someone being addressed as “honey,” just before that person is verbally cut to the quick. “Bless his heart” is often followed by criticism, sometimes thinly disguised, sometimes not so thinly.
It’s easy for the casual tourist to be fooled by the layer of syrupy sweetness used to disguise the backward-thinking, narrow-mindedness of much of the south. Is it better now than it used to be? Of course, but there is also a relatively new habit of people keeping their thoughts to themselves around outsiders.
Some years back, my mother moved to Seattle to be with my youngest sister. A couple of years after she’d moved, I asked her if she wanted to go back to the south. She replied that she never wanted to go back to that hatred and ignorance for as long as she lived. And she didn’t.