Pew surveyors typically ask respondents how their day is going as a first question in order to start a conversation and help the respondents become more comfortable with the interviewer. In the process, however, Pew has gathered a massive amount of data on how people in different countries say their day is going...
Pew doesn't speculate on the reasons for these trends, but it's likely they depend both on how respondents feel and how comfortable they are with telling a stranger they're having a bad day. Whatever the reason, Americans come off as atypically cheerful.
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| "Santa has trouble gearing down for the off-season" |
Cartoon via Andrew Malcolm
8 comments:
It's amazing how the last election cheered everyone up!
I think something stinks about Pew's data but I can't really tell what it is.
Without hope and optimism, there's really no reason to go on. John Wayne said What else would there be in life if you lose optimism?
It's what the Lefties hate most about the country.
I don't know if Americans are happier than say the French. Bukowski wrote a poem about Paris - I can't find it - anyway in the poem he noticed that no one, no one at least on the streets or in the cafes was laughing. His conclusion was that the Parisians were too afraid to laugh. I think he was on to something. What were they afraid of? Of being exposed as squares who were not only happy but showed it. Cause that's how you lose your cred with the cool kids. Most Americans are still square enough not to give a damn about what the cool kids think of them. You're happy? You show it. You laugh.
I like the part about chatting it up before beginning the interview.
I'm discovering something a bit late.
When we first moved to Colorado I was down. I thought, Man, this place is the hardest of nuts to crack. People are the most self-contained I had ever encountered, and I considered myself something of an expert at fitting in right off. But not so here.
But now I find when I break the rules that I was taught as a child that people tend to open right up. Right up. Surprisingly so. I have only to make an observation about them and then remark upon it and boom conversation right there. My approach is quite stupid and leaves room for correction.
For example if a young minority is wearing gold I'll say something like, "Impressive bling." Boom. They open up about their bling.
To a guy in a wheelchair, "Your wheelchair looks like a hot rod." Boom. He talks about his special wheelchair.
To a black woman with straight hair and excessive jewelry, "Your lug-jurious hair goes well with your jewelry. Boom, conversation about her hair and jewelry.
To the clerk at Taste of Philly, "You always have the most obscure rock and roll t-shirts. Boom, conversation about shirts.
And so on.
It amounts to showing an interest in specific things about a person, even when a real interest is not there. I learned I can talk about anything at all even where I don't know anything on the subject because that allows for questions. I've had the most unusual and immediately deeply personal conversations this way.
A guy at the deli told me all about his exercise program, of which he is quite proud, and included his caloric intake which is triple the usual and quadruple for a man of his size. Astonishing, that. I'm going to keep doing it, probably until somebody punches me.
Chip Ahoy nails it, as usual. His related experiences are on the money. Even when I just smile at someone, black, white, or whatever, whose eyes coincidently meet mine, I find a smile in return 99% of the time. Say something about them to get them talking about them if it is more than in just passing and they will tell you. Even in tough parts of town you get pleasant responses, perhaps because they don't expect your demeanor. Look for the good in everyone and you just might find it more often than not...let fools and Grinchs self-identify.
Chip - what is your favorite food at Taste of Philly? Tastykakes or maybe the cheessteaks?
That's funny Chip. Regional rules are hard because who even knows they exist? Maybe if you go to a different country you might think that people have different customs but it doesn't take going that far.
I've never felt like I had trouble where I've gone. Everyone seems really friendly. I wonder if I went to NYC if I'd feel like people were friendly there, too. Not that I *try* to be particularly friendly because I make friends slowly but everywhere I've lived one of my friends will eventually explain that people there aren't very friendly. I'm always shocked. California. Florida. People are soooo stand-off-ish, they explain. And I sort of shake my head because I'm from Minnesota. We'll "nice" you do death, but "foreigners" tend to interpret that in entirely different ways. I even read an essay once (assigned at NDSU English 101) about a woman who moved to a small town in Minnesota and every time some old farmer mentioned the weather to her she'd interpret that as them *deliberately* refusing to engage with her. It's what the essay was all about. Again, I was shocked. What else is an old Norwegian farmer supposed to talk to her about? That's what they talk to each other about. She expected the local culture to be just like the one she expected from where she came from.
Silly people.
I mean... I had a woman in the PI ask me if I was *menstruating*. I had perfect strangers in the PI ask if I was *pregnant* and when I said, no, was asked *why not?*
You just gotta roll with it.
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