We do and we don't. Knowing how to look closed off is very helpful for dealing with people trying to hand you things, but smiling at wait staff has always seeme

We do and we don't. Knowing how to look closed off is very helpful for dealing with people trying to hand you things, but smiling at wait staff has always seemed to help me. Then again, very few people I interact with in New York are actually originally from New York, so I suppose it's hard to get a clean signal on how "New Yorkers" behave.