small talk is a whole spectrum depending on which society you live in. what is seen as supportive and caring in one group, may in other societies be read as a

small talk is a whole spectrum depending on which society you live in. what is seen as supportive and caring in one group, may in other societies be read as a pathetic display of insecurity via compulsive constant reassurance that things are still OK. I have lived among both groups and one of the hardest things was/is the transition from one to the other (every couple of years - I move a lot). For sake of illustration here is how it effects me (slightly exaggerated for purpose of showing the contrast): When I live among "rude" continental Europeans (or Chinese/Koreans/Singaporeans) I'm outraged at my environment for not constantly being kind to strangers. And when I live in places dominated by "uppety" native-English expats or in English speaking countries the constant fake/inauthentic display of caring for each other makes my skin crawl. In my case I will always get sick quickly of whatever my current surrounding is and I start missing the other group. I personally think this is a generalization: > people who display an aversion in line of principle to small talk, have difficulties to communicate with people in general. Having grown up in a "rude" society I had to work hard to shed this behavior in order to thrive in my new surrounding. When switching back to my origins I end up resenting them for being vile, uncultured or "asocial". It took me a couple of decades and learning not to take either society/customs too personal. But to me it's always more emotional effort to ignore noise than it is to deal with the silence (or lack of manners).