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> "What continues to strike me is the significant reduction in friendliness and kindness now extended to me in public spaces. It now feels as though I am on my
by mathgladiator 5y ago
> "What continues to strike me is the significant reduction in friendliness and kindness now extended to me in public spaces. It now feels as though I am on my own: No one, outside of family and close friends, is paying any attention to my well-being."
That hits close. That's how I have felt my entire life, and when I expressed anything else as a child I got "be a man". Now that I'm a an adult about to early retire, I'm thankful for that capacity to bear down and focus, but given my gout I wonder at what cost.
- nelsondev 5y agoI’ve noticed a difference in strangers’ friendliness when I’m clean-shaven vs bearded. To the point where if I notice more negative interactions with strangers, I’ll shave, and it immediately gets better.
- gilbetron 5y agoIt's funny, I've noticed something similar but it varies on the looks of the beard, and isn't a binary beard/no-beard situation. If I have it too short, people seem intimidated, if I have it longer and less trimmed, people seem a bit more fearful rather than intimidated. If I have it sort of medium length, but in a nice shape, people are probably the friendliest. If I have a really long, like wizard beard, then a different set of humanity is more friendly.
- donatj 5y agoI am a large burly man with a beard. I noticed right away that my interactions with people completely changed when I got glasses maybe 5 years ago. Way more random conversations with people in public. Way more friendly looks. It's very interesting.