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I've traveled throughout this entire country, and met all sorts of people. At a certain point there are patterns that connect them all; even something as basic
by friendlyguy 3y ago
I've traveled throughout this entire country, and met all sorts of people. At a certain point there are patterns that connect them all; even something as basic as "the majority of them speak English."
Not all Americans are like this, but there is an American way of being that's starkly visible to me, and unignorable once you've seen it 100s of times.
- stuxnet79 3y agoIt is very hard to communicate this to someone who hasn't interacted with a diverse group of people or spent a significant amount of time outside North America. I also immigrated to America when I was young, having spent the first decade of my life in a cultural context where communication styles are more direct and the notion of "friendship" is different. Now many decades later, I can say that how people interact with each other here is not something that I accept or understand. Developing genuine connections here is extremely difficult and it doesn't have to be that way. In short, "friendship" as a concept just doesn't exist in America. I've completely given up on trying to make connections with others whose only frame of reference is the image conscious culture here. I can't say I have a lot of close friends but the people in my life who I get along with and appreciate are without exceptions people who recently immigrated here from continental europe, africa, latin america, asia etc.