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Comment by SoftTalker | Hacker News Reader

American living in America. I've encountered all types of people. Some are taciturn, some are very direct, some dance around the subject for fear of offending, some are excessively friendly. We're a mix of cultures and I don't think you can say that all or even most Americans have the same social/emotional tendencies.

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Our worlds are so different. I live in rural Massachusetts, it's a slower pace of life than New York City. People, on average, in extremely different environments will value different things and act differently. It's not 'rude' for a busy lunch place in NYC to expect you to order and get out of the way. They need to feed 15 million people.

They “need” as if they were some sort of soup kitchen for the needy and not an expensive-as-fuck posh place. They can fuck right off, I’ll take my time enjoying the food and use of the premises that I paid for, thank you very much.

Christ that escalated quickly…

Nowhere in American is asking “how are you today” to a cashier abnormal. But the article suggests that it is indeed abnormal from a a Dutch perspective.

There are distinctly American customs and cultures that Europeans would look as stereotypically American.

asking someone how they are in the netherlands is considered a genuine question about someone's wellbeing, and is considered very out of place if you don't know the person. (a cashier for instance).

Also, when asking this, expect a real response back.

Q. How do you astonish an american?

A. When they ask how you are, tell them.

It's not necessarily all that different in the US. I often respond honestly when asked (if I'm not focused on other things), and similarly, I often get honest responses too (eg store cashiers on a slow day).

Just because they're saying "I'm alright" instead of pouring their heart out about how they had one customer earlier who caused a lot of trouble, doesn't mean that they aren't being honest.

I agree it's not abnormal, but it's not abnormal to not ask, either.

I would never initiate a casual conversation with a cashier. If the cashier asks me how I am today, I'll say "fine, thanks." and that's it.

While I understand the meaning of this comment and see its value, I wonder how you would know to which extend it weakens the initial thesis, though.

If some people live in an island where some place are around 10 degrees and other around 15 degrees, they may say "our island is very diverse, look, yesterday I went to the south, and it was freezing! 10 degrees! it's 5 degrees less than here!"

I understand you see the differences in people you meet in your same culture. But how do you even see the similarities, if you have no experience of other cultures?

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