I totally respect you don’t enjoy small talk. I wouldn’t try to dissuade you or try to change your mind. But when I ask where someone is from I’m not being fake. I genuinely like people and am interested in knowing them, even if only for a few moments.
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This reminds me of an experience I had when I first started college.
I came from a small town. When I went to Ann Arbor, I felt everyone was so much more distant/less friendly. But in one of the classes, the Professor had us discuss our impressions, and this one guy who came from New York City commented on how incredibly friendly everyone was in Ann Arbor!
So perception of others’ friendliness is definitely impacted by our own biases!
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This reminds ME of something.
Around the same time, our church brought on board a new youth pastor, from Long Island, and a new worship pastor, from central Ohio.
The story goes, the two of them went into Wegmans to buy some thing for lunch. The one from Ohio cashed through first, followed by the one from Long Island. As they were walking out to the car, the one from Ohio couldn’t believe how disinterested the cashier had been in the conversation he was trying to have with her. Meanwhile, the one from Long Island couldn’t believe the one from Ohio was taking so long to just check out and why the cashier wasn’t faster.
To the best of my knowledge, no one knows how the cashier felt.
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Agreed. Different social norms. Lots of examples I’ve noticed when visiting places like WDW where you have people from all over the world in a single spot. Distancing in lines is another one. Holding doors.
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I read this recently, and while others might not agree, I find it to be true more often than not. Not referring to the political part, just the nice vs kind thing as it relates to small talk, etc
(Speaking as someone who has lived in the Northeast, Southeast, and Southwest.)
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So at Pop just now they were doing one party per car, at the transfer station they were doing about 6-ish. There was a party of 6 in front of me and they got their own car, I was on a car with a party of 4. Don’t love it but at least they were reminding people to wear face coverings.
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I think for all of us introverted folk, COVID was sort of a blessing in the sense that we had a perfect excuse to not have to be social. We got spoiled by it…and now that things are starting to return back to normal, us same introverted folk are going…
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We found people so friendly And chatty at Disney. I enjoyed sharing everyone’s excitement for the day!
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1000%
There’s a lot about the social distancing and such that I would love to keep.
I think we’ve discussed this before here, too, but it’s interesting that so many of us here would identify as introverts and having social anxiety but here at least it doesn’t show. Probably because we are fully in control of how we experience the social interaction we have (or choose not to have) here.
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Sorry catching up here but precovid my family of 5 probably rode the skyliner more than a dozen times and only once was someone else on there with us. Besides park opening and close there is not really the need to mix parties. We also found in Jan 2020 that if a solo rider or pair were in front of us I just took an extra minute to fold up the double stroller so we got our own. Ha
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Spot on. I speak up about things much more here than I ever would IRL. Always been quiet and awkward. Wife is complete opposite and will make all the small talk for me to bail me out, but genuinely loves to converse and learn things about people.
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I kind of suspect that true extroverts are far less likely to actually spend time on forums because they would rather be interacting in real life! It is all us introverts who don’t actually want to talk to anyone else in person who are here! 
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I honestly think she and I would be great friends.
Although - some of us are home for work or kids and forums are a link to The Great Big World.
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Ah, good point.
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yeah that’s that “crowd awkwardness is funny” part. The point was when it’s just you and one other party. That’s when it gets weird.
Two families, not a big deal. 1 Family and a solo traveler? Crickets.
I am from Long Island and I approve this message. 
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What is so funny if he is the nicest nicest guy. He just never dreamt of talking when checking out of a store.
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Yeah cause no one should! Checkout line ain’t the time to make friends!
Anything that distracts them holds up the line and then it takes longer for everyone to get out of there.
My grandmother would do this ALLLLLL The time. And it was always “You know so and so, right”? Grandma, you live in a town of hundreds of thousands…what are the chances that this checkout person knows this random - “Yeah, I know them!” … 
: Sonuva… Great, There goes the next 15 minutes.
It’s why I love those self-check out lines. Computer doesn’t talk. It knows it’s place.
y’know…unless there’s no one else in line. Then chat it up, no big.
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The mandatory, dramatic taking to the fainting couches that’s required in any and all Disney-related threads?
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I have a fainting slip 'n’slide…does that count?
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