chatty mcchattersons

californians are chatty. the cashiers at the grocery store. passengers awaiting muni buses and streetcars. the waitress with laryngitis (!). the barkeeps. the garbage men. the postal workers. the bummies. mere passersby on the street. hell, even our neighbors say hello and offer up idle banter—and i’m not talking simply about the other occupants in our building.

i attribute it to the amount of sunny days here. people just seem more pleasant than most. or perhaps they’re high. hey, whatever works. i’m not here to judge.

admittedly, i was pretty down on our old stomping grounds. when you live in a city 4–5 years longer than you expect to, you tend to get grumpy and restless. and when it keeps snowing and the cold is relentless, you become almost unbearable. so, i’m going to go out on a limb and say this could be reason #1 why i didn’t notice the cordiality of others in the midwest. that, and i just didn’t like to talk to strangers. blame a childhood habit that graduated to adulthood, leaving me introverted almost to a fault.

i’m not saying that san francisco has turned me into this gregarious, life of the party. but i no longer shy away from pleasantries while waiting in line for coffee or at a stop light with a fellow cyclist.

sun. it does a body, and mind, good.

25 February 2010