Post
by Christina » Sat January 31st, 2009, 11:05 pm
Oh, even in cities like Leeds, it's the same in the north! People are friendlier but also assume that you are friendlier too and maybe a balance is called for! At risk of sounding like a GOW (grumpy old woman) I sometimes dread getting on a bus or train because I just know, if someone sits down beside you - just when you're in the middle of a train of thought - someone is about to tell you their life history. Sometimes it's fun and interesting, and other times it's an imposition. I once was on a (fortunately relatively short) train journey between Leeds and Manchester, trying to recover from some angst-filled event, when an elderly woman decided I should hear the whole history of her daughter's hysterectomy. There is only so much nodding and smiling you can do - LOL.
Maybe in the north there are insufficient boundaries and people think they can just walk in as though they have always known you and you want to hear their story. In the south, maybe the boundaries are more like solid walls, cutting everyone out. It's all rather like a Victoria Wood sketch. Have you even been on holiday alone - with the purpose of being alone and contemplative - and someone decides to 'adopt' you because they have the mistaken idea that if you are alone, you are lonely? I have! I ended up dodging in and out of cafes and everywhere I went, these people appeared, saying, "Oh, there you are! You don't want to be on your own. You should have told us you were here and we'd have come with you!" Aaaagh!!!! LOL
