What is the problem with this province? Why is it so hard to make friends?! It’s hilarious how people here claim to be friendly and they’re far from it! Nova Scotians are so delusional about their friendliness and actually talking to people, and I’ve heard this from so many tourists. Lots that I have met said they’d never come back here and it was a mistake to come here. I don’t ask why anymore. I know why! I also love all the people here that are probably 30-40 but still think they’re teens. Act your age and not your kids’ age! —Friendly in an Unfriendly Place
This article appears in Jun 30 – Jul 6, 2011.
Would you like help down off your horse?
Sorry if I’m young at heart and not a doddering old man. As for friendliness? It just might be your piss poor attitude.
im from “away”also and found that nova scotians ,although they seem friendly on the outside,they actually have a mental wall around them…usually rude,opinionated and downright cold…after twenty years living here,Ive found it getting worse,sliding from indifference to a dark negative tone…maybe it’s the above average cloudy days,the old school politics or the defeatist attitudes that seem to permeate all aspects of living in this province.
Sounds about right…
Shut up and pay your god damn water bill
I’ve noticed that too, Halifaxmentor.
We have manners, we’re not friendly. It’s hard to articulate exactly what I’m trying to say here.
We have this guilt about being nice. We aren’t genuinely nice or friendly, we just seem to think that we should act it.
We have this ridiculous idea that the nicest person will be rewarded for their niceness with success in life. The truth is nobody likes an overly nice person.
I think we’re starting to realize that we are known for being friendly as well as being broke as fuck. I think it’s time we stopped pretending to be friendly and start making things happen, even if it rubs some people the wrong way. We try to please everyone and in the end no one is happy.
I do think Nova Scotians have a somewhat fucked up attitude, especially towards other parts of the country/world.
Good one Mel!
“We have manners, we’re not friendly” then why don’t “you” mother feckers push your damn chairs in at work?
depends on what kind of friends you are looking for o.p., there are good people in n.s., even on here. but then you find an assortment of assholes, like on here too, that just fucking kill the whole friendly idea.there are wonderful types of people in this area, just must have been in the wrong place at wrong time. generally speaking, n.s. is the nice capital of the world. we rank up there with amsterdam, and norway, last i heard.
“i didn’t vote for you” you have many names captain
Too many generalizations OP, give me some specific examples of what you are talking about.
Meanwhile I’ve heard the exact opposite.
I deal with toursits on a daily basis. The vast majority comment on how nice, and friendly and helpful we Bluenosers are.
I’m a born and raised Bluenoser. I did, however, spend a few years living westward. You want unfriendly and unpolite? Head to the great province of Alberta.
Perhaps we’re not the problem, perhaps its your craptastic attitude. You catch more flies with honey than you do vinegar.
Very nice on the surface. The fake smiles may fool for a few days but eventually you learn NS is no different.
KAY? Is that you? (Her Kay-ness has already beat one to death ad nauseum.)
As a CFA, it has been my experience that Nova Scotians are comprised of the exact same types as anywhere else. Some are nice, other less so. For the most part though, New Scotlanders tend to be more approachable than a lot of others but no one beats we Newfoundlanders for graciousness and hospitality. We are well-known for it.
everywhere i go chickpeasis, i’m a cfa *hold my hand*
Newfies are some of the finest people you’ll meet anywhere. Most I’ve had the pleasure to meet couldn’t do enough for you.
The bottom line is, you’re going to run into rude and ignorant arses ANYWHERE you go in this world. (including my beloved home of PEI) That’s a fact. They exist to make us appreciate the nice people in this world even more. But over-all, and as cliche as this may sound, I think Atlantic Canadians in general are, by far, the friendliest, most generous, most caring/compassionate, most gracious, most down-to-earth people, certainly within Canada, maybe even go so far as to say North America. Generally speaking, we’ll give you the shirts off our backs and apologize if it doesn’t fit properly, if you’re in need. It’s because the majority of our communities were very small, some only having a few residents, and traditionally as farmers and fisherman, a lot of times the only person you could rely on in times of need or emergency was your neighbor(s). This, in turn, has been passed down through the generations as being the proper thing to do, again, generally speaking. And our reliance on these traditional industries for so long has meant that perhaps we haven’t progressed (not sure if that’s the right word to use) at the same rate as say larger provinces like Quebec and Ontario. Even to this day, despite having larger urban centres and the world becoming a smaller place with the advent of the internet and cell phones, etc, you can still see and experience this sense of community all over Atlantic Canada. (And yes, from time to time in Halifax too.) My common-law wife is originally from a large city in Ontario and when she moved here to Halifax, she was blown away at how much more polite and friendly everyone was. She still comments on this from time to time. Even with her working in retail and seeing people at their absolute worst as far as being rude and ignorant has not swayed her opinion in the slightest. Some people would call it quaint or odd. Being a backwater or have-not region. Calling us slow, or hicks or slack-jawed yokels or some such shit. But we just laugh it off and ask if there is anything we can do to help. I, for one, am fiercely proud of where I come from and refuse to change for anyone.
As I said, no matter where you go, you’re always going to find the idiots, assholes, the people that don’t care and the ones that just aren’t happy unless they are making someone else unhappy. That’s a given. Maybe the OP just hasn’t met the right people yet.
Now, let’s all join hands and sing Kumbaya…who wants to start? 😀
*mouse ears* already humming clint
before my jaded days, I moved here and had nary a friend after nearly a year.
There were other factors obviously… but yeah, all my friends here are either through others or people I see at work. I find many people think it so easy to acquire friends here because they grew up here and already HAVE a shit-ton of people they know… so you meet people through other people etc…. the hard part is being thrust in later on, knowing no-one.
now that I’m cynical and constantly angry, well yeah. I guess I don’t really have much advice other than… learn to enjoy being alone… and try to meet people through colleagues.
i’ve lived here for 18 years and i don’t have many close friends, just you guys *sob*
Good post, zed. You’re completely right about the fact that when you grow up somewhere you meet people through them and that’s why it’s so easy. I went to university where I went to high school and so did 80% of my fiends who went to uni and the others were around where I was living anyway, so I already had a friend base and that was great.
But after we all graduated the majority of us moved away. I’m originally from Hfx but I moved when I was younger and didn’t really keep in contact with my hfx childhood friends. So when I moved back I had NO ONE, and all my friends were scattered around the world and it was incredibly hard to make new friends, I found, because I really never had to do it. I managed to meet a couple through classes and stuff (NGF, for example), but other than that my friend base around here was and still is extremely limited.
And I agree about the colleagues thing. I met my bestest friend in the world through working with her, even though we didn’t even talk to each other when we went to high school together.
Being able to function and be happy alone isn’t a bad thing either — I think it’s a great thing. Being an only child, especially one with both parents with full time jobs, you learn how to entertain yourself and my GOD sometimes I’d rather hang out by myself and do certain things alone than with others. NGF’s an only child too and has a similar philosophy and we both like being alone so I think that’s why we’re bffs. We get the fact that we don’t want to hang out with someone else 24-7 like some of my other friends.
And thank FUCK for the internet — that’s how I communicate with friends at this point 90% of the time, considering 90% of my friends live in other provinces and even other countries. 🙁
Also, on the topic of maritime friendliness — it’s a goddamned myth. We’re no friendlier than anywhere else, and in fact, I found people to be much more friendly (at least customer service-wise) when i was away this month. Granted I was staying in a relatively upscale neighbourhood (Drake lives down the street, yo’, lol) and you have to suck up to the rich folk so they’ll keep spending their money there…. but even the starbucks I’d frequent was AMAZING and believe it or not, the TTC employees were super helpful and friendly. The guy at one of the subway stations even let me back in without having to use another token when I accidently went the wrong way. 🙂
And even the lady at the clinique counter at Holt Renfrew was super super nice (we had a lovely chat) when I went to get some new foundation — I was all sweaty and gross and dressed in gym clothes just popping into the mall after going for a jog in the awful humid smoggy grossness. I can’t even go to the clinique counter at some of the cheaper dept stores around halifax without being ignored.
So, really, I think the whole ‘maritime hospitality” myth is just that — a myth.
And yes, I just wrote a novel. Deal with it, bitchez.
Awww bread lady! We <3 you!
the only drake I know can fly and shoots fire…
I would not want to live anywhere near it
http://paizo.com/image/content/GameMastery…
it’s true… had a rough go of the first year…
the other hard fact was that I was working evenings… so I really had no change TO get out and meet people. I was off running errands and relaxing while everyone was working… and then I worked all through their downtime.
double-edged shit-sword.
Why do people talk about entire provinces of people as a collective and describe them as all having the same traits and personalities? As soon as someone does this I tune right out. A conversation about all Nova Scotians is flawed and useless by the simple fact that you (and everyone you’ve talked to) haven’t met all of them. I know big numbers are hard, but try to understand.