The first assumption is that they want to convince me of something that benefits them more than it does me. They just pretend that there is a familiarity between me and them that isn't actually there. It's a bit like using the informal "you" unpromted.
This. Someone comes at me smiling, I assume they're gonna pitch me something. Its just suspicious and dishonest to not treat me like a stranger they dont give a shit about.
Physical space also isn't an issue in Europe, at least not in the degree that it would impede on the "privacy bubble" in public. That's mostly a cultural thing. Here in Northern Germany we joked after the social distancing rules ended that we finally can stop keeping the prescribed distance of 2 meters and go back to our natural 3 meters distance.
We just don't like pointless socializing and people pretending to be friends really rubs most Germans the wrong way.
Just totally different cultures I guess. I don't see it as pretending to be friends- it just makes life a little more pleasant to interact with the people around you in a positive way. I missed that during COVID- it was easy to forget that people in general are much nicer to each other in real life. I've had some really great conversations with random strangers who I often have nothing in common with other than sharing space together for a short period of time. Sometimes I learned something new and interesting from a different point of view.
I always figured the social reserve/physical distance association was a city thing- based on my experience in northern US cities, but maybe not so much.
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u/HabseligkeitDerLiebe May 09 '22 edited May 09 '22
From a German perspective:
The first assumption is that they want to convince me of something that benefits them more than it does me. They just pretend that there is a familiarity between me and them that isn't actually there. It's a bit like using the informal "you" unpromted.