On Politeness and Circumstances
Published: 2026-08-30
A view I frequently hear where I live (to be clear: not a city) is that city folk are rude whilst village folk are friendly. This is on the grounds that:
- If you walk through a village many will go out of their way to say “hi”.
- If you walk through a city you do well to get any kind of acknowledgement.
If that’s your experience it’s easy to assume that people who live in the city are rude.
But it’s pretty easy to say “hi” and go out of your way to be nice when you only have to do it a handful of times on an entire journey. To do it constantly though? That’s not viable!
I’m sure many people who live in the city would be more than happy to say “hi” when out and about in a village.
I find this to be an excellent example of how people behave is a result of their circumstances rather than who they actually are as people.
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