Linguistic observations

In the south, if someone talks to you at the bus stop, you think they're weird. In the north, if someone DOESN'T talk to you at the bus stop, you think they're weird. 

Without a doubt, this is the basic truth. In the past week alone, I have been talked to 'in depth' at a bus stop, in a queue for a public toilet, after accidentally walking into someone in the street, and at a pedestrian crossing waiting for the green man. No opportunity is missed!

But it's not as simple as 'northerners are friendlier than southerners'. There are more subtleties to it than that, I've noticed. These are my observations.

1. People talk more quietly, more softly - at least in Lancashire.
There is almost a murmur of conversation on the train, in a cafe..... I suddenly feel very BOOMY!

2. People start a conversation in a more gentle way.
They don't launch in with an upbeat Hello, how are you? It starts with a soothing Y'arright? and slides smoothly into conversation from there. I suddenly feel very brash.

3. People 'settle into' a conversation.
In fact, if you ask someone for directions in the street, they very often stop and lean on something, like they've arrived at the pub with a mate for a beer. They may also involve several other strangers in the street in the conversation if they're not entirely sure of the best way to go. I suddenly feel very 'transient'.

4. A gap in the conversation does not mean it's over.
It's not a cue that the person wants to or has to go. The amount of times I've walked away from a conversation that wasn't finished! I suddenly feel very abrupt. (Though I've now started overcompensating and hanging around longer than they want me!)

5. People do not look for an appropriate 'ice-breaker' to initiate a conversation.
They just say whatever's on their mind. Which can lead you straight into some very juicy conversations. Topics have included the story of when they fell in the canal to ashes (dead people's). I suddenly feel very 'careful'.

And the question that I'm left wondering is: Does any of this friendliness really make any difference - in the end?  I was talking to a woman from Essex in the pub who had lived here for 25 years. She said, It's all superficial. It doesn't mean anything. They're not nicer underneath. And it's not like they're your friends. My gut feeling is that it does make a difference. If humans are in the presence of other humans, even for 0.37 seconds at a pedestrian crossing, it is healthier and happier to talk to each other.

We'll see.