What the hell is wrong with Boston? One of the only places I've been where no one acknowledges you on a run...

I'm pretty much a Boston stereotype. Irish-Catholic, live in the city, bla bla bla. We will acknowledge you on a run, but you either have to be hot or wearing a cool tank, or no dice.

Gary Wright wrote:

Running on the Charles = Central Park = Embarcadaro in SF = you get the idea

Too many runners to be all chatty. If you head to a more intimate spot, park, trails.. You can say hi to people in Boston area. There must be hundreds between Science Museum and Harvard by 7am, no way are you saying hi to everyone.

Been for a run along the Charles quite a few times, and that's my experience too. Always lots of runners around whether I'm out before the sun is up or out after its gone down. Summer and winter. Clear paths or slushy/crunchy ice covered ones.

I'm a little suspicious that the OP may not have been where he claims he was.

I would rate my acknowledgement experience to be average in Boston. If I make eye contact with another runner 'LL nod, but when I'm running with my gaze down to the ground people will leave me alone. Isn't that what's supposed to happen?

Waka Flocka 1500 SAT score wrote:

New England - snobbiest most unfriendly area of the USA

I've lived in Boston all my life and there is some truth to this. New Englanders can be very gracious and generous. You just have to crack the hard outer shell.

G Costanza wrote:

I would rate my acknowledgement experience to be average in Boston. If I make eye contact with another runner 'LL nod, but when I'm running with my gaze down to the ground people will leave me alone. Isn't that what's supposed to happen?

Not if you're jamin. He's kind of demanding that way.

AnyofYouMUgsGotaLight wrote:

I'm pretty much a Boston stereotype. Irish-Catholic, live in the city, bla bla bla. We will acknowledge you on a run, but you either have to be hot or wearing a cool tank, or no dice.

West Roxbury doesn't count. You a cop too?

Not from Boston. But unless a chick, won't acknowledge.

Hey, every guy nowadays is either a queer, a queer apologist, an azz, or showboat. I don't want to acknowledge you.

Live in Boston most of my life

They all have a stick up their ass...

Esp close to Cambridge...and whole foods.

NahSon wrote:

Welcome to the Northeast.

Bingo. Growing up in Texas, it was customary to talk to strangers, acknoweldge people on a run etc. When I got to the NE, I remember being stunned to realize no one says anything to you on a run.

Now I assume no one says anything to strangers when they aren't running - even in the south as they are all on their smartphones playing pokemon go.

From MA, north of Boston, uh yeah what else were you expecting here haha

E. Bonix wrote:

Will Spaghetti wrote:

Maybe they just want to mind their own damn business like you should.

Don't shit your pants, Mr. Paranoia. "Hey" does not mean "Is it OK if I slit your spindly little throat?"

Paranoia? What are you talking about?

NahSon wrote:

Welcome to the Northeast.

Exactly. NY, NJ, CT, straight down to DC. We don't wave or nod a whole lot. I wish it was different.

rojo wrote:

NahSon wrote:

Welcome to the Northeast.

Bingo. Growing up in Texas, it was customary to talk to strangers, acknoweldge people on a run etc. When I got to the NE, I remember being stunned to realize no one says anything to you on a run.

Now I assume no one says anything to strangers when they aren't running - even in the south as they are all on their smartphones playing pokemon go.

Whether good or bad, it's definitely accurate. I grew up in Boston and when I went to school I was very surprised when my teammates- particularly West Coasters- said hi to strangers on runs.

That being said, Boston is a great running COMMUNITY. Plenty of elite and sub-elite groups where everyone knows each other and gets along well; plenty of opportunities for hobby joggers as well to run together/get to know each other (November Project started in Boston, for one, and they're very big on social interaction/meeting new people). Just because we don't have the norm of waving to strangers along the Charles doesn't mean we aren't welcoming and inclusive.

FWIW it's not just runners- When I've traveled to the South or West Coast I'm always taken aback by how chatty people are in coffee shops, airports, grocery stores, etc. I think our cultural norm (wherever it came from) is being polite means respecting other people's space and privacy- the idea that it's better not to impose than to engage. I'm doing my thing and you're doing yours; the respectful thing to do is not to interfere.

Why are ppl from elsewhere so nosy? MYOB.

#2: Because if you see that person again, and wave *again,* by G-d, man, now you're in a RELATIONSHIP.

What if I see that person at the bus stop? Then I have to strike up a CONVERSATION. "Ain't nobody got time fo' that."

I am not being funny; this is how it is. I don't need new "friends." Maybe I'll talk to you at a race... if I've seen you there several years in a row.

Said differently: I really don't care about you, don't WANT to care about you. Just being honest -- not mean. If you were hit by a car or dropped your wallet or were being attacked, heck, I'd help you in a heartbeat (so long as you didn't later ask for my name).

I grew up in Berkshire Country (rural Western Mass), have lived in NYC, Chicago and Tampa and have now lived in Boston for 20 years.

Running along the Charles is dead flat, packed with people and primarily home to joggers, hobby cyclists, walkers, commuters, etc.... There are lots of people out in general. I am the friendly nod type and if I'm running in a place with fewer people I nearly always get a hello. To repeat, nearly 20 years of Boston running and I nearly always get a hello or nod back.

Around the Charles there are waaaaaay too many people for that to be happening. You'd be saying hello 40 times a minute.

Plenty of kind people in Boston. Usually the energy that you put out is the energy that you get back.

Most people running in the city are either tourists or students. And right now school's out for summer, so...

And also, dude, come on - the wave isn't something you get, it's something you GIVE. Don't expect anything in return and it wont bother you.

I work in boston, live in Mansfield.

tons of WASPs up there, hope you're running in a beekeepers outfit.... if so that's why they're so angry... that and its not Lobster season

BMORE SPICY BOIZ wrote:

tons of WASPs up there, hope you're running in a beekeepers outfit.... if so that's why they're so angry... that and its not Lobster season

^ ^ ^ one of the most inane LRC posts in a verrrrry long time.

This thread explains why Boston was my least favorite place to visit when I went there earlier in the summer.