Do New Englanders Actually Hate People Who Are Not From New England?

Someone on Reddit asked a question about New Englanders not liking anyone who is not from New England.

They said, "The job opportunities are plentiful here. When you get hired, they pay more than twice as much as the state I'm coming from. But god damn, New Englanders are so damn unfriendly. I don't know if I can stay here."

My answer is:  We are not unfriendly, exactly.  More on that below.

Check out a few of the responses the person who asked the question got:

"It’s difficult to explain but chatty strangers can come off as desperate or suspicious to us. I consider myself quite friendly and get along with most people I meet, but I never strike up a conversation with a stranger just for the sake of it."

"You have to realize, most people that are non-New Englanders that are up here are here on vacation, and people often behave badly when on vacation so it can easily taint our view of outsiders."

"We don’t hate people outside of New England, but we don’t engage in the veneer of friendliness that you find in the south.  With that being said, most New Englanders will help someone in need. Plus, when you do make a friend it will be someone that will be with you a long time and will bend over backward for you."

To expand on my answer, New Englanders are not unfriendly.  We are just incredibly hard workers.  It is hard for us to trust someone who is being overly friendly.

• What do they want from us?
• Are they going to try to sell us something?
• Do they want to take what we've worked so hard to get?
• I'm cold.  Why are they talking to me?

Having said all of that, I am not, in any way, like a typical New Englander.  I am the friendliest person you will ever meet, no matter where I am in the U.S.  I have traveled to other parts of the country, like California, Georgia and Florida and thought, "I must live here!  These are my people!"

Everyone in Southern California is friendly because they think you might be a producer or a director that could get them their big break.  In Georgia, they are just friendly by their nurturing.

Actually, in the South, they can tell you to go screw yourself and it will sound like a compliment.

Example:

• Southern insult:  "Bless Your Heart."
• New England insult:  "Go &^F%$ Yourself."

See the difference?  We're not UN-friendly, we're just honest, hard-working protective people.  Protective of our family and our friends.  Once you get into our good graces, you've got a loyal friend for life.

How would you answer that question?