Because I have been a member of the Prince George community for long and now it has been some time since I moved back home, it is easy to forget what it is like to move here for the first time.
Recently, I have been speaking to colleagues of mine who are new to town and they reminded me of the biggest culture shocks that people have when they move to Prince George from large city centres like Vancouver. We are too damn friendly and we talk to strangers.
People from other towns do not randomly smile at strangers and chat about the weather. People in Vancouver do not thank the bus drivers for the ride (people in Victoria do though). After an early morning spin class in other cities, people do not chat with each other about how hard the class is.
But we do.
When I was a grumpy pre-teen and happened to be walking in the mall with my dad, I remember being mortified that he would talk to, nod at, joke with virtually everyone that we saw. It was embarrassing at the time. I used to ask him if he knew them and usually the answer was no. I did not understand.
Now I chat with everyone and it's my husband looking at me in disbelief as I wave, smile, say "hi" to people of all sorts around town. He asked me once if I knew everyone in Prince George and I said, "No but my dad does."
We are a friendly town.
Someone thinking about moving here from Ontario asked a group of other recent transplants to the area what the hardest thing was about moving here. They answered two things: the winter and people saying "Hi!" all the time even when you don't know them. They said it is strange but you eventually get used to it. The born-and-raised in PG people looked confused and said they didn't know what they meant by that.
We don't say "Hi!" to everyone, do we?
We do.
Pay attention next time you are walking around town. How many people make eye contact, smile or say "hello?" How many retail sellers chitchat about their lives when you go into a shop? How many people hold the door for one another and repeatedly say "thank you" back and forth like they are trapped in a Canadian situation comedy?
I imagine living somewhere where this doesn't happen.
I would rather be here.
