Friendly Folk

I've been noticing something more and more as I walk around and explore the finer parts of Las Vegas on foot. Walk down any street around here (minus the Strip), and you'll start to notice it too. It's interesting - everyone here is so damn friendly. Why is that?

You would think that it would be the opposite, wouldn't you? It seems like a town that could crush your dreams pretty quickly. You're surrounded by absolutely nothing but booze, gambling, and prostitution. How is it that so many people are chipper enough to wave and wish me a good morning?

I'm not complaining. I love it. Salutations exchanged with a stranger brightens my day. I'm just not used to it. (And I don't mean to exaggerate. It's not like this.) I like walking around here. If perhaps it doesn't quite feel like home (besides Philly, nothing will), I at least am starting to feel comfortable.

So why do you think people are all smiley? Here's some possible explanations.

1) I'm just really used to Philadelphia. It's a well-known fact that people outside of Philly think the natives are brutish savages, but growing up there, I never really saw a ton of evidence to support that. I just kind of assumed that walking down the street ignoring stranger was the way the world worked. Could it be that I've simply been sheltered by the cold-shouldering of Philadelphia?

2) The weather affects people's mood. The sun has been shining since pretty much the moment we arrived a month ago. I can't imagine many people here suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder. On a scientific level, sun boosts your vitamin D, which could affect your happiness level. On an intrinsic level, just think about how happy you are when you open up the windows in your house on that first beautiful day of spring, and imagine that day happening every day.

3) Everyone can just appreciate my boyish good looks. That's not it.

4) Everyone is drunk. I know it was 10 a.m. on a Thursday morning as I walked around a few hours ago, but you'd be surprised how many people I saw with alcohol in their hands (side note: People in my age group carry around beers freely, and homeless men carry their beers in paper bags, which is the exact opposite situation that you can often find at the Broad and Olney subway stop). I guess there's always a chance that people are being polite as they float through a boozy haze. Can't rule that out.

5) All the people that are sad are huddled around bars and slot machines. Perhaps the people that are more inclined to say hello are those same people that I would find on the street at 10 a.m. anyway. I'm sure the old man on his way to get bagels for his wife is infinitely more happy than the old man that stumbled home from Bally's at 5 a.m. without anything to show for it.

6) The people that say "Hi" are just the tourists on vacation. Maybe I'm wrong, and it's not the people of Vegas that are friendly, but the people that aren't from Vegas that are happy to be in Vegas. Vacations can give you a certain high that leaves you all smiles, and Vegas is no different.

In any case, it's nice to be surrounded by happy, worry-free people. I don't mind strangers cheering me up as I walk to my job that I don't particularly enjoy at all. Chin up!