It is a difficult thing to judge about a town where you live. Are the people friendly or not? It is like an accent. You act or speak the same as most of your neighbors, so you don’t really notice. Certain qualities are best recognized by outsiders, visitors. Many, if not most, of the tourists in Nashville say that it is an exceptionally friendly town. Tourists seem to act friendly towards us here in Nashville. This is often because of three reasons.
Reason One – We’re already there
Almost everyone in Nashville is ALREADY friendly. Even shopkeepers, who are generally mute or grumbly in other areas are chatty in Nashville. They will stop what they are doing and ask you, “How you doin’ Hon?”
We may all come from different geographic areas. We may all start out with different accents. But after we have become homogenized by Nashville culture for a while, the customer service industry here becomes clone-like in their hospitality.
Reason Two – Hakuna Matata
Life is great here in Nashville. There are really no worries. Maybe a strange little buzz on that last track you recorded. But you can fix that. Or re-do it. No big deal.
Or maybe the drive-through was out of waffle-fries. Just pull into a parking space and someone will bring you some as soon as they are ready.
Our restaurant choices includes the four major food groups, Asian buffets, Mexican taquerias, ‘burger stands, and NASHVILLE HOT CHICKEN joints. The biggest source of stress in Nashville is deciding where to eat.
There is not a lot of snow. There is not too much rain. Hot and cold weather are pretty balanced, with plenty of happy sunshine. We have FOUR glorious seasons!
Formal parties are confined to awards events, but you can still wear your cowboy hat. It’s a come-as-you-are town. Most of us drive pickup trucks if you ever need one to move your apartment and you are one of the few in town who don’t drive one.
Reason Three – Let us help you with that excess mucus
We may make it look easy. The pace is laid-back and relaxed. But we are busy people. And we just don’t have time for rudeness.
This is not to say a Nashvillian will actually beat the snot out of you, but you will get far less out of the time and interactions you have here, if you’re the rude type. Most of the folks here start out being pretty darned nice to strangers, but if the love is not returned, it can dry right up. Karma.
If you add it all together you can understand why the grass actually IS greener in Nashville. Tomorrow I will share with you how many people are moving to Nashville each year. And how many new restaurants and hotels are opening. And how many houses are being bought.
And how few discouraging words are heard.
