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guslYesterday night I was biking pointlessly in Boston when I saw a Hostelling International hostel. I had looked them up only about a week before, with the idea of spending some time hanging out in Europe. So I went in, and I noticed a very interesting atmosphere. Almost everybody was friendly and welcoming. Complete strangers would introduce each other for no good reason and start chatting... it even reminded me of Pennsylvania!
Anyway, I am theorizing that this happens because people are not going to see anybody for very long, so they might as well have fun instead of playing status games (i.e. refusing fun to show oneself superior). One might also theorize that they would be assholes, since their reputation would be short-lived, but I suppose being an asshole isn't as fun. Anyway, that's enough theory. Here's the data:
When I was checking out the hostel's dining room, I started chatting with this older man (~50) named Chris Smith who was in town for a Buddhist conference. After some talk about music and Taoist and Buddhist philosophies, I found out that he is a macrobiotics expert. Being skilled in physiognomy, he told me (correctly) that I'm a dairy guy, and that I tend to eat fried chicken on big meals (also correct). I'm skeptical about these things, but I managed to suspend my judgement and keep the talk flowing instead of disagreeing. Afterwards, I met this British woman who just started her 8-month trip around the world, and these very typical, funny Japanese kids. Finally, we jammed some random folk music (the hostel has a guitar for public use!) until I was very tired and had to go home. Definitely a different night for me.
Anyway, I am theorizing that this happens because people are not going to see anybody for very long, so they might as well have fun instead of playing status games (i.e. refusing fun to show oneself superior). One might also theorize that they would be assholes, since their reputation would be short-lived, but I suppose being an asshole isn't as fun. Anyway, that's enough theory. Here's the data:
When I was checking out the hostel's dining room, I started chatting with this older man (~50) named Chris Smith who was in town for a Buddhist conference. After some talk about music and Taoist and Buddhist philosophies, I found out that he is a macrobiotics expert. Being skilled in physiognomy, he told me (correctly) that I'm a dairy guy, and that I tend to eat fried chicken on big meals (also correct). I'm skeptical about these things, but I managed to suspend my judgement and keep the talk flowing instead of disagreeing. Afterwards, I met this British woman who just started her 8-month trip around the world, and these very typical, funny Japanese kids. Finally, we jammed some random folk music (the hostel has a guitar for public use!) until I was very tired and had to go home. Definitely a different night for me.