Being off the road over the last three months, I have had the opportunity to listen back to interviews I started conducting when this project began in July. Doing so has inspired me to begin a new series here on the blog — every Wednesday, I’ll be posting a short interview from a person I met on the road.
No analysis, no commentary, just an opportunity to consider this country from another person’s perspective. If you have any questions about this series, feel free to get in contact with me at wethevotersproject@gmail.com.
[Disclaimer]: In this series, you’ll find stories straight from interviews I conducted while on the road from July 2019 to the present. The opinions and views shared do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views I hold, either professionally or personally. Sharing these interviews “as is” is intended to challenge you to sit with another person’s experience for a few moments and see the country from their point of view.
Jake says:
For me, I think the smaller towns are where I’ve found kind of a niche as far as connecting with people but, I mean there’s always those one offs in the bigger cities [where] that happens too. So, it’s kinda a crap shoot in a lot of situations.
I would say, overall, the stereotypes about the certain areas in America are somewhat true. The Midwest, you have a lot of very nice people. The East Coast, you have a lot of very hard-shelled people with soft cores, if you can get to them, there’s good people on there. And out west there are a lot of open minded people.
I think that those stereotypes are kind of valid in a way but at the same time, you know, it’s hard to stereotype anything. I find different people, different qualities in people everywhere. I don’t think anywhere is necessarily pinned down as one kind of person lives here.
But one thing I’ve noticed from traveling abroad is that America does have a very friendly vibe overall. Even the parts that you think are not friendly, if you go to other countries outside of the States, all the rules kind of change.
I spent a lot of time in Eastern Europe and I love the people there, but a lot of the times, they’re not polite. They’re not nice to you. They don’t try to make the environment feel friendly in any way.
But at the same time, with that, comes an authenticity that you don’t find in the States. So it’s like you have these people who are totally real, totally authentic, they’re not putting on any front, not putting on any fake niceness out there. But then you come back to the States and there is this kind of facade, this role people feel like they have to play, they have to be overly polite.
But at the same time, there’s good people in all places, it’s just a matter of what brand of good is it.
