Turns out nodding at strangers is actually rare in my city

I moved to Portland 6 months ago and kept noticing people avoid eye contact on the sidewalk. Yesterday I counted 47 people on a 10 block walk and only 3 nodded back when I did the head tilt. I looked up some urban sociology paper from 2019 that said casual acknowledgment rates drop below 10% in cities over 500k. Idk why that blew my mind but it did. Has anyone else tried the nod experiment in a bigger city and seen the same? Or is it just Portland coldness?

2 comments

2 Comments

sean_johnson1617d ago

Portland's just practicing its official greeting: the blank stare with a side of drizzle. Those 3 nods were probably transplants like you, still clinging to human decency. Next time try the head nod at a dog instead, way better odds.

cameron53817d ago

Nodded at a guy yesterday, got a full-on glare back. Portland's broken.