Hmmm...I've only been to New York a few times, and the last time I went was a few months after september eleventh, so I found the atmosphere to be very different...When walking around ground zero, everyone was experiencing the shock of seeing it all together, in this big common experience. I didn't feel separated from everyone...I thought it was rather interesting to view other reactions, especially since people were from all over the country.

However, that's a special case. I live near Chicago in a suburb, but my closeness to a big city has made me used to the type of social interactions you described - cold and non-existent. I always am caught off guard if someone from a small town sits down and starts talking to me on the train or something like that. I remember the band from the University of North Dakota came to my high school to perform. Before the performance, the director asked those in his band who came from towns with populations that were less than that of my high school to raise their hands..and about 1/4 of the hands were raised. That was pretty shocking to me, as I only know people from North Dakota who live in Fargo. Anyway, I'm just always a little surprised that even living in a suburb has made me so desensitized to aloof, cold social interaction. When someone is being friendly towards me, it's usually some creepy guy trying to be flirtatious..and that isn't in the same spirit as general friendliness.

I must add that though I feel that I'm desensitized from living near a large city, I don't feel paranoid or untrusting. I only feel that way after reading some article about how to avoid rape. Those articles always say things like "Whatever you do, don't smile at a man, no matter how nice he looks! act unfriendly to everyone! they're all potential rapists!" But the effects of those articles usually passes...