View Full Version : Trail kindness and courtesy
Sunshine82
08-18-2013, 17:56
Has anyone else noticed that when you are in the wood,other people's kindness and all around humanness is so much greater than in normal everyday living?it seems out there no one judges or criticizes,and actually respects and truly want to get to know your fellow human.i deal with tons of people everyday an for the most part that is not the story in society.why can't we carry that from the trail into the real world
Plodderman
08-18-2013, 18:53
I agree and find that hikers are some of the best people.
Slo-go'en
08-18-2013, 20:39
It has a lot to do with the way shared experiances tends to make people bond.
Aren't you usually in a better mood when you're on vacation?
Aren't you usually in a better mood when you're on vacation?
I resent the implication. I'm not on vacation when I hike. I'm just being urbanly withdrawn. If I panhandle at road crossings or when in town can we then say I'm not on vacation but persuing a vocation?
Has anyone else noticed that when you are in the wood,other people's kindness and all around humanness is so much greater than in normal everyday living?
Yes, STRONGLY AGREE with ths idea.
it seems out there no one judges or criticizes,and actually respects and truly want to get to know your fellow human.
To this I say you haven't hiked long enough.
Chaco Taco
08-19-2013, 07:02
it seems out there no one judges or criticizes,and actually respects and truly want to get to know your fellow human.
Most of the time yea. Come up north or go out west and see how southern courtesy goes right out the window when a shuttle doesnt show up on time. Im picking on southerners because I have seen more often than I care to witness, grown southern men having temper tantrums on the phone with service providers. And for the record, Im a southern transplant living in NH.
For the most part, especially away from shelters, you will see this attitude of people being nice to each other and less judgement or criticism.
daddytwosticks
08-19-2013, 07:12
Most of the time yea. Come up north or go out west and see how southern courtesy goes right out the window when a shuttle doesnt show up on time. Im picking on southerners because I have seen more often than I care to witness, grown southern men having temper tantrums on the phone with service providers. And for the record, Im a southern transplant living in NH.
For the most part, especially away from shelters, you will see this attitude of people being nice to each other and less judgement or criticism. Brooklyn-born, Jersey raised, now transplanted Southerner...you are dead wrong. No smiley for you.
slbirdnerd
08-19-2013, 12:11
I agree with the OP and think for a lot of us, part of the reason we hike is to be around nice people. I think people who hike are inherently nicer and it goes along with the whole outdoorsy-type, nature lover, respect for the Earth (and stuff in it) kind of people.
illabelle
08-19-2013, 14:00
When I leave my comfortable home and walk into the woods with my pack on, I'm leaving behind the infrastructure, comfort, and support systems that I rely on every day: clean water piped hot and cold to my faucet, upholstered furniture (aaaah!), sturdy walls and a roof, communication systems, reliable access to headlines, weather forecast, bank accounts, separation from the scary wild creatures and most of the biting insects. I trade all of that for whatever nature gives me, equipped only with what I can carry. In this environment, fellow travelers become my support system, my source of information, my temporary friends. In extreme circumstances, those fellow travelers may save my butt or save my life. I can't just walk past them like I would on a city sidewalk. They've become important to me, and I to them.
Old Hiker
08-19-2013, 14:14
Has anyone else noticed that when you are in the wood,other people's kindness and all around humanness is so much greater than in normal everyday living?it seems out there no one judges or criticizes,and actually respects and truly want to get to know your fellow human.i deal with tons of people everyday an for the most part that is not the story in society.why can't we carry that from the trail into the real world
Not necessarily. I've had good and bad, just like in society. I can remember the hikers sitting on the edge of a densely grown section of the Trail, having their legs stretching across the Trail and being too lazy/ill-mannered to pull them back as I tried to get by. I remember Father-Man (He's important!!) and entourage inviting me several times to join their group, both on the Trail and at a diner. This when I was very shy around the "real" hikers and probably came across as an anti-social sociopath. Not sayin' I'm not, just sayin'.
You can see any number of threads here on WB moaning and complaining about hiker behaviors and attitudes. I think it seems like the "humaness" seems to be greater because many people are nervous or downright afraid of confronting someone about their behavior and attitude with no help around: 911, solid door and walls to retreat behind, a vehicle to speed away in. I further think that it may be that we aren't around them long enough to really get to know most of them as well as we should.
Chaco Taco
08-19-2013, 14:35
Brooklyn-born, Jersey raised, now transplanted Southerner...you are dead wrong. No smiley for you.
Say what you want but I have seen it. So I am dead wrong that I saw a group of southern men in Colorado give a shuttle driver a REALLY hard time because they gave the shuttle driver their wrong location. Or was I wrong seeing southern hikers lay into a caretaker at a tentsite because of $8? Yea Im sure I imagined it. Both instances of some of the worst attitudes I have seen out hiking were by southerners. With that said. some of the nicest folks on the trails are southerners. Wild Bill in Leadville, one of the nicest fellas you could ever meet, from Mississippi. But hey, Im dead wrong. Not looking for a fight but southern men have some of the worst tempers when it comes to the way they treat service providers. Some New Englanders are complete a**holes as well, but from my experience, New Englanders just dont talk to you and keep walking. Better than yelling at someone.
A nod and a smile given and a nod and a smile recieved is all I require. Just like on an elevator. I prefer not to engage with anyone outside of the person I may be hiking with, but a quick friendly gesture is acknowledgement enougb that we are out here for the same basic reasons.
Sailing_Faith
08-21-2013, 09:46
I think there is a vast difference between encountering people "single file" as the trail tends to introduce us and meeting mobs of shoppers at the mall.
Also significant is that people who abandon those comforts mentioned above are all somewhat weird, so we all probably tend to fit in a little more for that too. :)
Hill Ape
08-21-2013, 10:27
I met a Yankee once. He had an attitude problem. Therefore, all Yankees must have attitude problems.
Fallacy
I met a Yankee once. He had an attitude problem. Therefore, all Yankees must have attitude problems.
Fallacy
Im a Yankee...and a Yankee fan! Im a great guy!
You got a problem with that!!??? :) LOL
88BlueGT
08-21-2013, 10:46
I tend to not talk to others while hiking.... not to be a jerk but that's the exact reason why I'm hiking. I will never give someone an attitude or turn down a conversation is someone initiates it. I'm just usually good for the smile and wave :)
Yes people bond a lot easier in the woods because that's all you have in the woods is the people around you.
I met a Yankee once. He had an attitude problem. Therefore, all Yankees must have attitude problems.
Fallacy
Four-year old grandson: Next spring I get to play on a recreational baseball team, and the teams have names like the big leagues.
Me: What if the team that they put you on is named the Yankees?
Four-year old grandson: Then I will tell them that I will not play.
BirdBrain
08-21-2013, 12:10
People are people. I see all types on the trail. Online bloggers are another matter. Bloggers post things on the internet that they would not whisper to a friend or say to someone's face. Relative to those people, hikers are great. The trail is perfect. I don't know how a person could not be happy out there. I have met a few. Mostly thru zombies just trying to get to the end and missing the best part (Maine). Blah blah blah. I better go for a walk. Mahoosucs this weekend.
Ground Control
08-21-2013, 12:21
Yes...
And in line with this, I have also noticed that when hiking in state parks, or even on the AT near state parks & parking lots, the people (day hikers) are much more likely to walk right past you without acknowledgement or even saying a word.
I liken this to life in the city versus life in the country. In the city people avoid eye-contact and interaction, whereas in the country strangers wave at strangers who drive down country roads...
HooKooDooKu
08-21-2013, 12:44
why can't we carry that from the trail into the real world
I do not think that it is an issue that we need to ''carry that from the trail into the real world'. I believe that we (as a hiker community) "carry that" with us when we go into the woods.
I other words, the qualities in a person that makes them willing to leave the 'real world' go into the woods are the same qualities that make them more conducive to kindness.
But the simple fact is that hikers are in the minority. So even if everyone that has even so much as taken a day-hike in the woods were to suddenly become twice as nice, we wouldn't see any significant change in society.
Has anyone else noticed that when you are in the wood,other people's kindness and all around humanness is so much greater than in normal everyday living?....why can't we carry that from the trail into the real world
I tend to be a deep thinker. I'm a why type guy. I want to understand the underlying mechanisms and motives behind things. It's why I sometimes make things more complex sounding than what folks want to hear. But it can also help us to better understand things.
As I said before I strongly agree that humanness is much greater on the trail. I think it's because we get in better touch with our individual humanity, who we are as core beings, on the trail and it carries over into how we act to others! Despite contrary thought that humanity is easily found in our things(our stuff), cities, electronic gadgets, accomplishments, reputations, what we do, etc we can more readily find our true selves when we simplify things by reducing or eliminating those influences that give us this idea that we are all those things. I call this our ego. Our ego tells us to look outside of ourselves to find who we are rather than noticing that we are more than things, accomplishments, reputations, etc. I said this on another thread, "I hike to come to terms with myself." This is what I meant. I hike and garden with the intention to not be so ego based to break that ego conditioned lifestyle
that's so prevalent and leads to such destruction and misery on many levels. When I realized how egotistical I was(and the world is) it astounded me and I resolved to not live by constantly catering to the ego. I'm not a Zen Master yet in controlling or doing away with my ego but just by being aware of it it has improved my life as well as others immensely. Hiking CAN BE a vehicle to help us not be so egotistical or ego driven.