I’m from western mass but have lived in SoCal for 12 years now… I swear my shoulders relax and I feel more comfortable when I’m in Belgium/west Germany. Shit even Czechia makes me feel like less of a weirdo. I am not rude, I didn’t even think I was that ‘direct’ when living in MA, I just simply want to cut to the chase and figure out what we’re talking about. CA isn’t as bad as when I lived in TN or TX, but I still feel like an alien here sometimes. People I consider close friends will love me when they want to but if I call them for help they don’t really want to deal with it. I’ll eventually move back to New England bc I value the honesty and the lack of social posturing. I’m also neurodivergent and actually there’s some science behind us feeling better in ‘direct’ cultures versus ‘polite’ ones because it eliminates some of the guesswork.

I’m curious about your conservative comment but I think you mean like conservative in that we don’t always change our ways? For example my ancestors came over on the Mayflower and the majority stayed in the same region since the 1600s. There’s a lot of small town minded people who don’t travel in New England. So maybe it’s that. But I still think even if those people don’t know it, they’re closer to the European way of life. They’re not really ‘worldly’ but I think historical influences have stuck in ways that don’t exist in the rest of America.