I've lived in Memphis for a few years now and I have come across I would say more hostility than friendliness? Is Memphis notorious for not being friendly towards people who aren't from the area especially in professional circles? So far in my experience living here the people who have been more open and friendly have been those who aren't originally from the area or have lived in other places and decided to come back. Just want to know if this is a Memphis thing or not since I have never experience anything like this back home where there are people from all sorts of places. In addition if anyone has any recs for groups or organizations that cater towards people who aren't from the area or are open to people that are not originally from Memphis that would be great!
Seconded. You think it's tough being an outsider? Just try being an insider
Truth
I have now lived in memphis since 1995. It took me a hot minute to adapt. People were either stand offish or superficially fake saccharine nice. It took me a good 6 years to adapt to living here and to make solid, real friendships.
Bless your heart. Superficially fake saccharine nice is a Southern thing.
I kind of got that. Iām Midwestern. We are nice, but we tell it like it is. I canāt even be pretend nice. My face gives me away.
I didnāt experience that living in Iowa. Is that Midwest? Idk. Iāve lived here 5.5 yrs so hopefully my friendships are coming up. š
Yes, Iām from iowa/nebraska/omaha metro area. Maybe people were just different in 1995. š have you met anyone at work etc? The first batch of people I met was when I was a mom of young kids and then people from work. Lots of friends who also werenāt from here.
Naw Iām not a family centered person. I work in manufacturing and unfortunately most people donāt stick around long. Iāve had 4 managers in 1.5 yrs.
I was in council bluffs and everyone seemed petty chill. I was very surprised to meet antivaxxers though lol. I liked the layout in Omaha better since itās easier to ride back home from downtown. Also that new park is beautiful. Much cleaner too. I know Iām a little weirdo so I expect to get reactions without trying hard but they usually just looked at me with a smile. I panicked a little because Idk if that means weāre still cool or if I should chill a little bit.
I would be surprised to meet anti vaxxers there too, but Iowa has changed A LOT since I lived there. I lived on the outskirts toward the country. I miss it sometimes but Iāve been here for a long time. I go back home a lot. Most of my family is still there.
Vaxxers are the ones you need to avoid
Itās how they make the tea
Extra 'beetus please!Ā
Amputation billboards intensify
Yup. Moving elsewhere confirmed my assumption that Memphis is the only city I have seen where asking what high school you went to is a normal question among 30-40 year olds who just met.
Tami Sawyer even put it in her campaign bio.
St. Louis also does the high school test to figure out your socioeconomic status.
Pretty common question in the southern/more southern midwestern river cities - St Louis, Memphis, Louisville, Cincinnati. Itās also a pretty normal question overall but these are the places Iāve heard it most - typically these cities seem to have more catholic schools and segregation too - at least historically but also contemporarily. Doubt itās a coincidence.
This has 100% been my experience here. Everyone is friends from high school and all popped out their 3 or 4 kids at the same time who go to the same elementary schools.
I wonder if this is part of why itās so hard for me to make friends here. I moved right before the pandemic and I met a couple people but for the most part people all have their own groups already and when I try to initiate hang outs or texting I get nothing. Also when I started working at each new job (Iāve had 3) people were not chatty to me at all and sort of excluded me from the group. Not even in a malicious way for some of it, just absent mindedness it seemed.
Happened to me a lot when I went to college (UofM) - was home schooled a lot in HS due to illness so had no real friends from there. Went to college expecting to make plenty since I had heard from friends in other states that everyone "starts over" there.
Yeah no lol. Everyone just kept hanging out with their HS friends and wanted nothing to do with anyone. Could barely even get people to interact for group projects.
This... I feel like a throwaway friend like whenever someone needs a shoulder to cry on or wants to be heard thats when they call me but other than that any hangouts or celebrations I don't get invited. I was born and raised here and the last time I actually had more than one friend was in high school. I recently seen my old friend group hanging out with each other still I was the only one that got exile. It's like nobody wants to make new friends but complain about wanting new friends nobody really wants to put in the work.
Now I kind of got PTSD with women because the last female friend I tried to be friends with I was there with her pregnancy, I helped out with everything even after the baby was here I was announced to be a godmother. I spent A LOT of time with this girl so I was learning abouqt her she never gave too shits about me. The person and I hung out basically everyday just to be told right before the baby's first birthday that I was never a friend of the family, what is Wild is she claimed that I was trying to get with her dude but I don't like nobody who already has kids for one secondly I met the guy way before he had a child with her so it could have been different if I wanted it to be but that's not my cup of tea and I wanted to build my friend base the and it was right after my grandmother was murdered by her husband at the time I really needed a shoulder to cry on but at the end of it all when I let her know that I don't respect her as a person or the way that she moves all of a sudden she ended up respecting me and actually giving the fuck about me and actually stepping up as a human being but it was too late I don't want to keep accepting little to nothing ass people as a friend and supposed to be okay with it
Yeah, that pretty much describes Memphian women as a whole
I have a friend who moved here from Dallas in 2009. He has done well with becoming part of the social fabric of Memphis, but it took him awhile to get used to the "What high school did you go to?" question. It is understandable, as Memphis is low in transplants compared to many metros.
I grew up in austin and I feel if memphis peeps say they love Dallas. We probably aren't going to be friends. I have lived here 12 years and yet to make a decent circle of friends.
I donāt know if Iād call Memphis āunfriendlyā but living in the city for 5 years all of my friends around my age (33-38) were transplants from out of state. We did end up becoming friendly with older Memphians but that is a different type of relationship. This insularity was recognized by native coworkers who didnāt have much to offer as far as solutions to breaking into those social networks.
Miscellaneous thoughts: 1. Never thought Iād unironically be referred to a āyankee,ā but it happened multiple times. 2. Never thought āWhere do you go to church?ā as one of the first few questions when meeting new people, but happened often. 3. Many natives had comments about choosing to live downtown, where I guess stereotype of transplants choosing to live. 4. When we moved to Cooper-Young, many comments from natives about being a CY ātype of personā which was said negatively but not even sure which stereotype I was confirming for them.
When we moved to Cooper-Young, many comments from natives about being a CY ātype of personā which was said negatively but not even sure which stereotype I was confirming for them.
I'll call you at the Arby's in parker Colorado.
Sounds like STL
STL does this as well. Very annoying.
Soooo what high school did you go to?
Gateway. šš
š„ š„ š„
New Orleans is the same way. At least here if you went to U of M you get some cred.
I found New Orleans to be really friendly when I moved there years ago. I was asked a couple of times where I went to high school, but was never asked where I went to church. Nobody I knew there even went to church. I found it to be friendly and still have friends there today.
Born and raised there, moved a ton, ended up in Louisville. It's the same here. Everyone wants to know what HS you went to. Bizarre.
Me to healthcare City resources everything was better even the people when I went to Colorado
See more cities!
Cincinnati is that way too
Louisville was just like that when I lived there.
Memphis is the LARGEST small town in the world.
This! All you gotta do is know somebody who knows somebody.Ā
Yep. Iām friends with a family who moved here from DC. Theyāre from Long Island, and previously lived in Boston before DC. They moved to Memphis because the wife got a really good job here. He had previously supported her while she was in school, and his old job didnāt really exist in the same way here, but her job was good enough for the both of them and their child.
Anyway, theyāve been here 11 years or so. For the first 4 or 5 years, they had a really tough time. Eventually, the husband got involved with several local causes and organizations. Once he made a few solid friends, their network rapidly expanded. They said that the first few years were hard, the next few were better but still not great, and then they met one or two people that really exploded their network and it got easy after that.
There was a post recently of a list saying Memphis is the 2nd rudest city in the country. Not sure if that correlates to your question or not. In my experience, customer service has become extinct at most retail, restaurants, etc. But I've not had an issue in the workplace, etc
Basically every restaurant in Memphis is the same.
1) Underpaid overworked servers who rightfully have little friendliness less to give working tables
2) The "best" 3 or 4 employees working the bar where all the regulars sit, usually happy because those regulars tip well and always come back.
Literally every full service restaurant I have ever gone to in this city is like this lol.
Every restaurant in Memphis "we're upscale American fare with a SOUTHERN TWIST*"
Customer service is awful in Memphis
I actually did feel it in the workplace, never had a boss that so obviously didnāt give a shit about her employees until I started my job here. The lack of decency and the dishonesty is unlike anything Iāve experienced in my working life
I've had a boss like that too, but chalked it up to one unhappy individual and not a Memphis thing
That could be the case, in fact I hope so.
Memphis is slightly a part of the deep South. It is very insular. I say this as a person from here. I've lived in many places and came back, and my closest friends are still those I went to high school with. I think we are really nice, but don't fit folks into a routine. I myself have done this and wish I hadn't. It's very common to ask folks where they went to high school. I've only heard of NOLA being quite weird on that front.
agreed. lots of influence from MI and Nashville imo.
I been here for 10 years- nobody has not been nice to me because I was a transplant in fact quite the opposite, people are really happy to hear that I decided to move here on purpose. Sounds like maybe your co workers are just not that nice- what field are you in?
I'm in STEM, I have been very blessed that my co-workers are very nice. I think for me it's mostly been other STEM circles/professional sections where I have seen more unfriendliness and preference is more for those who are from the area when it comes to ideas and opinions.
Dang thatās super lame
It depends on what field you are in, but yes. Also, I am sorry to the locals, but I work in a very transplant heavy field and we have to distinguish between āsmartā or āmemphis smartā when we look at local candidates. - so the transplants have our own clique too.
Memphis smart, lol
Ayup. I am a native Memphian and also a professional in a transplant-heavy field, and I have always had much better luck hiring people who did not go to school here. (Iām Memphis-smart, I need edjumucated people around me!)
Wow thatās horrible
A lot of the comments seem to miss the implied difference between āsmartā and āMemphis smart.ā
Just because you are from Memphis does not automatically exclude you from being smart. You definitely could be!
Memphis smart could be this person made straight Aās at their HS (maybe a not great one) then became a leader in their local field, business, politics, religion. But when they encounter someone knowledgeable or they are forced to work in a slightly different capacity, it tends to fall apart.
Iām sure someone at some point said āWanda Halbert is smart! Look at her bio! https://www.shelbycountytn.gov/558/About-the-County-Clerk ā and then you realizeā¦
Wow, "Memphis smart" Guess since I'm from Memphis for the most part, I haven't heard this. I work in a very transplant heavy hospital. Inclusiveness is emphasized in daily emails, so people are careful about what they say. I made straight A's in college, but it was U of M, so just Memphis smart lol
Side note, many Southerners mistake outsiders frankness as being rude or curt. Therefore, they are not as likely to warm up to them easily. I often explain to younger local employees that being to the point is not rude but normal for people not raised in the south. Whereas asking what high school someone went to could be a means of measuring one up, it is also an ice breaker, like how's the weather, or where are you from. I've never taken affront to being asked, but I'm not a millennial and am not easily offended.
I've lived in Memphis for 8 years now. (I moved down from NY) and since the beginning, no one has treated me any differently. Memphis is a huge melting pot of cultures, so I don't see why anyone would treat a "non-native" any different.
Memphis is extremely parochial across all socio-economic classes.
Memphis is very much a city where you get what you give. If you want people to be friendly, be friendly to them. If you want your space, just donāt acknowledge people.
Yes, yes, yes....so I'm a nurse. We get pulled to other floors fairly frequently. Nurses are always complaining about being pulled, saying the nurses aren't friendly and don't even talk to me...I've never had a problem. I talk to everyone, and they always ask me to come back or come work on their floor.
What do you mean by hostility? Iām not sure I understand the context because you say especially in professional circles. What professional circle are you in where anyone has a reason to be hostile? I have lived here my entire life and Iāve worked in a field for over a decade with large amounts of transplants who moved here on 2-5 year contracts and none of them ever expressed this kind of sentiment. The ones I keep in touch with that moved out of Memphis say they miss Memphis and the friends they made here. I feel like we donāt have enough information to answer the question because right now youāre basically just asking locals if itās normal that everyone from here are assholes.
Wording I have used may have been too strong, and I didn't mean everyone is bad. I'm in STEM professional circles and it is more open and inviting to those from the area, even had a colleague from out of state tried to do some recruiting for some roles and felt the same way. With that said I have met wonderful people here. I guess perhaps being from a bigger metro area people tend to be more welcoming? Not so sure...
Friendly, sure. But it's a tough nut to crack to make friends.
As an outsider, seems like everyone knows everyone and is having a blast.... Except for you. But I'm sure every city has that complaint
You know that saying, "if you run into a jerk in the morning, you ran into a jerk, but if you run into jerks all day - you're the jerk?"
No doubt. All these folks are a trip. ā i suck at making friends, cant be my faultā¦. Must be the cityās fault.ā So dumb.
Socially I think of Memphis pretty friendly compared to most other places I've lived, though anywhere you have mostly long time residents it can be harder to meet people than where there are lots of young people moving around.
If you are talking about the business community on the other hand, its more about who you know. There are not that many good job openings at any give time, and they tend to get instantly filled by someone with a connection. Even for people with connections there are not really enough jobs so most educated young people end up leaving or working remote.
Been here 19 years and it was one of the reasons why i love memphis, cause everyone is friendly. Judging by this post, it might just be me fitting in with assholes š¤£
I moved here 5 years ago and in most job interviews, rideshares, casual convos, where Iām from and my accent are the most common questions/observations. Straight up a former employer wouldnāt let me front face with clients because she claimed some wouldnāt ātake too nicelyā to my accent. I am from the Northeast. I later learned the boss was projecting this onto me. they were uncomfortable with me not being from Memphis. The fact itās used as a conversation starter by nearly every Memphian Iāve worked with or driven with- some uhhh a bit standoffish and rude about it- is unique to Memphis. 5 year resident and Iām still treated like I just got here. That stings.
Where did you go to high school??!??
I was born in Memphis and I lived in Fayette County for about 10 years. I have experienced the "fake nice" from Memphians because I don't sound like I'm from Memphis, me being black makes it no better š„“š®āšØ
Yes yes. Trying to do work there and break into old systems and/or find new systems is so so so dang hard.
If you love Memphis, Memphis will love you backā¦ this has been mostly true in my experience.
I came across a lot of this after moving here. There are great people here but there is also a lot of stranger danger nonsense. Basically, if you werenāt born in their church, you can fuck off.
As a transplant (almost 4 years!) This makes me sad to hear as my experience has been the opposite. I will say I was very active in getting involved: joined FB groups, went on Bumble BFF, volunteered at a chamber of commerce, etc. I've never had any negative issues with folks here and I'm sorry that you have. One of the things that I loved most about Memphis when I moved here was how friendly everyone was.
I moved here almost 2yrs ago. Maybe it's just my friend circle, but everyone has been extremely welcoming to me. A lot of my friends grew up in the area. Some never left. I'd go on a limb and say that I've moved around a lot in the last decade from state to state and Memphis has given me the most intimate friends out of anywhere.
I saw a comment bringing up customer service. I agree, customer service here has not been the greatest. I try and choose kindness and typically I get better service and the other person has a nicer day, but I'll be lying if I didn't say I've gotten impatient from time to time.
Random strangers have been mixed. Most of the time they have been neutral. I've had some people who have been nice. But then there are people who are rude or are intentionally trying to start trouble. They can be a bit overwhelming and I just choose not to engage with them if I don't have to
And this boys and girls, is how we seal the deal on making Reddit into Nextdoor.
I think Memphis is welcoming. Not sure why a question about where you went to high school would be considered āsocial economic in natureā. I guess that maybe gleaned from it but dang. Is where you went to college a bad question? Or where you from? Or where were you born?
I ask these questions all the time and the reason is to find if we know some people in common or played sports against each other etc. It has nothing to do with money. WTH, would what money your parents had in high school matter to adults? Sometimes we build barriers between ourselves and others based on completely wrong interpretations of others. Maybe everyone needs a card with allowed questions..or just I donāt answer questions. That will grow a friendship quickly.
I'm an outsider and you might be in the wrong crowd lol . i lived in all major cities and memphis is pretty friendly. like people here actually give a shit about u
Idk about that, I personally don't care too much where you're from, but pretty sure most people take my blank expression as rude. Most of the time, I just don't care much about people. Pretty much anytime I've jumped into something on a social level in memphis, I'm approached by people wanting to scam me, sell drugs, or have some other axe (usually some sort of therapy-esque talk). So, I don't really put out much thought/emotion on the front end, until I can understand what it is they actually want. It is never comradery/friendship/whatever.
I don't know about the white collar world on this particular note (I'm blue collar through and through), but the vast majority of early interaction is trying to figure out if the person is a parkway village type, germantown type, or something in between.
In my experience, Parkway village types (except the old cats, typically nothing but respect there), usually end up being touchy egos and want to do almost 0 work for all the money/pussy in the world. Germantown types seem to be on the opposite end of the spectrum, fake to your face through and through, will talk about Jesus 2-3 times in the conversation, and typically have some condescending outlook on you if you don't dress in a prim/proper way while talking about how much you love the lord/donate to charity/work in some high skill job that changes lives.
The people in the middle are the ones I typically get along with pretty easily, but never expect to see them again, due to staying on a superficial level.
Lastly, don't know much about downtown due to it usually being out of my way and I can't blow 40/50 bucks every time I want a black market with a glass of Angel's envy.
I think we see a lot of people who arenāt from Memphis hate on Memphis, which makes us weary of new people. Which is crazy because everyone from Memphis hates on Memphis, too, but we feel like we have a right to.
I think when I meet people who chose to come to Memphis, I either figure theyāll be gone soon because they wonāt appreciate Memphis or that they wonāt understand how good Memphis is beyond the bad things. Most people who come here donāt stay, and if they do they donāt like it. But no matter how much Memphians donāt like Memphis, we still have a lot of pride in it and hate hearing the hate, even though we give it too š
Just my two cents
As a life long memphian i can say memphis just a hateful city, its not you just a lot of anger in the people
it can be a fairly tribalist city.
Lived in Memphis for 10 years now - because of my accent (Iām grew up in Seattle) I get asked where Iām visiting from in my own neighborhood Iāve owned a house in for 6 yearsā¦ Thereās no one Memphis or singular Memphianā¦ yeah weāve all met āwhat church yāall go to where did yāall go to high schoolā folks in MEM but Iāve found enough fellow transplants through work and such to have a social life. I wish I had more folks who werenāt connected to my work in some ways - basically everyone I hang with is from somewhere else - but the earlier messages about it being harder to make friends as one ages are very true. I think thatās real everywhere though.
If youāre from Mississippi or Arkansas I got beef with you /s
Yall hold up traffic 9 times out of 4.
Bruh memphis not friendly to anyone
Memphis just mostly isnāt friendly period
Memphis is a generally angry city with a lot of angry broke peoples
I'd say bitter too.Ā
I'm definitely bitter š I wish this city could be what I signed up for it to be
I didn't mean you specifically. Just an absurd amount of people who seem that way for whatever reasons.Ā
Comparatively, Memphis is not friendly towards anyone. Locals think itās part of the cities ācharmā.
Yeah, Iāve heard of it happening a lot. On a professional level it might be envy because a lot of out of towners can often negotiate for substantially higher pay coming from higher cost of living areas than locals in the same positions by using their previous pay as a bargaining chip.
I moved to Memphis when I was 12 and was called Yankee and n-lover by kids in my neighborhood. It was like people were still fighting the civil war. I've been gone about eight years , so maybe that's changed since i'm a long way from 12 years old.
Itās an unhappy place to live, which is reflected in the unfriendly unhappy people. Literally anywhere else would be better and everyone living here knows it, so theyāre all miserable. You experienced life outside Memphis, youāve been to better places and they know it lol
I was there last week and was nothing but welcomed. Where were you/what activities gave off these "really bad vibes"?
I went to the pyramid and had people driving aggressively and very unsafe the whole way there including along the river front drive area where it's supposed to be 10 mph. When I pulled into the parking lot it had signs everywhere saying to lock up your valuables or don't leave them in the car. There were two cop cars in the parking lot of Bass Pro dealing with 4 sketchy people. When I left Bass Pro I drove around a little bit to see what was going on. Beale street seemed fun but I didn't feel safe parking my car anywhere and it was $35 to park in a garage. On my way home I stopped in a suburb and was harassed by people at the gas station and there were 15 people in line and the cashiers had no control of what was going on. Just felt very chaotic and unsafe compared to many other cities I've lived and spent time in. Only felt more unsafe in Jamaica. Also when I was driving to get back on the freeway to go home two different cars tried to cut me off and parked right in front of me and began threatening me by honking their horns and throwing their hands up at me. I just kept driving and got the hell out of Memphis.
Lol, you have to learn how to drive in Memphis, or I guess you would find it hostile. Most big cities do have aggressive drivers, but I240 can get bad, especially with the racing. I've lived here on and off for 55 years and have never been "harassed " at a gas station. I pay with a card at the pump so maybe that has something to do with it. Or maybe you use hostile and harassed lightly.
I've lived in Portland, Salt Lake, Los Angeles and Phoenix. Memphis is by far the craziest drivers I've seen.
If youāre not from one of the power families here and a country club membership, you will never fit in. We canāt wait to leave
Who are the power families? Just curious.
Think the names on buildings, and the ones in politics. Or old cotton money families as well as the nouveau rich ones who wish they were cotton money. Turley, Dunavant, Canale, Smith, Dobbs, Zanone, Tuhoy, Carlisle, Hobsonā¦. Thereās so many more but Iām drawing a blank. Iām not from here originally. Basically anyone who has a home in rosemary, a lake house at pickwick or now the popular horseshoe, a hunting property in MS or AK- not necessarily saying they are all awful, some are great and some do great things. But they run the city. And theyāre the first ones to complain about how Memphis is so unsafe but they leave on their daddy or best friends airplanes every second they get for another city.
Anyone remember this article? https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/03/a-private-jet-of-rich-trumpers-wanted-to-stop-the-steal
You will definitely get judged by your high school here. It makes an immediate impression. Itās the city equivalent of āWho are your people?ā I have many times said my school name and the person replies āThat explains everything.ā
Itās definitely divided. You got half that are friendly and will stop and give a tourist directions to wherever they need. Then the other half are completely vile people all around
Memphians are hostile to pretty much everyone including other memphians
And here I am born and raised here with no circle of friends.....go figure
I grew up here and have lived in Waco, Boise, and St Louis. People were much more friendly in all 3 places, especially Boise. The difference in customer service is stark. People here hate their jobs and their lives and they aren't afraid to let you know it. Servers are paid low almost everywhere in the US, but the Memphis attitudes are considerably worse than elsewhere.
The way it was put to me is that Memphis is just a small town in a big city. Once you know someone you know half the people, and be nice to everyone you meet because you really donāt know who they are or who they know. The same doesnāt apply from them to you š¤£š
Moved here about 7 years ago and can confirm. Memphians are friendly but won't invite you into their circle of friends, which may go back generations.
Everyone agreeing with this has terrible coworkers and friends, good god
Iāve never been stared at more aggressively than my time living in Memphis. (Guy) like it wild
I'm from the Northeast. I've been here 18 years and I've made some casual/seasonal friends, but I've experienced some of what you describe. When I first got to Memphis my accent was a lot stronger. People would ask "Where you from?" during almost every interaction -- gas station, grocery store, doctor's office. I'm somewhat friendly, so I would chat with them. What was weird was that half of these people would crap on my home state during these conversations. I would ask if they had visited and found they didn't like it, and they all said they had never been! The rest of the people I chatted with were neutral or curious about me, which is normal, in my opinion.
A few years ago, a coworker got upset about my accent. I was talking (not to her) and she goes "You have an ACCENT." She sounded so disgusted! I said, "So do you!" She replied, "Yeah, but mine's the RIGHT accent!" I go, "Ok, if you say so." That lady was so ridiculous, I laugh when I think about it now. It is odd how judgemental some Memphians can be about transplants.
Midsouth is the Southern United States without friendly people.
I had a buddy move to Memphis with a position with a major corporation. The local staff said " we normally don't hire outsiders ", wtf. He left and couldn't be happier .
I took that's statement (we normally don't hire outsiders) as a challenge... Should have taken it as a warning shot. ššš
Moved here 2y ago and made a ton of friends through a common hobby (magic the gathering), although like with any population some of us get better than others. Maybe find a sports league or sm groupy?
Not from the area, Iām from the other side of Tennessee. Honestly I think that Memphis is the armpit of Tennessee. Iāve experienced more racism and hardship from genuine lack of caring or general kindness for their fellow man. I find myself frequently becoming more gruff and rude to survive this god forsaken city. I truly think that the people from here donāt know that it doesnāt have to be a constant battle for basic needs to be met.
I am originally from Memphis, never lived anywhere else. Nor do I have a close net of friends. Once I left high school,I left everyone behind. But the people me and husband hang out with, when we do have get togethers ( same for years). All of them are from everywhere. You have to find groups that want to experience different cultures.But, I will also say this. Memphis is a "small country town-city", everybody knows everybody. Guarantee. Play the game and you and everyone in your group, knows a common person.
Couldnāt relate less. Moved here from South GA 3 years ago not knowing anyone and have made tons of friends both from here and not from here. At work, thereās definitely a lot of locals but not once have I ever felt anything but friendliness. All in all, Iāve been blown away by how kind Memphis is. Good people
I went to CBU and thankfully met and stayed friends w a spectacular group of ppl (mostly other transplants). Now Iāve been here for 20 years, but I still canāt say Iām āfrom Memphisā even in casual conversation w strangers because of the INEVITABLE follow-up question about high school. Itās pretty ridiculous. š
Memphis isn't friendly to insiders š
It just depends on your social circle. I mostly talk to a co worker or two. There are a few cool people who I've met in the artsy crowd. However with that being said, cliques are really prominent in just about every profession from what I've witnessed. It's a hit or miss.
We aren't even kind to ourselves. No one cares if you're an outsider.
Iāve (so far) only visited. But long visits (5-6 weeks at a time).
Iāve found people in Memphis to be extremely friendly, generally hilarious, and downright hospitable.
Untrue. Mainly Memphis is a town full of outsiders, older people in their 30s are 40s? Huge majority of them are outsiders from when the naval base was still super active.
But Memphis? We are a friendly ass place, and if you are good to us, we are good to you
If youāre white expect hostility
MANE. Memphis ain't friendly towards MEMPHIS. š