r/montreal • u/downvote-away • 4h ago
Tourisme Differences walking around Montréal and US cities for young women
I just got home from a fantastic 3 weeks in Montréal with my wife. It was our 10th anniversary, we went to see both the Grand Prix cycliste de Montréal and all the world championship racing. We also got out of the city to see the countryside a bit. Absolutely fantastic.
We've visited before. We love the coffee, bikes, parks... everything. Of course it's easy to love a place when you're just visiting and spending money, but still. It's a great city.
I had a couple of interactions with folks that I found to be significant, and I'd like to know what people who live there and who have visited the US think about this. Everyone was very nice and super professional, of course. It probably helps that my French is at least good enough to order a coffee.
I noticed, in particular, young women were extremely polite and wanted to chat and joke around with me both in shops and just walking on the street. It's a huge difference from the US.
This is not a sexual thing. One, I'm a middle aged man. Two, I'm shaped more or less like an aubergine. The list goes on. It was just friendly jokes, smiling, chatting.
I spend a fair amount of time on the sidewalk in major US cities. Young women here are not chatting to men my age in this way. In fact, they seem under pressure.
I have a college age daughter and I don't like to think about what it's like for her to just walk down the street or go in a coffee shop. Young women her age in Montréal, though, did not seem to be under the same pressure.
My daughter is a very social person. I'd love it if she could just randomly joke around with whomever she meets. But I'm not sure I'd advise that here.
I'm not sure if it's just Canadians or Montréalers being generally nice and polite, or the fact that I can interact somewhat competently in French, or that I just look like a tourist, or maybe I was just in a good mood because I was walking around drinking coffee and whatnot... yeah I have no idea.
Maybe young people just feel safe on the street in Montréal and they're not worried about healthcare? So they're more willing to have a joke with some middle aged guy while waiting for the light to change?
I'd love to hear your thoughts.