Differences between American and Hispanic culture, v1.4b

I'm sure I say this plenty, but the gap between what is seen in America versus what I've grown up with is vastly different in certain respects. I've already talked about how I find Americans have trouble with more intimate contact, which still upsets me. One of the reasons I love Hispanic culture is because the walls are torn down when it comes to a sense of intimacy in a verbal and physical sense, even between strangers.

Corey reminded me of this the other day when she was reading an e-mail from my mother over my shoulder. It was addressed to my brother and me, and started out with, "Queridos amores," directly translated - Dear loves - yet it has more sentiment than even those two words in English. Our e-mails usually end the same way, even when I write to my parents. This time, my mom concluded with "Los amo mis adorados hijos, Diosito me los cuide y me los bendiga siempre," or, "I love you my beloved sons, may God protect you and bless you always."

In addition to cutesy, heartfelt correspondence, my family, and most Hispanic people I know, will always say "good morning" to each other in the morning, up until noon, and when people bid each other farewell in the evening, will always say "good night." I find that's not always true in my interactions with people in daily life. I sometimes get strange looks when saying "good morning" to my co-workers, other people in the department, or even the bus drivers. My saluation is also not reciprocated with a "good morning" back, but a "hi" or "hey" or something like that. Since when was it wrong to say "good morning" to a fellow peer? Does it sound too formal? Regardless, it's slightly irritating, but I guess it's so commonplace when I speak Spanish that I feel like it should carry over. I mean, even when I walk into a bodega (Hispanic convenience store) or restaurant, I'm greeted with either "Buenas," or "good day," or something even cuter, such as, "Hola mi hijo" (Hi my son), or "Que tal, corazon?"(How's it going, love?) [literally, heart, not love]. It just makes any sort of interaction, regardless of how well you know the person, that much more pleasant and enjoyable.

Corey thought it was so cute how communications between my family and me start like that, whereas I didn't think much of it. But after some thinking, I realized that a lot of people I know are threatened by showing such displays of emotion and intimacy among each other for fear of having others think negatively of them or something - of being called weak, gay, or something else perhaps. I know I'm probably overgeneralizing, but I find it's true more often than not. I feel like Americans should learn from this, but maybe that's just my bias talking. I guess the gap is wider than I sometime think or remember. Maybe I'll start a social experiment and start hugging more often, or even kissing my friends on the cheek after a firm hug to see what happens.