[retcore]

>You used to have social interactions when waiting anywhere

London perfected ignoring everybody long before even the rise of mass circulation newspapers according to diaries of family who knew the place a hundred years ago. The Tube of the eighties celebrated the apotheosis of ignoring one another and the British seem to make a art form out of studious but "polite" asociability* in every queue.

Actually reading this discussion I've realized that I have seen almost nobody using headphones in London in recent years, eliminating possibly the highest barrier to interaction. Curiouser I have most recently only noticed people glued to their phones whilst walking not standing at the bus stop.

*as opposed to anti social manners for clarity

[pictureofabear]

Yes, people in large metropolises have been indifferent to each other for ages.

Everywhere else in the US, it used to be the case that you would make small talk with people while waiting at the doctor's office, in barbershops, in the line at the grocery store, wherever.