What if Bostonians were forced to be friendly? It’s not an idle question. If things had gone down differently in 2015, and that madcap Olympics bid had succeeded, the unthinkable could have happened.
As people who are old enough to have dreaded a traffic jam nine years in advance will recall, an aggressive push by a group of well-connected luminaries got the city anointed by the US Olympic Committee as its choice to host the 2024 Games — until, of course, the people rose up and we simultaneously quit and were fired.
There were many reasons the bid soured. We didn’t want to be on the hook for cost overruns. The special traffic lanes open to Olympic elites, and not us, their rightful occupants, was an obvious insult. Ditto the decree that would have prohibited Boston City employees from trash talking the Games. Yah, we hadda problem with that.
Now, of course — in a real, “there but for the grace of god go moi’’ situation — those very Games are menacing Paris.
And because nothing is more delicious than a problem that could have been ours but isn’t, let’s revel in the news coming out of the host/victim city as the Opening Ceremony looms. Let’s treat ourselves to a few headlines:
“Paris has slapped 400 individuals with fines for misusing a new traffic lane system designed to whisk athletes between venues at the Olympic Games’’ — The Mirror.
“QR codes needed to access Paris Olympic Games become unreadable in sun causing chaos for police’’ — The Mirror.
“Paris Metro ticket prices set to almost double during 2024 Olympics’’ — CNBC.
As expensive and infuriating as hosting would have been, what with novices packing the Orange Line, herds of Blue Bikes on the sidewalks, indecisive newbies crowding the counter at Dunkin’, the real threat went deeper. The harm could have been existential.
Here’s how: While Boston and Paris are not officially sister cities, we famously share a reputation for unfriendliness. The Parisians come by it from above — they’re snooty; and Bostonians, let’s be frank, we arrive at unfriendly from below.
Indeed, even as the Olympics have been bearing down, Parisians are on TikTok imploring people to stay away. “Cancel everything,’’ one TikToker tells viewers. “It’s going to be a s*** show.’’
No doubt mindful of that very kind of attitude, the tourism interests in Paris have published a 20-plus page “hospitality manifesto.’’ It’s aimed at giving visitors a good experience, and among other things, advises the French who run stores, hotels, restaurants, etc. to “be friendly and genuine.’’
Friendly AND genuine? If the problem is that people aren’t naturally friendly, insisting that they be both throws the situation into confusion. It’s friendly OR genuine. Pick a lane, buddy.
Which brings us back to the question: What if Boston had landed the Games, and our tourism bureau decreed that we should be “friendly and genuine’’?
Tito Jackson, a former Boston city councilor and now chief executive of Apex Noire cannabis dispensary, first points out that Bostonians don’t like being told what to do. But, he added, despite our grumpy reputation, that might not be a problem. As long as someone doesn’t cross us, Bostonians actually have a “special warmth.’’
Brooke Barbier, a historian who runs Ye Olde Tavern Tours, told a similar story. When she started her company 11 years ago, she said, she was surprised to regularly hear from tourists that not only were Bostonians not rude, they were actually downright nice.
Over time, she developed a theory: Public-facing Bostonians — those who know they are interacting with outsiders and in fact rely on their business — can be, and actually are, dare we use the word, friendly.
Where things get real, “genuine’’ if you will, is when it’s Bostonian-on-Bostonian. “The reputation,’’ she said, “comes from the inside.’’
As for how we seem to the tourists themselves, on Wednesday morning, Tanya, a Wisconsin mom walking the Freedom Trail with her family, said that locals had been neither rude nor polite. “They just kind of exist.’’
That’s not true, her 15-year-old countered. “There was the one rude dude.’’
“He was drunk,’’ mom shot back.
Maybe it’s time to update our tourism campaign? “We’re not rude. We’re sloshed!’’
Beth Teitell can be reached at beth.teitell@globe.com. Follow her @bethteitell.
