Come out to the eastern part of the state (CT). We’re a little more ‘Midwestern’ in that sense, though we can still be a bit cold at first.
Its funny, when I lived in CA, I was surprised how people just basically ignored you. I’d go to the same store 1 or 2 times a week for years, and often end up with the same checkout woman. I always tried to be chatty and she’d just look at me like I had an arm growing out of my head.
I moved back to CT, and within a month of doing the same here, the checkout woman recognized me on sight, and was chatty right back.
Did you ever look to see if you really did have an arm growing out of your head?
They can perform miracles with surgery today.