"That would never happen in America." OK, I admit, I should have qualified that. That would never happen in my hometown, St. Paul, Minnesota, which, combined with Minneapolis and their suburbs, forms the 13th largest metropolitan area in the US. So this is definitely a city environment, but I like to think it's friendlier than many others.

By the way, I have a pet theory that everyone lives in a small town. If you live in a city, you have to create, or find, your own small town. Some people do this by joining a church, some by joining a bowling league, some by becoming folk musicians or dancers, etc. Then you organize your social life around that activity, and that church, or that bowling league, or that group of folkies becomes your small town. (Is Mudcat a small town?) Then, if you recognize a member of your small town on the street, you give them a nod and a smile (or perhaps more, if you know them well)—that is, you act like the resident of any small town would. But if you pass anyone else, you ignore them.

I could develop this idea a lot further, because I have been thinking about it a long time, about the similarities and differences between a "functional" small town and a real one, and how people do this, and why, and so on. But I will spare you the details, unless, of course someone is interested. I'm sure you can think of a lot of examples on your own.