As a Brooklynite I am not one to gloss over the gruffness and attitude that is a part of our regional culture.

That said, I have met plenty of extremely friendly and smiling employees at EWR, and plenty of unfriendly and unsmiling ones elsewhere (the most attitude I ever encountered was at HNL, that bastion of Polynesian friendliness).

Once, I was flying CO to MXP and I realized I forgot my passport while en route to EWR. When I got to the ticket counter I exalpined what had happened. The ticket agent (a typical Joysey girl with big hair and baby-blue eye shadow) could not have been friendlier or more professional.

First, she tried to find me an alternate route the same day. When that wasn't possible, she booked me on the flight the next day, at no charge (I was flying economy).

Recently, I flew BF EWR-GVA, and had what is perhaps the finest, friendliest service I have ever had on any airline from the group of Newark-based f/a's. Now, I realize that just because f/a's are Newark based doesn't mean they're from the area originally.

In my case, though, the extraordinarily friendly lead flight attendant had an obvious East Coast accent.

The East Coast culture is certainly not noted for its smiling friendliness, but there are times when that's actually a good thing. At least here you know exactly where you stand. No disingenuous, passive-aggressive stuff, that--if anything--just leaves you feeling like a schmuck.

I've flown out of EWR hundreds of times. I've had my fair share of bad apples, but most are perfectly professional and a few outstandingly helpful.