<Rant> Where has courtesy gone?

[Harmon]

Your wife is okay now I take it?

Was there anyone watching you leave?

And yes, it hurts when you hit someone :\ just not until after the fight is done. Last year I broke a knuckle and in the after math I realized it was on some guys nose or forehead. Course back then I had no clue because of the amount of hits I was taking.

Write a letter, explain your complaint and your concerns. And let EN World know which hotel it was so that we know what to expect when we go there.

Did you have to pay for the room on Saturday night? If you did you could make some noise about that, but I doubt you would get your money back for it now.

Ya, she's fine now. Little annoyed, but okay.

I have started a letter and plan on finishing it tomorrow.

The Double Tree in Sacramento. Nice place, just not to fond of the security there.

They comped us the room after the third call, but by then we were pretty much not wanting to stay.

 

[Queen_Dopplepopolis]

I think it has a lot to do with where you live. Back home in South Dakota, courtesy is (for the most part) a given. You have your exceptions to the rule, but you can generally expect common courtesy where ever you happen to be.

Now that I live in Maryland, I do see a larger number of people (teens and adults alike) that have absolutely no care other than themselves. I've experienced with people that I've passed in the street, as long as with people I associate with often.

It's just a matter of what you value the highest - if it is yourself, you're not as concerned with helping others or being kind to strangers.

 

[diaglo]

I think it has a lot to do with where you live. Back home in South Dakota, courtesy is (for the most part) a given. You have your exceptions to the rule, but you can generally expect common courtesy where ever you happen to be.

Now that I live in Maryland, I do see a larger number of people (teens and adults alike) that have absolutely no care other than themselves. I've experienced with people that I've passed in the street, as long as with people I associate with often.

It's just a matter of what you value the highest - if it is yourself, you're not as concerned with helping others or being kind to strangers.

Or it could be the way you view others actions as different from your own. i don't find your statement about those in Maryland to be that true. but i don't know anyone in South Dakota so it is hard for me to do a like comparison.

I could say the same of people in state N. People in Maryland are so much more courteous than from state N.

 

[glass]

It's the mob mentality. The larger the group of people a person is in, the more likely he/she is throw out his/her own morals and go along with the group. So, kids living in a larger city would meet more kids behaving badly than would kids in a more rural setting, and so the urban kids learn earlier how to be naughty.

Yep. I seem to recall hearing that a group acts with an IQ 10 less for each factor of 10 of its population (ie 10 average people act with an IQ of 90, 100 with 80, and so on).


glass.

 

[Queen_Dopplepopolis]

Or it could be the way you view others actions as different from your own. i don't find your statement about those in Maryland to be that true. but i don't know anyone in South Dakota so it is hard for me to do a like comparison.

I could say the same of people in state N. People in Maryland are so much more courteous than from state N.

It's not a statement specifically about Maryland, just about people in more urban areas. I find that - outside of the midwest - courtesy is not as common place.

 

[diaglo]

It's not a statement specifically about Maryland, just about people in more urban areas. I find that - outside of the midwest - courtesy is not as common place.

i don't find that to be the case.

i just find it to be different.

 

[Queen_Dopplepopolis]

i don't find that to be the case.

i just find it to be different.

Understandable - courtesy is a matter of personal interpretation, after all. What I find to be offensive or unkind may not shake you in the slightest. It's all a matter of what you believe as an individual.

 

[diaglo]

Understandable - courtesy is a matter of personal interpretation, after all. What I find to be offensive or unkind may not shake you in the slightest. It's all a matter of what you believe as an individual.

i'll give you three examples on 1 road trip...

the best man at my wedding, Jeff, asked me to go to Denver with him. his dad was leaving for Saudi Arabia for a job. he told Jeff to come and get whatever he wanted. jeff naturally wanted his dad's truck and a few other items.

so we bought a one way ticket to Denver. the plan was to drive back to MD. and visit a few places on the way. Bryce Canyon, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, etc... even though some of them were not on the way back.

anyway, we alternated driving. and when we reached new mexico we kept seeing signs for a steakhouse in Amarillo,Tx. i told jeff i wanted to stop there. free meal if you ate the whole steak...

no sooner did we cross the border then we got pulled over by the border patrol... even though, Amarillo and that part of texas ain't anywhere near the US-Mexican border... the officer wanted us to step out of the truck in the rain and open the back up... both jeff and i are insulin dependent diabetics... syringes, insulin, etc... in abundance plus jeff had taken his dad's guns and 1000's of rounds of ammo. all the officer wanted was to poke around to make sure we didn't have any illegals. we didn't stop in texas for the steak we kept going... (30 minutes in the rain)

we reach st louis where my sister lives. shower, shave, .... and back on the road. just outside of st. elmo a truck trhows a hubcap and it hits us. so we decide to pullover and check the damage at the next rest stop and get gas too. an officer pulls in behind us and asks us for license, reqistration, etc.. our taillight in the back is out. he makes us empty the back of the truck when he sees one of the guns... a whole gang of teens is watching us and making comments about what we should and shouldn't do for the officer. he helped us load the truck after we asked him... we never did see the tail light out. it worked the whole time we talked to him. (3 hours of loading, unloading)

we reach maryland. get pulled over again at a drunk driving road block. not b/c we were drinking, but b/c they pulled over everyone for a check of sobriety. the officer looks at us, looks at our load and tells us to move along. (2 minutes)


courtesy is in the eye of the beholder. i found all three officers to be doing their jobs correctly. but i found my homeboy to have it covered to my comfort level.

 

[ScyldSceafing]

It is a problem brought on by the increasingly corporate and service based economy that we live in.
The squeeky wheel gets the greese. Businesses have taught their employees to reward customers rude behavior by by granting the jerk greater attention and service.

I work in the food service industry, and this is absolutely true. Built into our training are systems designed to accomodate the most noxious behavior on the part of a customer - from simple rudeness all the way up to fraud.

In this case, a sort of 'politeness' does spring up, but it's politeness as a negative, defensive manuver: a typically servant-class ability to maintain a neutral expression and tone despite any provocation. You see this sort of corporate politeness in basically every restaurant nowadays.

I don't like it. The failure of our society to call bull---- on any jerk with a credit card makes me ill.

I'm ranting tangentially now ... sorry.

 

[caudor]

Here in Texas, I think a third of folks are polite most of the time. However, it seems to be a little less formal here than other places. I often hear:

thank ya
yah come back and see us now
yes mam or sir (especially from anyone actually wearing a cowboy hat)
howdy
pardon me
Here, let me git that for ya (opening the door)

Moreso, much of the courtesy is not vocal. I see a lot of folks nodding or waving to those passing by. Nods are very common. It is not unusual to see a neighbor wave to me on the way home.