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Message: <blockquote data-quote="billd91" data-source="post: 2352832" data-attributes="member: 3400">There are probably plenty of studies on courtesy that you can find conducted by sociologists that might help answer why things are the way they are. I think urbanization and population density has a little do with it. In crowded areas, you have to erect your personal defenses (physical and psychological) a bit more strongly (even draconianly) than you do in smaller communities. I've usually found smaller communities thus tend to have more helpful and polite people. I also think that social expectations and training are involved as well. I have to say that, for the most part, around here the most courteous people are the older men and some of the least are middle-aged and older women. And I think that's because of how they were expected to behave in society as they grew up. Men were expected to be courteous and women were expected to be the recipients of that courtesy. I noticed this more than once when pushing around a stroller or hauling a load of boxes down the sidewalk. Older men would get out of my way or hold doors. Older women would not, in fact, they'd often expect me to get out of their way or just bull their way past me. I was really surprised when that happened when I was pushing my baby in the stroller. Of course, there were exceptions to both, but I'm talking about the general experiences I've had.In my experience, younger people, educated after the 1970s, might be courteous or not regardless of sex. I haven't noticed a real bias... other than clueless pre-adolescent children in general who have the observational powers of a pet rock.</blockquote>

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