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<blockquote data-quote="Simplicity" data-source="post: 2353112" data-attributes="member: 1496">Eric Noah is right.&nbsp; Nostalgia is a dangerous thing.&nbsp; People tend to view their childhoods and hence the time before then with rose-colored glasses.Actually, in this situation, I believe that *you* were being the rude one.&nbsp; Saying &quot;please,&quot; &quot;thank you,&quot; and &quot;excuse me&quot; doesn't make you polite.&nbsp; Patiently waiting for the young man to finish putting the straw in his cup is the polite thing to do, not saying &quot;excuse me&quot; and trying to get past him.&nbsp; His response to your &quot;excuse me&quot; was him teaching you manners.&nbsp; Your response to his glare was you teaching him manners.This response to your thread is me teaching you manners.You, him, and I are all a bunch of jerks.&nbsp; Excuse me while I progress into full-blown jerkhood:Perhaps because you seem to be missing the point of politeness.Polite words like &quot;please&quot;, &quot;thank you&quot;, and &quot;excuse me&quot; and appelations like &quot;sir&quot; or &quot;ma'am&quot; are meant to show respect to others.&nbsp; From your post, it seems to me that you don't feel any such respect for those yousay these words to.&nbsp; In that case, the words start to sound very hollow.Corporate culture has gone a long way to burying a lot of these words.Ever hear someone sincerely say, &quot;Thank you for shopping at ....&quot;&nbsp; It'skind of off-putting when you actually do.&nbsp; Telemarketers love to call you&quot;sir&quot; or &quot;ma'am&quot;.&nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;Excuse me&quot; can be a very polite way of saying &quot;Get the hell out of my way&quot; or &quot;Give me what I want&quot;.&nbsp; &quot;Sir&quot; and &quot;ma'am&quot; are very nearly insults for the same reason.My guess is that people are rude to you because you either are insincere aboutthis politeness or you are just coming off that way.&nbsp; If it's the later, I would recommend being more conversational, so it doesn't sound as forced.&nbsp; &quot;Mind if I...?&quot;&nbsp; is good.&nbsp; &quot;Thanks&quot; is good.&nbsp; &quot;Go f- yourself&quot; is optional.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Simplicity, post: 2353112, member: 1496"] Eric Noah is right. Nostalgia is a dangerous thing. People tend to view their childhoods and hence the time before then with rose-colored glasses. Actually, in this situation, I believe that *you* were being the rude one. Saying "please," "thank you," and "excuse me" doesn't make you polite. Patiently waiting for the young man to finish putting the straw in his cup is the polite thing to do, not saying "excuse me" and trying to get past him. His response to your "excuse me" was him teaching you manners. Your response to his glare was you teaching him manners. This response to your thread is me teaching you manners. You, him, and I are all a bunch of jerks. Excuse me while I progress into full-blown jerkhood: Perhaps because you seem to be missing the point of politeness. Polite words like "please", "thank you", and "excuse me" and appelations like "sir" or "ma'am" are meant to show respect to others. From your post, it seems to me that you don't feel any such respect for those you say these words to. In that case, the words start to sound very hollow. Corporate culture has gone a long way to burying a lot of these words. Ever hear someone sincerely say, "Thank you for shopping at ...." It's kind of off-putting when you actually do. Telemarketers love to call you "sir" or "ma'am". "Excuse me" can be a very polite way of saying "Get the hell out of my way" or "Give me what I want". "Sir" and "ma'am" are very nearly insults for the same reason. My guess is that people are rude to you because you either are insincere about this politeness or you are just coming off that way. If it's the later, I would recommend being more conversational, so it doesn't sound as forced. "Mind if I...?" is good. "Thanks" is good. "Go f- yourself" is optional. [/QUOTE]

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