And who is the rudest of them all ...
I read with surprise, the results of a Readers Digest survey that rated New Yorkers as being the most polite people in the world, with the citizens of India (Mumbai in specific) rated as the most impolite.
The criteria used were on whether people held the door open; whether the salespeople said “thank you” when people bought small items in stores and whether people would help pick up papers, when someone dropped a folder full of papers in busy locations.
I believe that this survey is skewed against India. Nobody says "Thank you" in India, people smile instead. Holding a door open is simply not something we are taught while growing up. And if someone drops papers in the middle of the street, I am sure Indians would rush to help.
The US seems like a super-polite place, but you know what, a lot of it just a load of artificial automation. For example, almost everyone you pass on the street will say "Hi, how are you ?", and then you reply "Great, how are you" and they say "Good, thanks" and there ends the inanity.
I tried a small test once, and in response to the "Hi, how are you ?" question, I said "I am going to kill myself", and guess what the response was ? "Good, thanks" !
Indians are super helpful, we might lack the polish and the drilling of manners into our head, and that might make us seem impolite and unfriendly. But, we are genuinely concerned about other people, to the extent that we would inconvenience ourselves, something that few Americans would. I dont know too much about the other countries on the list.
The criteria used were on whether people held the door open; whether the salespeople said “thank you” when people bought small items in stores and whether people would help pick up papers, when someone dropped a folder full of papers in busy locations.
I believe that this survey is skewed against India. Nobody says "Thank you" in India, people smile instead. Holding a door open is simply not something we are taught while growing up. And if someone drops papers in the middle of the street, I am sure Indians would rush to help.
The US seems like a super-polite place, but you know what, a lot of it just a load of artificial automation. For example, almost everyone you pass on the street will say "Hi, how are you ?", and then you reply "Great, how are you" and they say "Good, thanks" and there ends the inanity.
I tried a small test once, and in response to the "Hi, how are you ?" question, I said "I am going to kill myself", and guess what the response was ? "Good, thanks" !
Indians are super helpful, we might lack the polish and the drilling of manners into our head, and that might make us seem impolite and unfriendly. But, we are genuinely concerned about other people, to the extent that we would inconvenience ourselves, something that few Americans would. I dont know too much about the other countries on the list.
Comments
its not from the heart it from the head.