What happened to common courtesy?

[reed1285]

Am I the only one that gets bothered by people who dont even acknowledge you when you say thank you? Im in ohio for work and just now was leaving a restaurant after eating and as i was walking out an older (not old) couple was walking in. The man held the door open as i walked out and as i passed i said "thank you sir" to which he didnt even look at me in return. He just let go of the door and walked in. Its small stuff like that that really gets to me for some reason. Thank the good lord im coming home to good ol tennessee southern hospitality tomorrow. Im reminded why i hate coming up north every single time i have to. Rant over

[DaveTN]

I’m in the South; everyone stands around smiling holding the door for me. Oh wait….

[Dolomite`s Breezy]

Hate to say it but I think peeps in TN are just as rude as anywhere else..least some of them.I hold open doors for people all tehtime.. mostly no thank you`s..

I get so upset when people donot move out of the way and just stand there .. even Dolomite.. when he is on crutches.. they wont move.. he says excuse me .. they still wont move.

Especialy Wal-mart..I hate going in there anymore..

[Links2k]

Welcome home.

[daddyo]

I don't let this kind of stuff bother me any more. I don't have any control over what other people do, so it's just not worth getting upset about.

[Garufa]

Common courtesy is a thing of the past.

Regardless of what DaddyO thinks at one time people did have some control over what other people do. Learned behavior is just that, learned. Rudeness and ignorance are apparently ingrained in today's society.

[vontar]

I see the same in every day encounters with the general public around Oak Ridge. Hold a door for someone, they just keep on going like you aren't even there.

I was raised in a small rural area. Everyone knew everyone. Good manors where just part of it. However like 2 times in my life I ran into people that almost everything they said ended with Thank you honey, thank you baby to everyone, in a few sweet southern accent. I loved it. I remember one lady worked check out at a store in Middlesboro KY.

[JD_]

Reminds me of when I was in Detroit for 1 week business trip a few years ago and went to a little mom and pop's type pizza place. I ordered and when the guy asked if that was all, I said "Yes, Sir." He followed with "You aren't from here, are you?" I said that my southern accent was a dead giveaway and he came back with "No. I've been working here for 5 yrs and don't think anyone has ever called me sir."

I agree with Sour Kraut too, that there are plenty of rude people here as well. But, I'll take my rude fellow country folks over the rude city folks any day!

[BrasilNuts]

Common courtesy and common sense... not so common any more.

I was heading south through KY on 75 early one morning around 7 or 8 am and I had stopped at a rest area not too far from the TN border. I was walking to the door and I noticed that there were three women close behind me. When I got to the door I held it open for them to enter in front of me and the first woman had this look of shock on her face while she said, with a thick Yankee accent, "Thank you very much, young man."

I just smiled at her and said "Welcome to the South ma'am."

[BrasilNuts]

I agree with Sour Kraut too, that there are plenty of rude people here as well.

If we could just get 'em to move back up North....

[DaveS]

What I hate most, is when I make "eye to eye" contact with someone and greet them with a "Good Morning Sir" or "Good Morning Mam"....and they look you in the eye and totaly ignore your existance! Then they let the door slam in your face. This happened to me yesterday, and when it did I politley said Thank You Sir! He kinda turned back to look at me and he said..."Me"? I said yeah...you.

Rude piece of doo-squat!

Dave

[RED333]

I dont sink to their level, I will still hold the door, say Sir and Mam till the day I cant say it no more.

Good manners are a thing of the past, sad.

[Volzfan]

Same thing that happened to common sense!

[reed1285]

I was raised in a small town environment where everybody knows everybody and some sort of respect still existed. Im not saying there arent any rude people in TN. But if you ask me there are far more up here in yankeeland. Cant wait to get home. I talked with a Nebraska woman yesterday, who had only been to the south one time in her life and loved it. The reason she said was the people and the whole "southern hospitality" thing that doesnt even partly exist in her neck of the woods. What got the whole conversation started was my thick TN accent and i called her mam.

[bubbiesdad]

Played golf last week. Got paired With a man and his 13 year old son. Nearly every time he spoke to me or my friend, the word "sir" was used. Courtesy isn't totally dead.

[RED333]

Played golf last week. Got paired With a man and his 13 year old son. Nearly every time he spoke to me or my friend, the word "sir" was used. Courtesy isn't totally dead.

Glad to hear that, thanks.

[Guest FIST]

Courtesy is lost on most. Another that gets me is traffic. It's always a "me" first attitude. I like to think that every time I say thank you or let someone turn while stuck in traffic that they might pass it along to the next guy.

[Gun Smith]

Some thoughts.

Some people kill courtesy and respect. Guy on talk radio has caller call him mister. Host says, don't call me mister, my dad is mister so in so. Just killed someone trying to show respect.

Also, I've learned to give rude people the benefit of the doubt. No telling what they have been going through that day. Maybe a loss of a loved one.

There are tons of inexcusable rude, disrespectful jerks out there, no doubt.

On a positive note. I stopped to get gas in my truck one day. A somewhat elderly lady pulled up beside me at the opposite pump. She was dressed very nicely, dress, shoes, all. I asked if she would let me pump her gas seeings how she was so nice and clean, and after all I was in my work clothes. She allowed me to pump her gas. Afterward she humbly thanked me and then informed me she was on the way to her husbands funeral. Now this lady was in no way rude to me, but you just never know what kind of day someone is having. All the more reason to be nice and respectful to everyone, even the rude.

[TMF]

Hate to say it but I think peeps in TN are just as rude as anywhere else..

After spending time in NYC, Chicago, Seattle and Portland I can say that returning to Tennessee was like walking into a Rockwell painting. Walmart is certainly not a place where I expect to see best manners on display, but for the most part I encounter respectful people in my day to day. I still hold doors for ladies and old folks. I may not always be acknowledged but that's not why I do it.

[daddyo]

Common courtesy is a thing of the past.

Regardless of what DaddyO thinks at one time people did have some control over what other people do. Learned behavior is just that, learned. Rudeness and ignorance are apparently ingrained in today's society.

Influence is not the same thing as control.

[TMF]

However like 2 times in my life I ran into people that almost everything they said ended with Thank you honey, thank you baby to everyone, in a few sweet southern accent. I loved it.

It used to bother my wife when she first moved here when a waitress would call me "hon" or "honey"... it took a while to convince her that it was not "inappropriate" amongst many people raised in the south. After a year or two she started seeing it that way since it happened so often.

[DaveS]

I see the same in every day encounters with the general public around Oak Ridge. Hold a door for someone, they just keep on going like you aren't even there.

I was raised in a small rural area. Everyone knew everyone. Good manors where just part of it. However like 2 times in my life I ran into people that almost everything they said ended with Thank you honey, thank you baby to everyone, in a few sweet southern accent. I loved it. I remember one lady worked check out at a store in Middlesboro KY.

I live in Clarksville where some of the rudest people I have ever met were encountered. I think because of where most people here are from by way of the military.

I went out to east TN and met some TGO members...AWESOME people. On top of that in and around Oliver Springs, Harriman and Norris...everyone a came across was very, very friendly and courtious people.

There's still some polite folks left out there!

Dave

Edited July 29, 2012 by wd-40

[Dolomite_supafly]

I walk on crutches a lot of the time. And I have had people push by me and bump me without ever saying a single word.

Not really sure what it is about the gun shows but people congregate and discuss things in the middle of the isles. And when you say excuse me they look at you like you are some sort of jerk. And when I try to weasel my way around they will not even move and I swear some even step into my way but that could just be me. And mind you this is with me on crutches. I have threatened to start coughing and hacking at the crowd with my wife asking if the (insert some communicable disease) is acting up.

As far as door holding I always say thank you to anyone who holds the door. And when I hold the door for others 75% of the time I do not get a thank you. I have had people huff and get upset if I don't hold the door though.

Also, people do not want to get involved and help for some reason. I was in a store and dropped some small items onto the floor. I was having a rough time getting them off the floor, it was a really bad day for me that day and my legs weren't working well at all. Had a guy walk up, watch me struggle for about 30 seconds then walk off. He even stood at the end of the isle to watch me for another minute or so because I guess I was so amusing.

Dolomite

[Steelharp]

It used to bother my wife when she first moved here when a waitress would call me "hon" or "honey"...

Mine has, and will forever remain, pissed about this. Yeah, she's nuts.

[VERO1]

I still hold doors open for people and get strange looks, but it was the way we were raised. Better not let mom or dad see you not act like a "gentleman" when in public. When we were at home it was a completely different matter. I still demand that my children use common courtesy when out in public.