Utterly Impossible

[TehBorken]

 New York is the politest city in the world? Sorry, but this is just impossible. People get shot to death in New York for saying "thank you", how the hell could it possibly be the "politest" city?

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[span id="intelliTXT"][font color="#000000" face="Verdana,Sans-serif" size="2"]New York City tops in courtesy, says Reader's Digest[/font][/span]
[span id="intelliTXT"] [font face="Verdana,Sans-serif"][font color="black" size="2"]By Ellen Wulfhorst[/font][/font][/p]  [font face="Verdana,Sans-serif"][font color="black" size="2"]NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York, despite a reputation as a  fast-moving, tough-talking town, ranked as the world's most  polite major city, according to a survey released on Tuesday.[/font][/font][/p]  [font face="Verdana,Sans-serif"][font color="black" size="2"]Outscoring large cities in 35 countries, New York proved  best in three tests of courtesy, according to the survey by  Reader's Digest.[/font][/font][/p]  [font face="Verdana,Sans-serif"][font color="black" size="2"]Reporters for the magazine conducted a "door test," to see  who would hold open a door, a "document drop" to see who would  help pick up dropped papers and a "service test" to measure if  salesclerks said thank you for a purchase.[/font][/font][/p]  [font face="Verdana,Sans-serif"][font color="black" size="2"]Four out of five New Yorkers passed the courtesy tests, the  magazine reported.[/font][/font][/p]  [font face="Verdana,Sans-serif"][font color="black" size="2"]"It certainly contradicts the popular stereotype that a lot  of people have about New York," said Conrad Kiechel,  international editorial director for the Pleasantville,  N.Y.-based magazine.[/font][/font][/p]  [font face="Verdana,Sans-serif"][font color="black" size="2"]Specifically, 90 percent of New Yorkers passed the door  test, 55 percent passed the document drop and 19 out of 20  clerks passed the service test.[/font][/font][/p]  [font face="Verdana,Sans-serif"][font color="black" size="2"]Coming in a close second was Zurich at 77 percent, Toronto  at 70 percent, and Berlin, Sao Paulo and Zagreb, Croatia, all  with 68 percent.[/font][/font][/p]  [font face="Verdana,Sans-serif"][font color="black" size="2"]Following down the list were Auckland, Warsaw, Mexico City,  Stockholm, Budapest, Madrid, Prague, Vienna, Buenos Aires,  Johannesburg, Lisbon, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Helsinki,  Manila, Milan, Sydney, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Ljubljana, Jakarta,  Taipei, Moscow, Singapore, Seoul, Kuala Lumpur, Bucharest and  Mumbai.[/font][/font][/p]  [font face="Verdana,Sans-serif"][font color="black" size="2"]The more than 2,000 tests of behavior showed that people  under 40 were more courteous than those over 40, men were more  polite to other men and women were more polite to other women.[/font][/font][/p]  [font face="Verdana,Sans-serif"][font color="black" size="2"]The region that most lacked courtesy was Asia, where eight  out of nine cities tested finished in the bottom 11, Reader's  Digest said.[/font][/font][/p]  [font face="Verdana,Sans-serif"][font color="black" size="2"]It conducted the tests in the most populous cities in 35  nations worldwide from late February to mid-March.[/font][/font][/p]  [font face="Verdana,Sans-serif"][font color="black" size="2"]People around the world tended to offer the same  explanation for their polite behavior, Kiechel said.[/font][/font][/p]  [font face="Verdana,Sans-serif"][font color="black" size="2"]"People said they were polite because they had been brought  up to be that way," he said.[/font][/font][/p]  [font face="Verdana,Sans-serif"][font color="black" size="2"]The study is published in Reader's Digest's July issue of  its 50 editions worldwide.[/font][/font][/p][/span]
[a href="http://reuters.myway.com/article/20060621/2006-06-21T121746Z_01_N20458017_RTRIDST_0_ODD-LIFE-POLITENESS-DC.html"]Link to obviously impossible story[/a]

[Some Chick]

I'm wondering if they even tested my home city.  Vancouver does have some of the rudest people I've ever had the misfortune to deal with, and that in turn is making me react as an obnoxious bitch.

  There was this woman behind me one day and we were going through a double set of doors.  I walked through the first set and turned, holding the door for her.  She walked through, talking to her friend, and didn't say thank you or even uncross her arms.

  When I got to the next door I anticipated the same behaviour.  I let her think I was going to hold the second door but instead, waited till she was almost at it, and allowed it to close on her face.  Since her arms were crossed, she didn't have time to react, and it hit her in the face.

  Another example of learned rudeness — Each morning when I come to work, there's this guy outside waiting for someone with a security card to open the door.  He watches eagerly without a word.  I walk over to the wall thingy and insert my card, then I go over to the door to open it.  He always slides in behind me without touching the door himself.

  Yesterday, when he couldn't even take the initiative to hold the door open for me once again, I pulled it shut behind me, locking him out....  With a smile.

[P.C.]

I think rudeness is contagious.  But on the other hand, so is happiness.  As if I had the power to stop any form of contagious illness, I would.  People are SO preoccupied these days, that all the basics we learned in kindergarten seem to take a back seat.  I TRY to face rudeness with extra 'niceness', and 9 times out of 10, it works.

   

[Some Chick]

Yes, sometimes I get a twisted sense of pleasure out of putting on a big smile and saying to a rude clerk "YOU have a GREAT day!!"

  Did that most recently at Extra Foods on Denman to a nasty wench tagged "Marilyn" who decided upon looking at me that I was not worthy of a greeting, eye contact or any form of courtesy whatsoever.  

  People that make snap judgments about a person make it onto my shit list.  If she were the only cashier on, I'd put the food on her counter and walk out without buying anything.  I'm not handing money to someone that treats me like crap.  

  But her shock and suprise at my ever so friendly thankyouandgoodbye made the guy behind me laugh and give me a wink.

[Dissident]

   TehBorken wrote:
 New York is the politest city in the world? Sorry, but this is just impossible. People get shot to death in New York for saying "thank you", how the hell could it possibly be the "politest" city?


Especially in a qualitative type of question here, I think there's always the potential for symantic disagreement (or disconnect, as you suggest).  There's a difference between being polite and well-mannered, for example, or between being considerate and sensitive:  as there is between those concepts and being friendly, warm, outgoing or anything besides totally self-involved.

I mean, one of the things I appreciate about New Yorkers is that on average they're less likely to be totally cold, neutral and oblivious to others as people in some of the other cities considered.  After all, even when they're in your face it at least confers some sort of acknowledgement of your existence and momentary concern with you as a person (even when that concern is expressed negatively).

Me, I like the good-humoured aspect of the New York persona:  the wry, ironic, friendly and funny banter that can make you feel less alienated in the sea of humanity.  It's a social lubricant, and sure beats people letting the door slam on one another because they don't even bother to look to see who's coming in behind them.

Since so much of the results are based on simple civilised behaviour (and probably were conducted in central areas where tourists tend to congregate), there's always the survival instinct that can account for the primacy of NYC in this poll.  After all, the city experienced a huge drop in tourism after 9/11, so it literally pays for people to do anything they can to encourage a welcoming image to outsiders.  

Plus, to address the question in the OP, there's always the fear that the guy you don't open the door for will pull out a gun and blow you away for your "disrespect" to motivate more "polite" behaviour.  Just a thought.
   

[Some Chick]

Dissident wrote:
  Plus, to address the question in the OP, there's always the fear that the guy you don't open the door for will pull out a gun and blow you away for your "disrespect" to motivate more "polite" behaviour.  Just a thought.
   
   Did I miss something?  I don't get where that statement came from.

[Gopher]

Anyone like to conjecture about the politest nations? My own three would be the Canadians, British and Japanese.

[P.C.]

I somewhat agree Gopher, although sometimes I think Canadians are suffering from 'laurel resting'.

[Marik]

Hmm.. when I was in Japan, if you were to go buy something at a department store you'd be treated with the utmost respect. Every single time I've bought something at a department store, the cashier offered to gift-wrap it, put it in a fancy box and asked if I wanted to write a little note on a card they gave me with the purchase. (I guess this is a good way to flatter the customer and ensure they come back again)  However.. out on the street, some people (especially the older men) are downright RUDE!!! I asked him for directions to an electronics store, and he just stared at me like I was a piece of garbage! Then again, some areas in Tokyo, like Shibuya have friendly people everywhere... maybe this has to do with the fact that the majority of people in the area are young?
I guess it depends what area they did that courtesy test.
 

[Sportsdude]

I was on vacation with the family to New York one year and it was the weekend which means the only cars on the road are the cabbies.  Well one got so angry at us he bump us with his car into the back bumper at a light for not moving quick enough at a light.  Another cabbie blew on his horn for 5 mins because he got stuck at a red.

But mood is contagious though. When other people get mad I tend to get mad and visa versa.