I live in central North Carolina, which I would rate as exceedingly polite, based on the areas I’ve lived in before. I just came from coastal Virginia, which was one of the ruder areas I’ve lived in.
I’d like to know what you think of the area you live in, in terms of whether you find it polite or rude, and why. As I get answers, I’ll elaborate more on what I’ve found polite or rude and why.
Rude? Rude?
I live in Oakland, California, home of the mother-fucking Raiders!! Land of the midnight shot-gun blasts. Home of the roving gangs of killer rottweilers.
What do you think?!?
Stillwater is pretty polite.
People hold doors for strangers, no one looks surprised when you smile and thank them for it.
People just do things for complete strangers here.
I left my organizer sitting on a counter at a busy convience store once and a very nice high school kid got my address off my driver’s license and returned it and the $400.00 that was in it. I adopted him. 
We have influxes of rudeness around the beginning of every fall semester, but mostly that smoothes out in a month or so, except for the kids who are so generous with sharing the music from their car stereos with the rest of the world. But we really don’t have all that much of that.
I lived in Tulsa previously and the most polite people I met there weren’t from there. It was kinda odd.
I live in South Carolina.
-takes deep breath- Yeah, go ahead and feel sorry for me.
Seems like an even mix of both. Lots of loudness at times, lots of peaceful quiet.
I for one, hold doors and smile at strangers and wave at the cute babies and whatnot.
People are vicious when it comes to getting a parking space, though. -grins- Oh well
I live in Atlanta. We’re rude here. Maybe it’s the influx of people from outside the South, maybe it’s southerners not dealing well with the huge growth over the last few years. Maybe we always were rude, but we just let it out now.
I dunno, but I know I’ve gotten noticeably ruder since I’ve lived here, and everyone else seems fairly rude as well.
I live in Greenville, South Carolina.
I would say here people are on the polite side of the scale. People open doors for complete strangers and there is little noise. I however am not polite;)
Rural Colorado (real rural, not tourist rural) here. My wife and I had to go to the city for a medical exam the other day, and when we returned late, we found our house cleaned, our table set and supper in the oven.
There was a note on the table saying, “We knew you would be having a long day, so we decided to help you get through it. Hope you like cassorle.” It was signed “Your neighbors”
Can you get any more polite? I love this town.
Edmonton, Alberta.
We’re fairly polite. The other person often apologizes, even if it is you that bumped into them. There are, of course, exceptions but overall, I think we’re a pretty good bunch.
Mind you, I’ve never come home to casserole and a clean house, but I can hope.
New York, New York.
I honestly think people, for the most part, are polite here. I think New Yorkers are perceived as rude because we, as a species, are very fast. My brother, who lives in rural, although touristy, Colorado, commented on how “rude” he thought New Yorkers were during a visit. He was especially surprised by a cashier who didn’t ask us how we were, if we found everything we needed, etc. I tried to explain that in the cashier’s world (midtown Manhattan), he was being polite by ringing us up as quickly as possible, so we could get on with our day, as well as polite to the other ten people waiting in line behind us. So we might be criticized for being always in hurry, but that’s why we live here. To be with others of our own kind.
Plus, there are a lot of employees (at my bank, the corner store, etc.) who are chattier because we see each other every day. My neighbors are all very nice as well. I have had many visitors tell me that they were surprised by how friendly New York is, contrary to what they expected. Most New Yorkers are happy to give directions, assist with reading the subway map, or even recommend a restaurant.
I do lock my door, even if I’m only running out for a few minutes. I don’t see that as a polite/rude issue, but rather general safety. Crazed serial killers seem to turn up where you least expect them.
Tucson, Arizona, USA.
Downright civilized, in a casual, friendly, non-judgemental sorta way. It takes a certain kind of person to put up with 106[sup]o[/sup] temperatures, and short-tempered isn’t on the list of required personality traits. Respect, politeness, and acceptance are the hallmarks of most of my interactions here. And you can wear just about anything you want, just about anywhere; dress codes go out the window when you can set the Jiffy-pop out in the back yard to pop it.
I came here after living in Rhode Island. It took me a while, and I caused a few minor traffic accidents, before I learned that “the finger” was not a normal part of automotive transactions here. I don’t miss it at all.
I am from Forestville California USA, and we are defenatly a polite bunch. People wave and smile a people they don’t even know. We hold doors open, and return lost purses and wallets with all their contents. We also help the occasional lost turist find directions to the beach and add the warning tht they might want to brng a jacket instead of a bathing suit(the beach in NorCal is very different from the beach in SoCal) etc.
I know that when I went to New York for eight months, I was shocked about how much people honk there car horns out there. I have never honked mine unless it was by accident. I will admit that people were pretty polite though, just in a hurry like delphica said.
I live in Kansas City, Missouri. It’s a pretty huge city (area wise), so to narrow it down, I live about a mile from Parkville. I came here only 5 years ago.
People aren’t rude, nor are they polite. They’re just plain stupid and ignorant (and they’re worse in Kansas City, Kansas–WAY worse). And Kansas City as a whole seems to have this overly patriotic attitude I cannot stand. This, “We’re better than everyone else” sort of attitude. They hate people in the west, they hate people in the east, they tease people from the south, and they hate Iowa, even though records show that people in Iowa are smarter. It gets on my nerves. But then I think everyone hates Iowa, unfairly. Obviously I do not have a very high opinion of where I live. But then, I’m an outsider. It could be different for people who have lived here all of their lives.
In my neighborhood, Eminen is classified as easy listening. Enough said.
I dunno, I never really thought of my area in either of those terms. All the bits and pieces work, and…
Oh. Oh, wait, you mean where I live. I thought…well, nevermind.
People in St. Louis are pretty much a mix, leaning slightly to the polite side, near’s I can tell. They’ve a very strange fixation or fetish or something about which high school they all attended, but other than that most are just normal folks.
People here are boring and drunk. Really. Loads of alcoholics and drug users in this little place. Must come from the long winters.
So polite then?
I live in Sydney. Used to be polite…
Everyday I meet far more rude NY’ers than polite ones. I don’t think many of them are intentially rude, they just didn’t have anyone to teach them how to behave and how to treat others.
I moved to the San Francisco area a couple of years ago, from the Midwest. I love California and all, but goddamn, people can be rude out here. They drive like they own the road, they demand attention, and they carry chips on their shoulders the size of manhole covers. Note to Californians: This is the only place in the country where a 17-year-old girl driving a dented purple Tercel 85 mph down a busy interstate with a blaring stereo worth more than the entire rest of the car, a bumper sticker that says “Porn Star”, and a vanity license plate reading “ALL THAT” in a frame that says “Princess” can cut off three lanes of traffic without generating so much as a shaken fist. (Note to outsiders: the lack of outrage is not due to a tolerant attitude but rather is due to the fear of being shot.)
That said, the obnoxious people here probably aren’t California natives. I think California by reputation tends to attract the “I am the center of the universe” personality type.
Okay, I’m going to try this again, and not be paranoid that SOMEONE HAS DELETED MY POST. (Gosh, paranoia can be fun when it’s under control!)
I said something to the effect of: “Not everyone in California is a mannerless sociopath.”
I’ll add: considering the huge number of cultures here, it’s a wonder people are even able to figure out how to be polite. I like it.
The last person I had to entirely blow off was a Russian who had established a used car business in the parking lot of only international bookshop in the Bay Area. That was a long time ago.
I’m glad you have such a good relationship with your neighbors, but personally I would consider the act of my neighbors entering my home (even with the best of intentions) without asking me first to be very rude. I’m pretty territorial though.
Most of the people I meet here in southern Minnesota are apathetic. Some are polite, some are rude. A few are very polite, a few are very rude.