Well, I never

[Flora Louise]

So I was at a birthday party for a friend last week and a woman I had just met  told me Americans are rude. She assured me that Canadians have better manners.  (I am American and she is Canadian.) She based this on two experiences. 1) She felt that some men she had encountered in Chicago  were too pushy getting on an elevator. 2) Her grandchild back in Toronto uses please and thank you.

She made these statements out of the blue. I guess she just felt I should know.

[Diane AKA Traska]

This would blow her mind: it's rude to make blanket assumptions about people you don't know.  And if she's Canadian, and Canadians are polite...

[NyaChan]

Hahahaha  Good to know I don't have to be polite to others from now on then, cuz you know, with me being American and all it would be both unnecessary and confusing to others if I was.

[whatsanenigma]

I wonder what she would think if some people pushed their way onto an elevator while saying in a rude tone "Get out of my way, please! Thank you!".

[BarensMom]

She just proved otherwise by telling you that.

[TheVapors]

I wonder what she would think if some people pushed their way onto an elevator while saying in a rude tone "Get out of my way, please! Thank you!".

I laughed. I laughed harder imagining her grandchild saying it.

I'd have to have replied to the woman with a closed-smiled, "Hmmm." Before complimenting the birthday cake.

[Twik]

Ah, yes. It must sting, but the ridiculousness of someone committing the gross rudeness of spontaneously telling someone how unpleasant they find people of their nationality, in the name of politeness, is completely amusing.

[BabylonSister]

Isn't that the textbook definition of "ironic"?

[Diane AKA Traska]

Isn't that the textbook definition of "ironic"?

Actually, the textbook definition goes like this:

i·ro·ny [ahy-ruh-nee, ahy-er-]
noun, plural i·ro·nies.
1. Rain on your wedding day.
2. Ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife.
3. A death row pardon two minutes too late.

[cutejellybeen]

Isn't that the textbook definition of "ironic"?

Actually, the textbook definition goes like this:

i·ro·ny [ahy-ruh-nee, ahy-er-]
noun, plural i·ro·nies.
1. Rain on your wedding day.
2. Ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife.
3. A death row pardon two minutes too late.

I just laughed out loud. At Work. Thank god there is no one around today!

[Brat]

Several years ago when I worked at a bank, I was held up.  A man came in, pointed a gun at me, and quietly asked for the money.  After he left, I pressed the alarm and notified my coworkers and manager.  I am notoriously bad with physical descriptions of any kind and when asked for a description of him, I replied that he was very polite, saying "please, yes ma'am, thank you ma'am, etc".  So even our criminals have the capacity for manners   And I live in New York! 

[ShanghaiJill]

Several years ago when I worked at a bank, I was held up.  A man came in, pointed a gun at me, and quietly asked for the money.  After he left, I pressed the alarm and notified my coworkers and manager.  I am notoriously bad with physical descriptions of any kind and when asked for a description of him, I replied that he was very polite, saying "please, yes ma'am, thank you ma'am, etc".  So even our criminals have the capacity for manners   And I live in New York!

He must have been Canadian