OP -- I know your pain; and even worse, my wife would seem to be much less understanding than yours, which of course compounds the pain. Just a heads up, be very wary of discussing specifics on this topic my fellow Maple Leafs except through PMs. SEE-BEE-ESS-AYE monitoring on this public forum is possible... :
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@mso489
It was a rare pleasure to be among people who actually realized I was being polite -- in the U.S. that's usually regarded a submissive.
@tuold
Has that been your experience? For me the reaction has been more of shocked surprise. People here in Oregon are pretty nice though. The further you go away from the cities you more you will encounter civility and displays of hospitality.
mso and tuold,
First, tuold, your perception aligns with mine as regards urban and rural areas throughout our North and down the Pacific West Coast. In fact, I find that folks on the NW Pacific Coast in general tend to view being polite as a virtue, not as a sign of weakness. The content, however, of what constitutes 'politeness' in certain specifics does seem to me to differ once I cross the border to the South. A specific example: in Canada, when a waitress brings us food and/or beverages, we are taught to thank. But the proper response in the States can vary more than up here in the North. Where we would invariably say, "You're welcome," in the US I often hear "Uh huh" or even just "yeah". In Canada we would consider that to be the improper form, at best just lazy. Yet it is seemingly not considered as such in the South?
