Originally Posted by ronaldo

I'm pretty forgiving of people and their attitudes for the MOST part, because we were all raised differently. One story I'll never forget and one reason I don't take offense is this...I worked with a Native guy. He was one of the funniest fuckers I'd ever met. Always cracking jokes. Just a super nice guy. Well, one day he and I and his nephew went to play some pool. The nephew was a young kid, like 17 or so. He seemed uncomfortable so I made a point of chatting with him and being friendly. He answered my questions short and sweet, talking to me while looking at the ground. Not rude, but definitely not friendly either. I mentioned this to my wife when I got home that it kind of annoyed me. She told ME, that in their culture, looking people in the eyes is an insult. Now, when I talk to someone, I've always been taught that it's a respect thing TO look someone in the eye. I thought back on it and couldn't remember my other buddy looking me in the eye either. So while I thought I was being friendly and respectful, the NEPHEW probably thought "I" was being DISRESPECTFUL. Two different cultures with two different expectations.

Now, none of that should dismiss basic politeness like, thank you and you're welcome. But if they're not brought up like that, it's highly unlikely they're going to have it in them. They probably don't MEAN to be what we consider "Rude", they just don't know any better. That's how racism continues today imo. Noone is born racist, it's taught. Just like noone is born with good manners, it's taught. Ideally someone in the service industry SHOULD understand basic politeness, but like I said, unless they're overtly RUDE, I'll usually overlook it.