Most polite people in the world? (neighborhood, taxi driver, bus)

[Xpat]

Originally Posted by ZipZap

I am neither saying that all polite people are insincere, nor that all gruff people are sincere. And bearing in mind that you just lumped together some 82.500.000 Germans, you should not accuse me of painting all with the same brush. You state your experiences, and so do I.

Perhaps you failed to notice my use of "...does seem to be the prevailing mindset there...generally..." which means I am not necessarily talking about everyone. I described Germany (with only 82 million people) the same way you describe Asia with nearly 3 billion...

Originally Posted by ZipZap

What I am saying though is that I prefer people being straightforward. If they are able to communicate that in a polite package... even better..

No disagreement there.

Originally Posted by ZipZap

In my opinion you are drawing a black and white picture here. What I understand from your words is that as more polite people are, as better they do depict the civilized world. Else will lead us to imbruting. At least this made my wifey smile... without doubt Asians are considered being more polite than Europeans or Americans.

I have to say that I disagree with you, and I hope that you don't misinterpret my openness as being impolite.

How do you get "black and white" from what I said? That's quite a stretch. The more polite a people are, the less societal friction you have...the more mutual respect you have. It is one of the few things that separate us from the animals.

Originally Posted by ZipZap

There is something in between... you need to find a balance between forthrightness and not hurting people. Ultimate politeness will try to never hurt people, and that will definitely end up in hiding things. If that happens it will then not be the mortar, but chewing gum between the bricks of a civil society - because you need to learn reading between the lines.

No disagreement on balance but I think you misread my earlier statement (and don't understand what the term "civil society" means). I can read between the lines just fine thanks.

Originally Posted by ZipZap

Your nickname indicates that you came around a bit already... did you ever work or make business in Asia? You should then understand what I mean.

I do business in Asia from time to time but its a big place so you need to be more precises. Do you mean India, Japan, China, Malaysia, Central Asia, Iran, the Arab states, eastern Russia)?

[HIF]

Guess nobody will be nominating you two for this thread...tee,hee.

[ZipZap]

Originally Posted by HIF

Guess nobody will be nominating you two for this thread...tee,hee.

Did I mention that I am from Berlin? People are very straightforward here...

Still I try not to hurt anybodys feelings here.

[ZipZap]

Originally Posted by Xpat

No disagreement on balance but I think you misread my earlier statement (and don't understand what the term "civil society" means). I can read between the lines just fine thanks.

I guess I have to improve my English… let me apologize for being unclear in some of my statements or lack in understanding sometimes. In Thailand - where people are considered to be very polite - one will have to pay a lot of attention to other behavioral indicators. That is what I meant with “reading between the lines”. I don’t doubt that you are capable of doing so.

Let me use an example this time. (I deliberately overdraw this to get to my point):
1) Grmpf
2) Thanks
3) Thank you very much for the coffee
4) I highly appreciate that you considered me as a customer and that you found the time to serve me a coffee

Originally Posted by Xpat

The more polite a people are, the less societal friction you have.

When I now map your statement onto my example above, you are saying that nr. 4 will automatically lead to less societal friction than nr. 3

And that is where I disagree, unless you consider things like humility, trust, honesty, generosity, appreciation, gratitude, or courtesy… just to name a few. If politeness is the mortar, than these indicators are the bricks of a civil society.

I have to admit though that the above is a very simplified illustration, but maybe this helps to clarify what I have in mind.

[HIF]

Originally Posted by ZipZap

Did I mention that I am from Berlin? People are very straightforward here...

Still I try not to hurt anybodys feelings here.

I am straighforward, too. Or had you noticed?

I know you weren't trying to hurt anyone's feelings. I wasn't either, it just struck me as funny.

[ZipZap]

Originally Posted by HIF

I am straighforward, too. Or had you noticed?

I could read it between the lines.

[nativeDallasite]

Originally Posted by Xpat

Forgive me if this has been discussed before.

For me, the most polite people I've ever experienced are the Turks, followed closely by the Swiss and the Japanese.

I found the Canadians to be the most polite, followed by us (Americans) and the French.

[Mooseketeer]

I have always found Africans and South East Asians very polite as are Arabs, in very different ways. I think to me politeness is about hospitality and thoughtfulness and always trying to put people at ease. It's not necessarily about being prim and proper and knowing etiquette.

[dew2773]

Precisely!

[tijlover]

Politeness and smiles don't go far with me. I once read in one of my Asian travel guides that when Asians smile it can sometimes mean they are very angry. I was recently to Thailand, land of smiles, and I had enough people smile at me to last me a lifetime! Lately, I've discovered Latin America and I don't miss the Asian smiles and politeness in the least. I'd rather have someone snarl at me than smile. Maybe because I'm not a smiley type person myself I can't comprehend those people in Asia. I'm normally a deadly-serious, moody, emotional type person and smiles and politeness just rub me the wrong way. I take it all as dishonesty with their feelings. Maybe I'm wrong.