Politeness: maybe it just doesn't translate?

Here's an additonal word of the day for you: po·lite -adjective : behaving in a way that is socially correct and shows awareness of and caring for other people's feelings

So while out today, going about my business (which aujourd'hui included some food shopping, a little Starbucks sit-down and finally sending off my slaved-over, blood, sweat and tears-stained assingment for my writing course), something quite astonishing happened.

You kow how it is when you're about to push open a door and someone on the other side pulls it open an instant before andyou nearly walk headlong into each other? Well, such a situation befell me this afternoon at the local mal, and the man whom I now faced STOOD ASIDE AND MOTIONED ME THROUGH THE DOORWAY................... (The dramatics are to give you an impression of my subsequent dumbfoundedness.) I think I sputtered out a thank you before stumbling away.

I'll have to investigate this further to see if I can discover any specific origins, but on the face of it, it does seem that courtesy for your fellow man (or woman, of course) just doesn't exist here in Honkers.

Now I may have the rose-tinted glasses of reminiscence on seeing as I've now been a (secret) resident of this Special Administrative Region for 114 days, but I can definitely remember a number of incidents in the UK, where people (not just chaps) would be demonstrably considerate of others, like checking behind them and holding the door open for you if you were approaching. Such is the habit, when I pass through a door here I still have a quick glance over my shoulder and I didn't know whether to laugh or cry a few weeks ago, when I held the door for a woman with a buggy and she seemed so shocked that she was overwhelmed with gratitude.

So far, the inconsiderate occurences I have noticed range from the afore-mentioned oblivion when passing through a self-closing door; to pushing past you to get out of a lift that split-second ahead; to the lack of apology if they barge into you either on the street/on the MTR travelator/on the bus, etc.. Now, considering the amount of people crammed into Hong Kong - read Oxford Street at the peak of Christmas shopping - I'm not suggesting on-bended-knee-how-can-i-ever-make-amends-for-the-terrible-wrong-I-have-wrought-upon-you type apologies every time someone brushes your arm, but for the more serious you've-probably-left-a-bruise category of 'barge', a simple 'sorry' would be nice.

My favourite show of impoliteness thus far, chiefly due to its utter futility, is the 'not waiting for you to exit a tube train at the end of the line, and shoving past/into you to get onto a train that isn't departing for another seven minutes'. Where's the fire, people???! I've done my fair share of shoving onto the Underground in rush-hour, when you're in danger of not getting on before it leaves, but seven minutes is ample!

Naturally, I'm don't expect anyone to take it to extremes - I'd rather there wasn't any dragon-slaying in my honour or anything like that, though perhaps a little poetry-composing and harp-playing wouldn't go amiss... It just seems right that we should try and be courteous wherever possible. OK, sermon over; you may go about your business.

picture source: http://img2.timeinc.net/people/i/2007/specials/sag07/startracks/ashton_kutcher.jpg (yeah I know, any excuse to show a picture of Ashton Kutcher; though I will be having words with him over his choice of footwear to an awards ceremony...)