Polite

I read today that Toronto was the third most polite city in the world (on a sample of 35 cities). I have to say this came as a surprise because generally, in big cities, people are NOT polite.

When you ride the bus on a daily basis, you realize that politeness is not something people worry about. Often, I see people pushing their way ahead of the line to get into a crowded bus, others pretending to sleep and not giving up their seat when someone who obviously needs it steps onto the bus, and many not moving to accomodate the flow of riders coming on and stepping off at stops.

I remember this one time when I asked a guy to pull the cord for the next stop because I couldn't reach it. He was standing right in front of the exit door. When we reached the stop, I figured he would move out of the way, he clearly knew that I was getting off. The bus stopped, and he didn't. I had to wiggle my way to the second exit door, but unfortunately not in time. The bus was already driving away. I looked at the guy in the eyes and said "thanks for that". I don't think he even heard, he had hearphones on. He looked at me like I was annoying him.

Anyone ever heard of bus rage?

I never have problems with men holding the door open for me, but women don't seem to think they should bother. I hold the door for anyone following me and even try to pay attention to people that are a few steps behind and might want to catch the elevator. Must be how I was raised... to actually care, even about perfect strangers.