[Leica] WAS: Found on e-Bay NOW: POLITNESS!!!???

[craig at craigschroeder.com (Craig Schroeder)]

I agree, Frank.  An American walking into into a shop in France and 
simply saying, "I would like to try that sweater in a medium, please," 
could seem offensive and condescending to the French clerk and totally 
innocuous to the American.  The American would feel the icy edge to the 
remaining part of the interlude and re-establish their preconception of 
"those French".  The next American into the shop might be more tuned 
into the ways of the culture and say something like, "I have some 
blue-gray slacks and am having trouble finding a sweater to coordinate 
properly.  Do you think that you could help me with my problem?"  Now 
you have a compatriot assisting you in a common quest and the clerk may 
have taken a tiny chip away from their idea of what an American behaves 
like, too.

I live in the upper Midwest of the USA and in general, see mostly 
courteous behavior.  When I witness the opposite, it is usually by the 
clueless, coarse and young, though.

Frank Dernie wrote:
> I think what is expected, in terms of politness varies greatly in the 
> world, and ettiquette is not universally the same. Some things which 
> are normal in one society are quite rude in another.
> FWIW this Englishman finds the US citizens to be the politest people I 
> meet in my travels, particularly at home.
> Frank
>
> On 17 Jan, 2009, at 22:37, Ted Grant wrote:
>