Which community in the world displays the most graciously considerate manners?

I wish I knew.I’d move there and maybe get a decent apology for a change ;)

In Toronto someone actually apologized after bumping me in the shoulder while walking down the street.

I was SHOCKED.

I’d have to pick an Asian culture. The people are very polite in Thailand… always smiling, saying hello, and bowing.

I think it would be Japan. The worst I can say is Indonesia(I live there). People there have no respect and won’t value public properties. They’re also typically rude.

The Japanese seem very polite =)

Fluther!

I think the British have made a science of polite correctness. I admire them a great deal.

Canucks are pretty darn polite.

It’s always ‘excuse me, please’ and ‘sooorry’.

I am English and I thank you graciously!

@noyesa I can’t imagine bumping into someone and not apologizing.
I think it depends on who you are, how you were raised not so much where you are.
(although, where you are might be where you were raised.)

I have met some incredibly rude people in Toronto, also some very polite people in that same city.

@wilma Sure, there are rude people in lots of places. But I’ve spent plenty of time in Toronto and my overall feel for the city is that people there are a lot more friendly than in many of the US cities I’ve been to. I generally wouldn’t expect someone to apologize for something like that because normally people don’t.

Are the French as rude as they are made out to be?

@ChazMaz My girlfriend spent two weeks in France. She said as long as you try to approach them speaking French they’re very nice, but if you start hollering at them in English they’ll pretend to not understand what you’re saying. She said the Italians were WAY worse, and IMO Italians are known to be relatively friendly.

Speaking of cultures that are steroetyped, French-Canadians are not nearly as bad as they’re cracked out to be. I went to Montreal and everyone was just as friendly as they were in Toronto or Ottawa.

@noyesa: I also found people in Montreal to be very friendly, especially during the summer time. It is so gorgeous there, maybe it puts everyone in a good mood.

I don’t know about any particular country, but for a hub: I was apologized to multiple times at Chicago’s busy airport. I could not believe that, in the hustle and bustle of moving quickly, people had the time to stop, apologize for bumping me (or in some cases, even if I bumped them), and then proceed hurriedly on their way. Or, as I approached a corner at the same time as another person, they insisted I go first. I was pole-axed.

Manners are a cultural construct and only have meaning in context. In other words, no one culture is more considerate or gracious than another.

@tinyfaery – yes, but, I think there exists some basic level of human care and concern. Whether or not labeled as manners, showing consideration for another’s well-being has nothing to do with social contruct but everything to do with internal desire to help one another – regardless of the person being a stranger or friend. I think some communities nurture this desire more so than others. Yet, whether or not it is nurtured, there must be places where the desire naturally exists.

Manners are not natural they are created.

@tinyfaery – true, but the desire to show care and concern is natural.

Stockholm, Sweden

@YARNLADY The Swedes are definitely great. I spent several months in Stockholm in 1986 when my dad was on sabbatical, and again in 1998 when I was doing research. Everyone I met (except my landlord, lol) was friendly, polite, and eager to help. And everyone wanted to practice their English on me. That was too bad, as I would have loved to pick up some Swedish.

Hej! Hur mår du? (Hi! How are you?) That’s the extent of what I know…

@Dr_Dredd I learned that at Ikea!