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The World's Most Polite and Rude Cities
I don't know how empirical this study is, but here's the skinny. Reader's Digest dispatched several undercover reporters in three dozen cities across the world. In each city, the reporters:
- Walked into public buildings 20 times behind people to see if they held open the door.
- Bought small items from 20 stores and recorded whether the sales assistants thanked them.
- Dropped a folder full of papers in 20 busy locations to see if anyone would help collect the scattered contents.
The reporters awarded one point for each positive outcome and nothing for a negative one. The results of this "study" show that the top three most polite cities are New York, Zurich and Toronto. Conversely, Asia fared very poorly. Eight out of nine cities there finished in the bottom 11. Could this be a cultural thing?
The least friendly city? Mumbai, India. They may be rude in Mumbai, but they sure can cook.
Filed under: Arts and Culture, Asia, North America
Reader Comments (Page 6 of 6)
Kayda Jun 2nd 2007 9:53AM
I just want to say thank you for your report, especially the part pertaining , to the 'No Thank You's", you don't get after spending your money in these stores. Do they realize how much money they loose, by not saying 'thank you', because I won't return to that store, unless it's a dire emergency, and then I won't spend as much as I would have, had I been treated like a human being before. Thanks again
ED Jun 2nd 2007 11:08AM
THE MOST RUDE SHOULD INCLUDE PHILADELPHIA PA.
Emilie Jun 2nd 2007 10:17AM
I've lived in or visted lots of different states and a few countries - the rudest people I have ever met have to be in Hawaii!!! It's a pretty place to spend a few minutes, but I would never want to go back there.
sara phillips Jun 2nd 2007 12:42PM
just remember who ever the pertson is making rude comments about east indians. the color of your skin is the same color as the bottoms of my feet.
Susanna White Jun 2nd 2007 1:33PM
I used to live a 1/2 hour from NYC and have relatives who still live there. I think the politeness vs. rudeness poll depends on who is interviewed and who writes it. You can find polite people in NYC, or in the south, and you can also encounter really rude types in both places. I think it depends on personal experience, where you are and who you meet. It is really a matter of opinion. My own personal experiences have led me to conclude that New Yorkers are MUCH MORE ACCEPTING of other races than people in the south!!! New Yorkers are also more broad minded and informed about what is going on in the world around them. A former co-worker of mine called the area she lives in the south provincial and I have also consistantly found people to be narrow minded and ignorant when it comes to other cultures and people groups. Yes, I now live in the Florida, which has a mix of southerners and northerners living in it. However one last point- when it comes to driving many people here are more polite than in the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area.My conclusion: there are all types of people everywhere. Each place has both good and bad in it as people are not perfect. :)
Linda Jun 2nd 2007 1:50PM
I'm sorry I think the south is rude and mean . they treat people like they are still in the civil war time get over it . I went to battonruge La. and the nices black lady was so sweet she was a waitress . she was so friendly and my husban gave her a &10 tip at least where I'm from you when they are friendly and fast like she was ,anyways her boss a white lady told us we can't do that because she was black . I told her she was a bitch and I'll give her a tip if I want . I don't care what color she was but a hell of of a good waitress . So get the hell off your civil war and traet people like they are human not white or black. I'll never go down south and there is no such thing as southern hospitallity,only if you are from down south.
yankefanj2 Jun 2nd 2007 2:21PM
I agree that some southerners are ignorant, racist, and a bit embarrassing to the rest of us. Yet to say there is no such thing as Southern hospitality and to classify Southerners as stupid and out of touch with reality is ignorant in itself. I am 17 years old and have lived in the South my entire life, yet I go completely out of my way to be polite every time I am in public. Even in the so-called rebellious teenage years my friends and I will hold doors and assist people of all ages and races. I keep up with current events and form my own individual opinions about current affairs. Although in my two trips to New York I have never encountered anyone who was blatantly rude to me, I have discovered that the most condescending and ungrateful people in my community (which has been referred to as the most Yankee town of the South) are those that have migrated here from the North.
Keith Wood Jul 7th 2008 2:24AM
Got that right, bro. I'm dissapointed in the South! I'm from Boston, now living in Columbia, SC. No such thing as southern hospitality exept for people from the south. They still hate us yankees. They don't even say "hi" or "how's it goin". Southern girls are rude. The only nice people I meet are not from SC and they're mostly notherners. They won't give you the right of way, won't let you cross the street. Back in MA, they're more polite on the road (even though they drive crazy) than down in SC.
margie Jun 2nd 2007 2:45PM
I think there are both polite and rude people in every city, town, and country of the world. I believe there are more courteous and helpful people than rude ones everywhere too. Sometimes it is the way you approach someone that makes them react the way they do. Wouldnt it be nice if everyone tried a little harder to make this world a better, friendly, and more polite place to live.
Ken Stewart Jul 3rd 2007 2:51AM
Did the author go to any German cities? The krauts have to be the rudest people on the planet.
K, Houston Oct 6th 2008 2:15AM
Hey, I'm a northerner and proud of it! I was born in michigan now living n the south, the south especially in geogria are some of the most rude ignorant obnoxious people out there, especially macon! yeah, they talk about the north like it's a disease, they're not used to outsiders, that's because they've been living under a rock, they talk about new yorkers as if we are like the rudest people alive, NEWS FLASH, JERKWADS! new york is nowhere near rude, in fact the south is just as rude and judgemental! the only reason the south says that new york is rude is because of what they see on tv, instead of telling us "go back to new york", why not get your facts straight, unless you've been there PUT A CORK IN IT, REDNECKS!!!!!!
K, Houston Nov 22nd 2008 12:56PM
THE SOUTH IS THE RUDEST MOST IGNORANT REGION N THE UNITED STATES, 4 THEM 2 CALL US NEW YORKERS RUDE, HAS THE STUPIDEST REASON 2 HATE US THEY STILL THINK IT'S THE DAMN CIVIL WAR, IT'S SO 200+ YEARS AGO, I DARE THE SOUTH 2 GO TO NEW YORK CITY, THIS ALSO GOES OUT 2 THE HICK INBRED REDNECKS, UNTIL YOU'VE GONE 2 NEW YORK CITY, STFU, 'CAUSE U DON'T KNOW NOTHIN' NO WONDER U CAN'T TALK RIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!