Why dont people say thank you when you hold the door for them anymore?

Question

I know its good manners to hold the door for the person behind you but I am not obligated to do it. Am I the only person that says thank you when someone holds the door for me?

emgeealex- look if I want a grammer lecture, I will go talk to my professor. This is an informal site and you understood what I said perfectly. My statements were not unclear and full of slang. Get a life!

Answer 1

I totally understand where you're coming from. It's a courtesy to hold the door for someone that's behind you. I hate when people don't hold the door for me b/c that's simply rude. However, when I hold the door for someone else and they just walk through it, I wonder if I look like a doorman. I will even say "your welcome" just to make them aware that they were rude by not saying thank you. I wonder if people just don't think about it, but it's not polite to not acknowledge when someone does something nice for you. It's very irritating.

Answer 2

I was raised to be much like you.
I moved from Long Island, NY to three hours further Upstate NY, and there is a WORLD of difference.
Up here, people (and especially men) hold doors for me, and regularly people thank each other and so forth, in my rurla area.
Then I go up to Albany, a small city, and people are just as rude as back home. Men will let doors slam in my face, people will not say thank you, UGH.
It's awful.
But I can't figure out if it's because in a rural area, there are less people to have to deal with so they have more time to be nice, or because someone will always know you and recognize and talk about you in a small town area.
It sounds like a big excuse, but this is just my observation of what happens, seemingly naturally, not a judgment of it.
I'm happier where I am, now though.

Answer 3

Why dont people say thank you when you hold the door for them anymore?

I know its good manners to hold the door for the person behind you but I am not obligated to do it. Am I the only person that says thank you when someone holds the door for me?

Answer 4

I gripe about this all the time. People don't seem to engage in basic courtesies anymore. Even worse are the people who see you right behind them and let the door close on your foot, in your face, etc. as though it would have been an inconvenience to just keep their arm extended for, literally, an extra second. I think it's because everyone is out for themselves now and parents aren't taking the time to really teach their children how to live in society anymore. Kids are learning how to do that from their friends and unsupervised teenagers have never been noted for their civility.
People routinely tell me that I'm the most polite, formal person they've met. If I'M the most polite person they know, we're pretty bad off.

Answer 5

You did nothing wrong, so thats their problem.
I hold the door open for people (I even remember recently, this lady got stuck when the train doors closed on her, and I helped her out, I got a thanks then though, so I dont see how its relevant but heh xD)

If they dont say thank you, they've got an ugly- *** ego, and the best thing to do is to just ignore it, and sometimes, maybe even sympathise with them, knowing that your better off (in terms of manners) than they are.

Answer 6

Some arrogant people look down on us and think they deserve to have it their way. Some are plainly ignorant, others forget, some don't speak English, some have a wooden face, some have their mind far away in the air, some are too important to realize the gesture, some are in a bad mood, many have lost the sense of having manners! I still say thanks, you're one of the rare nice one, with a smile. In a big city, people tend to forget that others are people to.

Answer 7

What I do, and what I notice people STILL do, which I feel is sufficient enough:

- Say Thank You
- Smile
- Nod
- Smile with their Eyes (If you know what I mean)..

That's responses I still do, and I notice most people do so as well.. I don't usually run into people who don't show the slightest gesture of thank you when having a door open for them..

So I hope I don't bump into such individuals (now that I've read your question) ;)

Answer 8

I still say thank you and i do see a lot of people i hold the door for say thank you too; but there are some who don't

Answer 9

Some people look at you like you're a serial killer if you hold the door for them. It's very annoying. I blame it on their parents. We should issue licenses before you can ever become a parent.

Answer 10

I definitely say thank you when someone holds the door for me.