Tig.......I like New Yorkers (service, Zen)

[michel]

You are all so used to bashing yourselves; here's a good excuse not to..........



http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=900822006

New York the politest city in the world? ALASTAIR JAMIESON CONSUMER AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT

IT IS the city where eye contact is considered an act of aggression and the most frequently used part of a car is the horn.
But New York is the most polite place in the world, according to a survey which ranked its famously brusque citizens well ahead of those in London in kindness and good manners.
try{command = command.replace(/FSCommand:/ig,"");if(command.toLowerCase()=="ebinteraction")g EbStdBanners[0].handleInteraction();}catch(e){}
The Big Apple scored 80 per cent in a series of tests, including dropping papers in a street in a busy area, seeing how long it took for someone to help, noting whether doors were held open and if shop assistants said thank you after making a sale.
Reader's Digest magazine carried out the tests by sending journalists to cities in 35 countries. London and Paris were in joint 15th place with a score of 57 per cent, while India's Mumbai came bottom with 32 per cent.
Although the United States is famous for its "have a nice day" service culture, New Yorkers have long been considered gruff and impatient, particularly the taxi drivers.
But former mayor Ed Koch said the 11 September terror attacks had given the city's inhabitants a new perspective. "Since 9/11 New Yorkers are more caring," he said. "They understand the shortness of life."
When another former mayor, Rudolph Giuliani, introduced a raft of "politeness" by-laws in the 1990s, such as a $50 fine for putting feet on subway seats, the move was greeted with astonishment by residents.
Native New Yorker Dan Norman, 36, from East Rockaway, said: "The thing to remember is that New Yorkers are not rude, they are brusque.
"People will listen to you, but you've got to cut to the chase." Katherine Walker, the editor-in-chief of Reader's Digest British edition, said London was tenth out of 18 European cities tested.
"This was the world's biggest real-life test of common courtesy," she said. "The results were often surprising and consistently thought-provoking."
Zurich came second, Toronto third and São Paulo, Brazil, tied for fourth with Berlin.
People living in Zagreb were most helpful in picking up dropped papers, and shop assistants the most polite in Stockholm. Every Asian city tested, apart from Hong Kong, finished in the bottom ten. But Europe was not excluded from the bottom either, as the second rudest city was Bucharest.
It was in Bucharest that one woman, on refusing to hold open a door, told researchers: "I'm not a doorman, it's not my job to hold doors, if someone gets hurt they should be quicker."
In São Paulo, even the criminals are polite. Researchers were buying goods from a market when a call went out that the police were coming, sending the traders packing up and fleeing.
It turned out the market was illegal, but before disappearing the traders said thank you to researchers.
The tests also showed that the under-40s were the most courteous and the over-60s the least - particularly older men.
A spokesman for Reader's Digest said: "If common courtesy is the oil that keeps society running, a check suggests there's plenty of oil in the engine."

[Mystic-als]

Good to hear. Go NY! How many New Yorkers are here on RF? Do you agree?

[Buttercup]

The first time I went to NYC I expected rudeness and crassness as I had been warned all my life about the citizens of Gotham City. I was very surprised to be readily helped and smiled at during our entire stay. Every person we had contact with was very nice and courteous. Second visit was the same.

I love New York city and would live there in a heart beat.

[MaddLlama]

Go NY. Most people really are very polite here. I'm not sure if that applies to that fish-shaped strip of land south of Manhattan, but I guess we take what we can get. I miss living/working in the city.

[Katzpur]

Originally Posted by michel

You are all so used to bashing yourselves; here's a good excuse not to..........



http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=900822006

New York the politest city in the world? ALASTAIR JAMIESON CONSUMER AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT

IT IS the city where eye contact is considered an act of aggression and the most frequently used part of a car is the horn.
But New York is the most polite place in the world, according to a survey which ranked its famously brusque citizens well ahead of those in London in kindness and good manners.
try{command = command.replace(/FSCommand:/ig,"");if(command.toLowerCase()=="ebinteraction")g EbStdBanners[0].handleInteraction();}catch(e){}
The Big Apple scored 80 per cent in a series of tests, including dropping papers in a street in a busy area, seeing how long it took for someone to help, noting whether doors were held open and if shop assistants said thank you after making a sale.
Reader's Digest magazine carried out the tests by sending journalists to cities in 35 countries. London and Paris were in joint 15th place with a score of 57 per cent, while India's Mumbai came bottom with 32 per cent.
Although the United States is famous for its "have a nice day" service culture, New Yorkers have long been considered gruff and impatient, particularly the taxi drivers.
But former mayor Ed Koch said the 11 September terror attacks had given the city's inhabitants a new perspective. "Since 9/11 New Yorkers are more caring," he said. "They understand the shortness of life."
When another former mayor, Rudolph Giuliani, introduced a raft of "politeness" by-laws in the 1990s, such as a $50 fine for putting feet on subway seats, the move was greeted with astonishment by residents.
Native New Yorker Dan Norman, 36, from East Rockaway, said: "The thing to remember is that New Yorkers are not rude, they are brusque.
"People will listen to you, but you've got to cut to the chase." Katherine Walker, the editor-in-chief of Reader's Digest British edition, said London was tenth out of 18 European cities tested.
"This was the world's biggest real-life test of common courtesy," she said. "The results were often surprising and consistently thought-provoking."
Zurich came second, Toronto third and São Paulo, Brazil, tied for fourth with Berlin.
People living in Zagreb were most helpful in picking up dropped papers, and shop assistants the most polite in Stockholm. Every Asian city tested, apart from Hong Kong, finished in the bottom ten. But Europe was not excluded from the bottom either, as the second rudest city was Bucharest.
It was in Bucharest that one woman, on refusing to hold open a door, told researchers: "I'm not a doorman, it's not my job to hold doors, if someone gets hurt they should be quicker."
In São Paulo, even the criminals are polite. Researchers were buying goods from a market when a call went out that the police were coming, sending the traders packing up and fleeing.
It turned out the market was illegal, but before disappearing the traders said thank you to researchers.
The tests also showed that the under-40s were the most courteous and the over-60s the least - particularly older men.
A spokesman for Reader's Digest said: "If common courtesy is the oil that keeps society running, a check suggests there's plenty of oil in the engine."

New York City is my favorite US city. I absolutely love it! I've been back there four times in the last eight years and on every single occasion, there was at least once when a New Yorker saw me standing on a street corner looking at a map and approached me to ask if he could be of assistance. New Yorkers have gotten a bum rap over the years. They are not the insensitive jerks they've been made out to be. I love New York and I love New Yorkers.

[Sunstone]

Originally Posted by MaddLlama

Go NY. Most people really are very polite here. I'm not sure if that applies to that fish-shaped strip of land south of Manhattan, but I guess we take what we can get. I miss living/working in the city.

Unfortunately, I've never been to NY and don't know how polite the natives are there, but whenever I run across one, I'm usually impressed.

[sahra-t]

I love NY purely because after having spent a week eating muffins for breakfast in Vermont, after an overnight stay in New York I woke up to a Full English Breakfast!

They seemed polite enough when I was there, but as I say, it was only for a day. London gets a bad reputation too, we're not that bad, really!

[michel]

Originally Posted by sahra-t

I love NY purely because after having spent a week eating muffins for breakfast in Vermont, after an overnight stay in New York I woke up to a Full English Breakfast!

They seemed polite enough when I was there, but as I say, it was only for a day. London gets a bad reputation too, we're not that bad, really!

You weren't born within the sound of bow bells by any chance ? My Mum was!!!! I hate to say this, but London is one of those places I would avoid at all costs.