Russians ‘Don’t Do Doors’
In a worldwide test of manners and civility, Moscow was ajudged one of the rudest cities in the world, according to the Readers Digest.
In a survey of 35 capitals, Moscow ranked 28, just seven places above uncouthest Mumbai. The criteria were simple. Reader’s Digest based its findings on whether people held doors open for you, how often shop assistants said ‘thank you’ and whether strangers helped to pick up papers which you dropped in the street.
So, why don’t Russians hold doors open for you? Here’s a clue.
Typical Russian Front Door
First of all, Russians don’t have just one door. There are at least two cast iron doors to their concrete bunker apartments. The idea is that you bolt the first door behind you, so you can’t be hit on the back of the head when putting your key in the next.
Moreover, in frozen Russia, it’s a crime to hold a door open and don’t even think of opening a window. In most taxis the window winder handles are deliberately removed. Anyone who has experienced the stiflingly hot and airless Russian winter will know just what I mean.
And as one Russian woman told a Reader’s Digest reporter, ‘I’m not a doorman. If someone gets hurt they should have been quicker on their feet.’
THE WORLDWIDE CIVILITY test survey carried out by the In Mumbai both the commoners and higher echelons of the city closed ranks in expressing their disappointment at the result of the survey. The vast population of migrants, who regard Mumbai to be their dream city, hold it in reverence and awe for offering them job opportunities and a chance to make it big. The city’s rich and famous include big industrialists like the late Dhirubhai Ambani, a migrant from a humble background, who went on to create a giant conglomerate like Reliance industries and superstars like Amitabh Bachchan or Shah Rukh Khan, who are today heartthrobs of millions of film buffs.
I suggest to read this article “Civility survey out of touch with Indian culture” written by rajan nair>>http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=123256&catID=2&category=Nation
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Have to second that. Mumbai is maybe not the best if you really wish to compare but then what are we comparing against? Rude and mannerless Parisians?
I love my city and am proud to be a Mumbaiite and yes, though I am a lady, I do help people who need it and say all the magic words like ‘please’, ’sorry’ and ‘thank you’.
Sorry,I was seconding Vicky’s comment.