How do you react when someone neglects to say 'thank you' when you help them out, or do something polite? Do you call them on it?

I generally let it pass.

^^ Yeah, let it pass, no biggie.

Nah. When I do something for someone it's because I wanted to do it for them. "Thank you's" are nice but not required by me.

I am extremely conscious to say "thank you", myself, so it usually does irk me. But I don't let mannerless, self-absorbed people ruin my day, either. I just may not help out again.

And, yes, I thank people for letting me pass them on the sidewalk. They really don't have to, and I get annoyed when clueless people aren't paying attention. Still, they aren't important enough to ruin my day. (Unless I encounter a whole string of them.0

Opa Shale wrote:

On a public sidewalk it is called 'obstructing' if they block your passage. If they are unaware I do say excuse me when wanting to pass.

And if they aren't Mike Tyson and refust to move I will elbow my way thru.

They then don't feel obliged to thank me.

I generally let it go for the most part, but I really do find it annoying. I wish there was a way I could tell beforehand if someone is going to say please or thank you before I do anything. Like for instance: I was in the Chinese restaurant ordering food and there was this chick there in front of me. And she was just getting irate and being impatient with the people behind the counter because she felt she had been waiting on her food too long. Basically she just had a bad attitude and I didn't like it. Anyway, she gets her food, snatched it off the counter with an attitude, and walks out the store. I noticed she left her keys on the counter, so I called out to her and told her she left her keys. She spins back around, snatches her keys off the counter, rolls her eyes like it was MY fault and storms out without saying thank you or even acknowledging me. What a bitch. If I would've known she was going to do that, I would've let her walk out of the restaurant, took those keys off the counter myself and throw them in the fucking trash can.

Opa Shale wrote:

On a public sidewalk it is called 'obstructing' if they block your passage. If they are unaware I do say excuse me when wanting to pass.

And if they aren't Mike Tyson and refuse to move I will elbow my way thru.

They then don't feel obliged to thank me.

Actually, I had to think this one over some more. If people on the sidewalk notice me and move over before I say anything, then I thank them (for noticing). If I have to say something then it is just "Excuse me" and that's that.

Now, the bicyclists who suddenly zip past me (and, here, they're supposed to be on the street, not the sidewalks) are the ones who make me wish I was Mike Tyson!

Bluesmama wrote:

...Now, the bicyclists who suddenly zip past me (and, here, they're supposed to be on the street, not the sidewalks) are the ones who make me wish I was Mike Tyson!

The other side of that frustration:

DEAF PPL!

There aren't that many hearing impaired ppl around and they usually compensate and are very aware of who's wanting to pass them. I'm talking about all the ppl who plug wires in their ears and can't hear a damn thing.

So, I'm biking behind them saying 'excuse me' then 'EXCUSE ME' and they still don't hear. Finally when I am on them I usually yell as loud as I can 'HEADS UP!' which gets a response, usually one of anger that I scared them into this reality.

The state law here says you need an audible sound device when passing pedestrians on a walkway. It is an old law and they specifically ruled out those cannister horns, but that was before EVERYONE started walking around isolated from the world with their ears plugged up.

Once I actually had to reach over my handlebars and tap a guy on the shoulder - stone deaf to his environment.

Opa Shale wrote:

The other side of that frustration:

DEAF PPL!

There aren't that many hearing impaired ppl around and they usually compensate and are very aware of who's wanting to pass them. I'm talking about all the ppl who plug wires in their ears and can't hear a damn thing.

So, I'm biking behind them saying 'excuse me' then 'EXCUSE ME' and they still don't hear. Finally when I am on them I usually yell as loud as I can 'HEADS UP!' which gets a response, usually one of anger that I scared them into this reality.

The state law here says you need an audible sound device when passing pedestrians on a walkway. It is an old law and they specifically ruled out those cannister horns, but that was before EVERYONE started walking around isolated from the world with their ears plugged up.

Once I actually had to reach over my handlebars and tap a guy on the shoulder - stone deaf to his environment.

Yeah, I hafta' admit that I'm often guilty of it, too. I sometimes walk to music, although I can usually hear the 'excuse me' or 'behind you' from a biker behind me (not good to have the headsets too loud, anyway). I try to stay conscious of sticking to one side of the sidewalk. Seems to help. Where I live, bikers aren't supposed to be on sidewalks. But there are plenty of paths that are just as much for them as for the walkers/runners/skaters, yet you still get people who stroll at a snail's pace, blocking access, without a care in the world.

Uh-oh! Are we getting off-topic?

I belligerently say "You're welcome!"

Sometimes I do, especially if its a stranger.

Nystyle709 wrote:

What's frustrating is that people can't just leisurely ride bikes anymore. Here in NYC....these dumb ass bikers really think they can ride in the street with a bunch of cars and trucks and nothing will happen to them. They don't use the bike lanes. They don't obey the traffic laws. I've seen a few run into people. Me and my friend decided to rent some bikes and ride up West Side Hwy one Sunday. Beautiful day....take in the scenery and just have a nice peaceful ride you would think right? Wrong. I was riding at a steady pace and I was on the right side, but it seems like every 10 secs I had a biker yelling behind me to move to the left or the right. I couldn't even enjoy the ride because of the fact that I had to constantly be on alert to stay clear of someone coming up behind me like this was the damn Tour de France. So I couldn't listen to my iPod. And because an idiot decided to cut in front of me to make a turn, I had to brake super hard and super fast and I ended up going over the handle bars and bustin' my ass.

Tour de France. That’s funny. And so true.
I spent 2 wks in NYC a few years ago, and was in awe at the aggressiveness of the bikers. The automobile traffic and congestion, I could understand. But the bikers! And I remember spotting one daredevil from Hell that I suspected was a courier service, dodging swiftly in and out of traffic, putting everyone’s lives at stake. He barely missed a woman pushing a baby stroller. And it’s just wrong that someone cannot enjoy a leisurely ride without fearing for her safety from so-called fellow bikers. They give bikers a bad name.

Sometimes I shrug, other times I call them on it. Depends on what it is I did and how I feel at the moment. If it's a kid, I almost always throw in a "What do you say?" That usually reminds them to thank my gesture.