Pointless politeness

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OK, this is sort of a follow up to my pet peeve report of April 19. This is a story about being too polite.

Today I crossed the street again. It was a two-way street. On the left was one small car. On the right was a long stream of cars. Who stopped? The one car on the left.

Did any of the cars on the right stop?

No.

Having no hope of crossing immediately, I waved the guy on the left through, but he insisted on waiting patiently. When the right was clear, he was still there, waving me across. He didn't need to do that. It didn't make my day any easier, nor his. It was pointless politeness.

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