A few years ago, I was passing through an office building’s glass front door and held it open for the young woman immediately behind me. It’s just the way I was raised, I guess. She was outraged and told me that she was insulted that I would do such a thing. So, I looked her directly in the eye and slowly, deliberately, shut the door in her face.
I find that it helps to look them straight in the eye just before you hold the door.
Give them the look that says, “I’m being polite, the way I was raised. I expect a thank you, but I’ll be fine if you weren’t raised that way. But if you are rude, don’t think I’m going to apologize. I’m going to rip you a new a$$hole and I’m going to enjoy doing it.”
A pilot I flew with years ago told me of opening a door for a woman when he was about 9 or 10. She angrily spewed, “Don’t you open the door for me because I am a lady!”
To which he replied, “I’m not. I’m opening it because I am a gentleman.”
Loved it!
I did the same exact thing a few weeks ago at a convenience store. She went and complained to the store manager that I was rude and slammed the door in her face.
When I explained to him, exactly what happened, he told her that he thought I was owed an apology. She went into a screaming tirade! He then threw her out of the store for upsetting his other customers.
That was a perfect response. As the saying goes, “Be careful what you ask for, you might get it.”
Since I always open the door for women, the aged, or anyone immediately behind me when entering a building, I have noticed over the years that the number of people saying a simple Thank You has become a rare commodity.
I do it anyway because that is how my Parents raised me. I have discovered that rudeness is a Liberal trait that I have no desire to emulate.