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Doing extreme things to remain polite

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KimiNewt

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I had to throw out some bad milk now and it reminded me of one time when I was really young and had a friend sleep over.

In the morning we had cereal, and after a while my sister comes in and gets some for herself. After the first spoonful she goes "Holy shit! This is really nasty, it's spoiled, how are you eating this?!". I was like "I didn't notice" but my friend meekly said something like "I didn't want to say.."

So it got me thinking, have you ever done something kind of stupid in order to remain polite? Or perhaps out of shyness (I'm sure there's a lot of gaffers with that issue)?

I can't remember anything personally, but it might come to me later.
 
Greddleok said:
I got engaged.
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Nickelodeon-s-Catdog-catdog-36878799-300-202.png
 
CarpeDeezNutz said:
I need the story behind this one.
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3 year relationship. She wouldn't stop asking about marriage (she was from Eastern Europe and they get married within like 6 months of dating over there).

I didn't have the heart to tell her no after she proposed.

The relationship broke down not long after that.
 
If you study the psychology of circle jerks you will find that there is usually only one person who is driving the jerking, and everyone else in the circle is simply unable to extract themselves from the situation without being super awkward.
 
Greddleok said:
I got engaged.
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Lol, I'm not that hardcore but the year of senior prom the parents of a chick I didn't particularly like come up to me and say "so I hear you're taking xxxx to the prom." This was news to me but i was like "guess I am now."
 
I nearly choked to death once, because I was too polite/shy/whatever to say anything.

I was at a BBQ meeting my boyfriend's parents for the first time. I was feeling really self-conscious to begin with and accidentally swallowed a chunk of steak that was too big. Rather than say anything, I stood up and went to the bathroom and frantically tried to force the meat down my throat by drinking water. That didn't work, so I tried forcing myself to throw up which eventually worked.

In the end it didn't save me from embarrassment because I was covered in water, could barely speak, and my eyes were bloodshot.
 
Noviere said:
I nearly choked to death once, because I was too polite/shy/whatever to say anything.

I was at a BBQ meeting my boyfriend's parents for the first time. I was feeling really self-conscious to begin with and accidentally swallowed a chunk of steak that was too big. Rather than say anything, I stood up and went to the bathroom and frantically tried to force the meat down my throat by drinking water. That didn't work, so I tried forcing myself to throw up which eventually worked.

In the end it didn't save me from embarrassment because I was covered in water, could barely speak, and my eyes were bloodshot.
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friends.jpg
 
My grandparents sent me a check for my birthday once that they had filled out wrong. Just a momentary lapse, but I think the date got put in the box for the amount. They aren't senile or anything, it was just a mistake, but to save them embarrassment I told them I put the check in my pocket and accidentally washed it, so it was ruined. They sent me a new check and I got teased a little. I'm a little proud of how well everything worked out.
 
Never felt like I've had to do anything to be polite, let alone anything extreme. This leads me to one of two conclusions. Either I'm just naturally polite in person, or other people are too polite to inform me that I'm impolite.
 
Hazmat said:
My grandparents sent me a check for my birthday once that they had filled out wrong. Just a momentary lapse, but I think the date got put in the box for the amount. They aren't senile or anything, it was just a mistake, but to save them embarrassment I told them I put the check in my pocket and accidentally washed it, so it was ruined. They sent me a new check and I got teased a little. I'm a little proud of how well everything worked out.
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Good on you, dude.
 
I always try to be polite but I don't see that as being polite, maybe more shy or at the extreme afraid of conflict, and I am neither.

Part of being polite is mentioning discontent/an issue or speaking up without being an asshole about it.

Like the milk example.

"Excuse me but this milk may be spoiled, could you sniff or taste it to see if it is or maybe I am wrong" is being polite.

Not saying anything, especially if continuing to eat is either extreme shyness or fear of conflict.

And the most impolite thing would be to take the food and just not eat it without speaking up.
 
Similar to your friend.

I was staying with a Japanese family for two weeks when I was 12. The lady asked me if I liked my cereal with hot milk or cold milk in the mornings as she would get breakfast ready for me (and her family) every day.

I said cold, but for some reason the next day there was hot. I didn't want to correct her and figured she must have just done it by accident. So I removed the milk film from the top of the cereal and ate it.

This continued for ever day for 13 days. Then on the last day she apologized that she didn't have time to heat up the milk that morning and if I would be okay with cold.

Haha. I said "yea, i actually like cold milk better" She asked why I didn't say anything after the first day. I just said I was trying to be polite hahah...
 
When I was a kid I went 18 hours without eating when I was staying at a friends house. I didn't want to take food without being offered and when his parents got home they assumed I had already eaten.
 
I suffered permanent hearing damage due to 3 stages of over politeness. Each stage, I could have easily got out of, but I stupidly strove on...

Stage 1: A friend invites me to a gig. I already have plans, but because he always seems to invite me his band's performances when I'm busy (this is the 6th time in a row), I felt guilty and decide to move my schedule around. Damn you guilt.

Stage 2: I arrive at the gig and everyone there is standing at the back of the room (it's a rather small venue). Feeling sorry for the band, I go right to the front, where it's the loudest. Damn you sympathy.

Stage 3: After 20 or so minutes, I feel some mild ear pain. I really wanted to get the hell out of there but I stayed another 15 minutes, until the end of their set, as going early would be rude. Damn you politeness.

I've suffered from hearing loss and insufferable tinnitus ever since. Which is rather annoying as audio is (was) my life.
 
marvelharvey said:
I suffered permanent hearing damage due to 3 stages of over politeness. Each stage, I could have easily got out of, but I stupidly strove on...

I've suffered from hearing loss and insufferable tinnitus ever since. Which is rather annoying as audio is (was) my life.
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This one gets me. Loud music is the worst without hearing protection yet so many feel peer pressure to forgo it. In your case it was politeness D: I feel for you.
 
Darren870 said:
Similar to your friend.

I was staying with a Japanese family for two weeks when I was 12. The lady asked me if I liked my cereal with hot milk or cold milk in the mornings as she would get breakfast ready for me (and her family) every day.

I said cold, but for some reason the next day there was hot. I didn't want to correct her and figured she must have just done it by accident. So I removed the milk film from the top of the cereal and ate it.

This continued for ever day for 13 days. Then on the last day she apologized that she didn't have time to heat up the milk that morning and if I would be okay with cold.

Haha. I said "yea, i actually like cold milk better" She asked why I didn't say anything after the first day. I just said I was trying to be polite hahah...
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I had some thing like this when I was in Japan. We filled out bios for our host students, and mentioned our likes/dislikes when it came to food. I didn't wanna come off as too picky so I didn't mention my dislike of eggs or fish. When my host mother served them I just forced them down and tried not to gag.

On the other hand, this led to my fist time trying sushi, and while I don't love it, I realized that fish is a lot more tolerable when raw.
 
SRG01 said:
Surely the dentist would have noticed your facial expressions??
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Went through the same thing when I had my wisdom teeth pulled, they definitely noticed my facial expressions and occasional grunting, they responded by calling me "a big baby".
 
When someone holds a door open for me, but I'm still really far away. I'll start to run (not a dead sprint, but I pickup the pace). They usually laugh and say just take your time.
 
The Exploder said:
If you study the psychology of circle jerks you will find that there is usually only one person who is driving the jerking, and everyone else in the circle is simply unable to extract themselves from the situation without being super awkward.
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Someone is involved in a circle jerk, and leaving would be the awkward part?
 
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