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Customs That You Never Actually See

Jamie

Till the roof comes off, till the lights go out...
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I was reading a Facebook status today about how gentlemen pull out chairs for girls, and it got me thinking:

Not only have I never pulled out a chair for a boy or girl, but I have not even seen it happen. I mean, maybe I have and I just can't remember it, but it certainly doesn't happen very often. Yet in movies and TV, it happens all of the time. Maybe I'm just an ******* and never got the memo, but I really don't see it as very commonplace. I mean, holding a door for someone makes sense because they are right behind you and it doesn't require much extra effort, it just makes it so they don't get hit in the face; but I'm certain anyone is capable of pulling their chair out on their own...It's not even really an inconvenience. I'm more inconvenienced by pushing my chair back in...but I digress.

What customs do you hear about every day but have never/rarely actually seen? Discuss and such.
 

Mercedes

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I think these customs just depend on where, so people might not see them if they don't visit certain scenes.

At home, either my current flat or living with my family, nobody ever pulled a chair out for me, I seat myself. When going out to lunch with friends it's the same story. But when I was at my nephew's christening after-party, for instance, a quite fancy sit-down meal after the actual christening, most, if not all, of the guys pulled out a chair for their girlfriend and my boyfriend did for me, all gentleman-like, and then seated themselves. Because that was quite a fancy event, all the guys in suits and girls in dresses, I think people's attitude changes when in that kind of situation. People are a little more wary about etiquette and the sort and make more of an effort. And this also depends on any restaurant we go to; in some places you just sit yourself down, but at the more posh places, if I'm on a date, my boyfriend will always pull out my chair and then seat himself, or the waiter might. I don't know where this custom came from and it can actually be a little embarrassing, I wouldn't want it to be a constant thing in life, but I only see it at those one-off special events.

The only custom I've never actually seen in-person or actually have done, because perhaps, as I said above, I don't visit the type of scene this is custom of, is the fake kissing on the cheek. I see it on TV shows a lot in Britain where a man and woman will sort of kiss eachother twice, on each cheek. I think this is a European thing and you don't actually kiss them, but I've never been in a situation that I've seen that happen in.
 
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Jamie

Till the roof comes off, till the lights go out...
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I've been to some fancy restaurants and my date and I have just sat ourselves. Perhaps I was supposed to pull out the chair and didn't know? I'm not entirely sure. But the cheek kissing is not fake kisses, I'm positive of that. They even do that in some more "cultured" places in the US.
 

Ganondork

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Nov 12, 2010
I've been to some fancy restaurants and my date and I have just sat ourselves. Perhaps I was supposed to pull out the chair and didn't know? I'm not entirely sure. But the cheek kissing is not fake kisses, I'm positive of that. They even do that in some more "cultured" places in the US.

Haha, not even the "culured" places. The Cubanas do it down here in Miami. The white girls do it. The black girls do it. It's a really common thing to do down here. Girls and guys occasionally do it, but it's usually a girl-on-girl thing. I can't think of the last time I've done it, but I see it in the halls almost daily.
 

Curmudgeon

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Haha, not even the "culured" places. The Cubanas do it down here in Miami. The white girls do it. The black girls do it. It's a really common thing to do down here. Girls and guys occasionally do it, but it's usually a girl-on-girl thing. I can't think of the last time I've done it, but I see it in the halls almost daily.

When I was living in Spain, the only time people didn't kiss as a greeting was when it was two guys. It took some getting used to. It's bad form to slobber on people.
 

Ventus

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A custom I never see but hear about all the time is to not wear Red. In many cultures I hear, wearing Red is a symbol of aligning oneself with the Devil, because it's reminiscent of the blood that was spilled on Joseph (pbuh) in the form of the sheep. I see everyone who *should* be apart of those cultures (I say *should* because I live in America...evrything is Americanized) wearing red, pink, and other violent colors without any kind of strain.

Another custome I see but never hear about is tipping. Everyone says they tip but waiters and waitresses and bussers always complain of the low tips they get. If tipping is such a big deal, you would figure that everyone in the world would go after the tip jobs. But nobody does
 

Justac00lguy

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The custom that people are meant to walk on the left while the opposing people pass on the right hand side. I've literally never seen this in England certainly. Everyone just walks wherever they want. Left, right, diagonal, upside down, you name it. It's not like walking is driving, lol.
 
Joined
Feb 23, 2011
The customers at work are always asking me and some of my fellow coworkers why we never smile. I always think to myself, "I'm working my arse off to keep the shelves and floor stocked for you in this hellhole, and you expect me to be smiling while doing so?" I can see if I was scowling, as that would be off-putting, but I'm not; it's just a neutral expression. I'm just focused on my job. I bet if they were being pressured to get sh*t done before closing time or face the consequences, they wouldn't be smiling from ear to ear, either.

Now I can see if I made eye contact with a customer or something; smiling would denote friendliness or something, but when I'm really busy, the last thing I'm thinking about is smiling. Besides, no one in their right mind walks around wearing a perpetual smile on their face all the time. Ever. It's creepy. ...like the one guy from that 'sexual enhancement' commercial.
 

Dio

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The customers at work are always asking me and some of my fellow coworkers why we never smile. I always think to myself, "I'm working my arse off to keep the shelves and floor stocked for you in this hellhole, and you expect me to be smiling while doing so?" I can see if I was scowling, as that would be off-putting, but I'm not; it's just a neutral expression. I'm just focused on my job. I bet if they were being pressured to get sh*t done before closing time or face the consequences, they wouldn't be smiling from ear to ear, either.

Now I can see if I made eye contact with a customer or something; smiling would denote friendliness or something, but when I'm really busy, the last thing I'm thinking about is smiling. Besides, no one in their right mind walks around wearing a perpetual smile on their face all the time. Ever. It's creepy. ...like the one guy from that 'sexual enhancement' commercial.
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Musicfan

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A custom I never see but hear about all the time is to not wear Red. In many cultures I hear, wearing Red is a symbol of aligning oneself with the Devil, because it's reminiscent of the blood that was spilled on Joseph (pbuh) in the form of the sheep. I see everyone who *should* be apart of those cultures (I say *should* because I live in America...evrything is Americanized) wearing red, pink, and other violent colors without any kind of strain.

Another custome I see but never hear about is tipping. Everyone says they tip but waiters and waitresses and bussers always complain of the low tips they get. If tipping is such a big deal, you would figure that everyone in the world would go after the tip jobs. But nobody does

The red thing is a Islam thing if anything. I've never herd that from any church I've went to.
 

Akuhime-sama

What's Life Without Adult Humor?
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Licking doorknobs before people go to touch them.


It's also an activity that is illegal on other planets.
 

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