A Manner of Manners

So today an interesting event occurred. A few friends and I went to check our mailboxes (this is not the interesting part). After facing the regular disappointment of a barren mailbox, I turned and headed for the door to exit. However, when I arrived a girl opened the door politely for her friend and allowed her to exit ahead of her. The girl then continued to hold the door as an apparent offer to hold the door for me as well. In response to this polite gesture I paused in my steps and allowed her to exit ahead of me and as I took the door from her I said "thank you" for her handing me the door on her way out. Thinking nothing of this exchange I continued on my way back to my dorm when the friends with which I had gone to check my mail caught up with me and immediately began to repremand my behavior as having been rude and impolite. I was surprisd by these accusations because I had believed my behavior to have been perfectly polite in that I allowed her to exit before me. However, according to my friends it would have been more polite and acceptable for me to have accepted her orginal offer and to have allowed her to hold the door for me. This led to a debate over which action is the proper polite one when faced with this common situation. I personally believe that when it is a guy holding the door for a girl then she should courteously accept the gesture and exit ahead of the guy. On the other hand, when it is a girl who is holding the door for a guy I believe it is most polite for the guy to allow the girl to exit ahead of him. When it is a guy holding the door for a guy or a girl holding the door for a girl then either response is just as polite. What is your opinion?



Musical Recommendation:

Artist: Lamb
Album: Lamb
My favorite tracks: Zero, God Bless, Cotton Wool, Gorecki, Lusty

If you want to check them out look these songs up on youtube or something. Their music videos aren't always my favorite but I think that the music is awesome. Give it a listen. If it's not your thing don't worry, there are still plenty of musical recommendations to come.