German Manners

From the DW:
"According to YouGov, at least, manners count in Germany"

Hold the door open for the person behind you, offer your seat to someone who needs it, be on time - the pollster YouGov has found that Germans feel people are not as polite as they used to be. But manners still do count. The younger and the older generations agree that manners are not what they used to be in Germany. According to a survey conducted by YouGov Internet market researchers, three out of four Germans agree that people used to be more polite and that young people aren't as respectful of older people as in the past. Only 16 percent don't see much of a change. Fifty-nine percent of the people questioned earlier this month say it is up to parents to teach their children manners, and only 1 percent feel that it is the sole responsibility of a child's teachers. About 38 percent say both parents and teachers are responsible. Independent of their age, people apparently feel a need for manners. Ninety-four percent say it is important to offer seniors or pregnant women a seat on a crowded subway or bus. Seventy-eight percent feel that men should open the door for women, and 95 percent appreciate punctuality. Irrespective of age, 91 percent feel that it is impolite when people they are talking to are distracted by the cellphones they continue to peek at all the time.

Many Germans polled for the survey say they are often unsure how to address others: using the formal "Sie" or the informal "Du" commonly used for family, friends and private circles. More often - and not surprisingly - it tends to be a dilemma for younger people. Only one out of four people polled say it is OK to be addressed informally by a waiter in a cafe. The older generation dislikes being addressed informally without first being asked permission.

^ This seems to be a growing problem around the world. I remember being at the Opera in Munich several years ago and was in my seat. Several people came through the row and wanted to move past me yet just stood there and didn't say a thing  (like "Excuse me" etc.) Yet it made me look rude because I didn't immediately jump to my feet to let them pass. More recently, when I was in Germany last December taking a crowded train from Cologne to Dortmund I saw a guy (who looked like Leonard from "The Big Bang Theory" ask the people in the aisle to please let him through to his seat and some young guys started making a scene and calling him things (I didn't understand what they said as it was in German) but you could tell they were being rude to him even when he was asking them nicely. As I said this isn't only a German problem. I do not like being in a store or business where the people there use my first name (usually from my credit card) as though we are friends. English, unlike most world languages, doesn't have a formal or informal "you" but it is still possible to address people in a rude way. People, mostly the young, are getting lazy with texting and other social media and the fact that for about 20 years parents have tried to be their children's friends that the young  now believe that everyone is their equal and so tend to treat everyone (bosses, the elderly, strangers, etc) as though they were all friends. Just because you "collect" 500 friends on Facebook or Twitter doesn't mean you have that number in real friendships. There's a saying that if you can count your true friends on one hand then you are lucky and I believe that. Parents need to start teaching their children the truth. They are not all winners and everyone is not your friend. You should treat your: boss, teacher, the elderly etc in a polite and more former way and leave the slang and symbols to your brothers, sisters and friends. ^

http://www.dw.de/according-to-yougov-at-least-manners-count-in-germany/a-18394612