‘What personal rule on etiquette do you have that you’ve not heard anyone else have?’ – 19 polite behaviours everyone should be partaking in

The British have done a lot to throw off their reputation as excessively polite, rule-obsessed fusspots, but do you ever get the feeling we’ve gone a bit far the other way and could do with reintroducing some manners and decorum into our daily lives?

It seems the good and thoughtful people of the AskUK subreddit do, and they’ve been discussing it after user PaddedValls posted this:

‘What personal rule on etiquette do you have that you’ve not heard anyone else have?’

And they kicked things off with this.

‘For example, for me, if I’m having a shit in a public toilet and there’s someone else doing the same (in a separate ‘cubicle, before anyone says it) you MUST wait until the other person exits the entire restroom before exiting your cubicle if you’ve both finished at the same time.

‘If you happen to flush at the exact same time, you wait. Maybe jingle your belt a little to make it sound like you’re not just sitting waiting.’

Something of a niche example there, but it certainly got other people thinking about the small courtesies they like to employ, even if other people don’t know notice, like these…

1.

‘I’ve got several but I feel some are common. Won’t walk if kids are waiting for green man, hide my fag when passing kids, won’t rush the elderly (unless they are deliberately in my way) but a big one is my loud music won’t be blue.’
–Overseerer-Vault-101

2.

‘Hats off indoors. Sunglasses off indoors/in shops. You don’t answer your phone at the check out.’
–floralflourish

3.

‘I don’t eat anything stinky on a bus. Wish more people lived by this rule.’
–frattontart75

4.

‘If I’m introduced to someone while I’m sitting down I’ll stand up to shake their hand. I’m not saying I’m the only person who has ever done this but it’s certainly dying out.’
–Choccybizzle

5.

‘Don’t blow your nose when others are eating close by.’
–Hair_of_the_cat_

6.

‘If I’m bringing cake to work or a party or something, I won’t have any until everyone else has had some.’
–sock_cooker

7.

‘My workplace has got into a weird politeness loop in recent years where nobody will take the first piece so if I bring cake it’s actually my duty to scoff a slice so people feel that they have ‘permission’. And then it vanishes sharpish.’
–thethirdbar

8.

‘This is one I got from my parents. When someone does a favour for you which is a little inconvenient (dog sitting, watering the plants, really anything) you buy them something (most of the time alcohol like cider or something sweet like cake or biscuits) I was telling a friend about this and he said that it was weird.’
–Decent_Historian42

9.

‘I always book a seat on the opposite direction of the train. It doesn’t bother me so why take the good seat?’
–Dechibrator

10.

‘If I’m in a public bathroom and I hear someone else being shy about their poos (coughing to hide the splash or using the toilet roll loudly), I’ll make extra noise so that they don’t feel so embarrassed and can have their poo in peace.

‘In this note, can we stop feeling embarrassed about normal human things like poo?’
–Loose_Seal_II