Choose Charleston

When I was covering Charleston for About.com, I wrote articles for several years about the fact that Charleston had been selected as the most polite city in the country. Sometimes, I have to wonder.

For this, I have to go back a bit. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.

On New Year’s Eve, my wife and I attended Happy New Year, Charleston (what used to be called First Night). Shortly after arriving, we stopped by a canopy where a table was set up with schedules. We each picked one up and began to stroll down a path.

We hadn’t walked far when a woman stopped us and asked if she could have one of our schedules. I pointed to the tent, which was about 30 feet behind her and said there was a table full of them there. She asked, “Aren’t you leaving?”

We said that we had no plans to leave yet. She then said, “But you have two, you won’t let me look at one?” I again pointed to the tent and said, they have plenty.

The woman stormed off (in a different direction than towards the tent), saying very sarcastically, “Thanks for sharing.”

So, am I the rude one?