Filed by Dan at 7:28 pm under things I d [...]

There are locations where it’s simply not appropriate, or even expected, to hold doors for others. These locations are easily identified by the unwillingness of most recipients to acknowledge your etiquette with even a grunt. These locations are mostly in the Northeast, such as Boston or New York.

Others are more situational, such as an office building in a metropolitan center where, for example, many young and upwardly mobile women are employed. I was a regular door-holder for both men and women alike until the urge to be polite was beaten out of me by women who looked at me as though my holding the door for them was an unwanted sexual proposition.

Bottom line, it’s almost always a judgement call that requires a bit of etiquette, fuzzy logic, and intuition. Of course, you could always play the part of the detatched, absent-minded professor and pretend not to see anyone behind you at all.