How to Be Polite
I'm all aboard with being pleasant and respectful of others, but find some aspects of this distasteful.  Specifically, the portions of the author's "politeness" that involve performance, or adhering to a script I find off-putting.  For example:"Just ask the other person what they do, and right after they tell you, say: 'Wow. That sounds hard.' "While it seems that many aspects of "politeness" are intended to trigger pleasant feelings in the other person (which seems harmless enough), I find it hard to be in favor of something so disingenuous.  Even when it comes to small talk, I think one can be both respectful and charming without having to fall back on a script and cheapen the interaction.