Uncommon courtesy

Aside from the occasional jerk, Bloomington residents are very courteous people. They are always reluctant to take the last seat in a room and surprisingly cautious about not cutting in line for the bus, even when it means standing in sub-zero temperatures, convinced their watch must be broken because the bus is so late.\nWhile I appreciate our collective politeness, is it wrong to think we might have gone a little overboard? It's almost to the point where you feel obligated to say "thank you" to someone simply for uttering the same phrase to you. Before we all get lost in some sort of "thank you" paradox, I thought it best to lay a few ground rules about a very sticky situation.\nAttending a large university, people are coming and going from countless buildings every day. The biggest among them, and many other smaller ones, are built such that at least one entrance is designed in the following order: a set of doors, a useless area and another set of doors.\nWith so many people going through these entrances on a regular basis, one will inevitably find his or herself either opening a door for another person or having the door opened for them. Once the lead person has transferred control of the first door to the trailing individual, he is then obligated to open the second door as well, as this custom follows the "first in, first out" policy. Seems like a minimal task, I know, and you might even call it common courtesy, but trust me people: there are individuals getting thanked nine, sometimes 10 times a day for this situation alone -- and it's only getting worse.\nI define "opening a door for someone else" on a very strict basis: one person opens a door and stands there holding it while the other walks through, never touching the door themselves. This is a very rare occurrence, and a very praiseworthy gesture: It deserves a "thank you!"\nWhen someone opens a door and gives it a quick Walter Payton stiff-arm in your direction, it really only does so little. Now the pulling process for the next person begins about a foot closer, big deal. This is where the trouble lies, especially near double doors where the same act in repetition seems like more of a gesture. If you think about it, how much more effort is the person putting forth than he would if you weren't even there and he was opening the door for himself? Not much.\nIn contrast, the person could have just let the door close entirely, so I'm not discouraging the use of the stiff--arm by any means. It is definitely an acknowledgment of wanting to help the other individual, but it definitely should not receive an emphatic "thank you" in response -- a simple head nod will do fine here.\nAlways wait until the second door to determine your response, and remember these gestures were never meant to mix. It used to be one entrance, one door, and people did one or the other actions, took their corresponding responses, and lived happily ever after. Now that entrances come with double the doors, all hell has broken loose, and we've got to put a stop to it.\nIf you or someone you know is guilty of inappropriately thanking someone for their door opening abilities, please consult the above guidelines. Any further impulse to act overly polite should be applied to more troubling situations, like driving, and thanks for reading. Seriously, from the bottom of my heart, I just can't thank you enough.