A first impression of Americans, certainly those in this part of the world, is that they are incredibly polite. In fact, almost excessively so. Deep down I harbor a niggling suspicion that no one can really be so polite. At least, not for more than about 10 minutes. But then that is another of the great American charms. Whilst the British have elevated cynicism to an art form, Americans are by and large, sincere, earnest and energetic. Of course I tell myself if they had grown up in a country where it rained most days they too would be as cynical as I am. But then I guess that is just my cynicism again. I temper the opening statement of this paragraph with the note that the tendency to indecent levels of politeness might not cover the whole of America. One colleague told me of his experiences talking to a ‘help’ line on the East Coast. In a voice dripping with indignation he reported, "The guy was actually rude". I was shocked. Not that the guy was rude, but that this was somehow unexpected. I thought that was the whole point of working on a help line. Why else would anyone accept a job helping out idiots who are either too stupid or too lazy to read a manual if it isn’t for the pleasure of being rude to them?