Capers said:

It's all about how you say it. If you want to point something like that out, a good thing to do is say, "excuse me sir, can I say something to you?"

"Um, sure."

"There's a bit of food in your beard. Thought you'd like to know."

"Oh, thanks."

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Xena said:

i told some dude i met in walmart his zipper was open and he just looked at me and was like whaat? i was like here and and just zipped it up for him and he was like ohh thanks dude! and i was yeah dude and then punched him in the dick cause he was aseahawks fan fucking piece of shit

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poke smot! said:

Commenting on someone's bad breath is like....

"Hey dude, you got a big mole on your face"

IME bad breath is usually due to dental issues, etc, so it's a chronic condition. The person might already know, might not be able to do anything about it so, why point out a potentially negative aspect of their selves they might not be able to do anything about?


I think this tact comes from people's consideration for their comment's subject's potential feelings. As an amputee I mostly don't get asked what happened, because people are afraid or think I might not be comfortable with the fact that I have a hook for a hand and a seemingly mangled other-hand. I guess I can't blame them, though their tact is misplaced.

The race I find most at ease with my amputations are Indians. They usually don't hesitate to ask what happened, and I tell them all about my pirate lore. Only once in awhile will others of Indian descent just gape.

It's just a thing in our society, to feel this level of appropriateness when talking to a less-familiar person.

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