Puddle

Common courtesy is a very common way for a lot of people to have an understanding of how civilized a society is. One example of showing some courtesy is to slow down while driving if you are about to go through a puddle next to a sidewalk (especially if there are pedestrians around the area).I was walking on the sidewalk near where I work when a car ran through a puddle and practically showered me. I was pissed, I looked back to swear at the car, I first thought it was a taxi till I realized that it was a Brown SafeRide car.

I remember that this type of a thing happened to me in a lot of places in Turkey, even though I probably was raised in the most civilized city in that country. So I thought - we say American's are a lot more civilized and still same stuff happens to me there. I kept thinking a little more (which is pretty unnecessary but I can't help it) and reached the following conclusion.

Here, most of the people live in the suburban areas. Where I live, although I wouldn't call it a suburb, I can't call it a city either - especially compared to what we refer to as a city in Turkey, a lot of people drive everywhere unless you are a Brown student living around the campus. People here don't grow up hanging out in sidewalks, walking around somewhere and when they are driving, they don't see any pedestrians around. Simply put, people do not encounter a situation I described so often in their daily lives. Conversely, in Turkey people either live in the real rural areas or in very urban areas (however disorganized they may be), the latter being a home to most of the country's population. So the average Turkish driver encounters pedestrians almost everywhere except real industrial parks or highways, therefore they encounter the rain-puddle situation almost anytime they drive in the rainy weather.

You don't learn the common courtesy rules at school, you develop them through awareness. Turkish drivers go through a lot more situations to become aware of this common courtesy rule then their American counterparts, however they pretty much behave the same. Would Americans change their behavior if they lived in places like Turkish urban areas, that's a different and tough question to answer.