Hubby was well-trained to open doors for women. He gets very annoyed when I try to hold the door for him, even when he's on crutches, but sometimes he just has to let me do it for him. He prefers to try to open the door for me even when he's on crutches, and I've learned to find a reason to check my purse for something if I outdistance him to the door so he can open it. It's a combination of "I'm not that crippled up, dammit" and "I'm supposed to open that door, dammit." Yeah, there's a lot of pigheadedness involved. Still, I've been with him for 20 years, I can cut him a few breaks.

How do you handle airlock-style double doors? If I'm first through the first door I usually hold the second door. Then people look at me funny.

How do you handle airlock-style double doors?

With Hubby, I wait for him to open the second one. Unless he's on crutches, then I'll pull the door open so he can at least hold it. The male ego can be a fragile thing.

My 7 year old is a door opening gentleman. He gets upset if his sister or I get to a door before he does. But he has yet to figure out how to gracefully stop so that he does not become the door man for the next 100 people going through the door.

See, how it works is the driver unlocks your door, lets you in, and you then lean across to unlock his or her door.

I'm too tired to 'xplain, but this was used to judge the worth of dates, back in the day.

See, how it works is the driver unlocks your door, lets you in, and you then lean across to unlock his or her door.

My mom taught me this when I was a teenager. Always unlock and open the car door. You don't have to close her in like you are the keeper of the door, as some find it uncomfortable. But if you do, make sure any jacket or dress is inside, please.

She also pointed out that unlocking your passenger's door first is always polite, male or female.

I haven't asked her since then about electric locks and remote devices.

Sadly I have not had much of a need for girlfriend car etiquette in my life. I have to brush up and check out the political correctness before I go to Arizona...someday.

I'm a compulsive door-opener/holder.

If you're that close to someone, you pretty much have to keep holding it open, because the alternative turns to active rudeness.

But it's amazing how many people don't.

But it's amazing how many people don't.

People you're actually with? That's horrible. There's a sort of unspoken elastic band around you, the moreso the fewer of you there are. Closing a door in the middle of that strikes me as appalling.

Some of us are just oblivious to the people walking too close behind us. I've had to apologize many a time because I didn't realize someone was entering a door behind me.