Re: Yes, everyone should be overly polite!!!!

I agree with you.

After Seamus politely tore me down, I can accept that my considering the remark racist needs a lot of assumptions that can't be inferred by what we know.

I still consider it rude. You are welcome to differ. Not really the point here. Rude does not equal racist by any means.

My considering it rude, though, and with it any kind of "politeness standard" is also race-blind. I would consider it rude coming from no matter which ethnicity towards no matter which ethnicity. I do agree that the definition of something as rude or not should never be a function of the colour, origin or otherwise racial or ethnic features of the persons doing the interaction. IE, I won't change my assessment in this case if it's suddenly discovered that both are Latin, or that both are White, or that she is Latina while he is White.