Relieve a friend's anxiety, " he said, with no change of his voice and tone, in which indifference, and even irony, was perceptible through the veil of courtesy and sympathy."
A friendly nod or a wave of acknowledgement in response to an act of courtesy helps to create an atmosphere of goodwill and tolerance so necessary in modern traffic conditions.
Armchair psychologists say that Americans' growing fascination with antiquing may even represent a subliminal longing for the slower pace, chivalry and gentler times of their great-grandparents' day.