Day 2: Courtesy???

Today's "week of yes" adventures have made me realize just how often I say no to things because I don't want to be rude. It's little things like someone offering a cookie or offering to do you a favor. I am constantly turning down things that I actually want out of courtesy, but is it really courtesy? Is it rude for me to want things or to take people up on offers to help? I suppose sometimes it is, but I've been thing about this today and I don't think it is. I can't help but wonder why I have such a strong instinct to refuse these positive things. It reminds me of this one episode of Star Trek where Wesley Crusher is trying to get into Starfleet academy. He runs into a fellow (alien) applicant and apologizes for bumping into him. The alien freaks out and is terribly offended, so Wesley yells at him that he should be watching where he is going, the the alien is placated. The alien was part of a diplomatic relations test. Wesley explains to his friend that those aliens are offended by courtesy because they think it is dishonest. All of my reflections on "manners" today leads me to believe they are onto something. Of course not ALL courtesy is deception, but I'm willing to bet a large majority is.

P.S. This scene was in the episode titled "Coming of Age"