As one who spent considerable time in the Spanish and Portuguese colonies, the Spanish mother country, and to a lesser extent France and Italy, I have a different impression. This impression is also informed by the fact that my Spanish was once to the point where where I had almost forgotten English. My impression is that Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and Catalan (no accent mark on this keyboard) are spoken with an inherent politeness where it is introductory greetings and small talk are required. One always begins conversations with greetings and, given time, remarks on weather, etc. To just come up to a shopkeeper and ask how much, say, bananas are (as North Americans routinely do) is coarse and boorish in those countries. Perhaps those impressions are dated. I hope not.
