> Most
>
>of the times I have an encounter with a stranger in a public place in
>the US I feel being treated like an object - either ignored altogether
>or being treated as a mere means to one's end, used and discarded.
>
Well, you _are_ an object.
>That form of public interaction in the US is not limited to automobiles.
>Take the internet. I often browse "have your say" pages that major news
>agencies (such as Reuters, BBC, or yahoo attach to their news stories.
>There is a fair amount of strong and controversial opinions expressed
>there, but the chances are that if such an opinion denigrates or
>objectifies other people, it is written by a US male.
>
But you have to remember that most people _are_ objects. Really. They
are exceedingly complicated objects, and there are different degrees by
which we interact with them. There are people who are well-known to me,
and I interact with them a lot, so I'm really courteous and attentive
and helpful. Then there are people with whom I interact only a little,
but I'm courteous and I try to be attentive and I'll be slightly less
helpful. And then there's the remaining 99.9% of the world's
population, about whom I _hear_ about, and see _pictures_ of. I'll
give'em the benefit of the doubt, but frankly, I interact with them far
less than I interact with, say, my Dewalt 744 Contractor's Power Saw.