To think it’s rude not to wave your guests goodbye?

[Pastelbuttercream]

I was brought up to always wave guests goodbye at the door and only shut the front door once they had driven off. This was the norm when I was growing up, everyone did it. If they were not parked near your house you’d walk to their car and wave them off there.

The amount of people who do not do this anymore surprises me. I always feel it’s rude but maybe I am out of touch?

If you don’t wave your guests off, why not? (besides having to close the door incase your toddler runs out, this I completely understand!)

Am I old fashioned? Is this not a thing anymore?

Yes, they are about 500 miles away, roughly.

My friend insists on waving me off when I've been to hers for coffee. I find it mortifying. We see each other all the time. Just stop it.

I generally do apart from DP who generally take about half an hour to perform a 15000 point turn in the cul de sac at 1 mile an hour very painful to watch so sometimes I make a cup of tea and look at the window and they still turning !!

But if your child said ‘actually I find it stressful when you wave us off’ then surely it would be polite to not do it?

Of course, @TheOriginalEmu . But they've never said they don't like it. And it's never occurred to me that they might not. But going by this thread, they probably do hate it and now I feel like I'm doing something wrong. That doesn't make me rude though.

I walk people to the door but I don’t usually wave people off, it’s freezing 90% of the time.

God, no, please just let us leave. Its what old people/our parents/in laws do. And it's annoying when you you just want to go.

Blimey, what a bizarre overreaction to your older family members waving goodbye to you. There are some hugely rude and unkind posts on here. Good grief, they're not stealing a kidney from you, they're just waving goodbye.

WTF is wrong with some people on this thread? 😐

And it's what OLD people do?! What a rude thing to say!

.... and they do it because they love you.

Im usually worried I might distract the person as theyre trying to reverse out my driveway , so I give hugs then disappear.

I do this and I'm only 40....done it my whole life. My mum does it too and my gran. I don't care if its old fashioned. Being kind and polite never goes out of fashion.

My mum would wave me off from the sofa or door on a good day.
My dad would wave me off at the gate, then I'd drive round to get on the main road whilst he cut through on foot and wave me off again on the main road as I passed.
First time he did it, he hadn't said and I was startled as I didn't expect to see him there.

He's always done it and we do it now.
If I was taking a coach when younger, he'd wait whilst it filled up and wave until out of sight.

I would always walk people to the bus stop too back in the day.

Don't mind it as I was brought up with it and now DH & I do it to each other.

This thread proves that we are losing humanity more and more. It’s wrong to leave without waving goodbye and t’s even more wrong to close the door as soon as someone left your house. It's just sad that even a gesture as simple as this is being lost because people can't be bothered to care anymore.

YABU. Can’t think of anything worse than having to set off immediately because someone’s stood waving at me. My Mum does this. She also, when she knows I’ve arrived, comes out to tap on the car window and ask what’s wrong if I don’t immediately leap out of the car.

It isn't caring it's fussing and putting on a performance of caring where real care would put the needs of the person arriving/ leaving first and not be rushing them to jump in and out of cars and drive off as fast as possible.

Nailed it, exactly this!

Is it rude to think that though, and voice it on an anonymous forum? I doubt anyone here is in real life going ‘for fucks sake granny, let me organise myself without an audience! GOODBYE!’

I let them out the door, wave a cheery good bye then shut the door. I don't need to witness them getting in their cars and trying to get out of a parking spot. When I get in the car I like to plug my phone in, settled myself and just breathe. I don't want someone waiting and watching.
Showing them to the door and thanking them for coming is polite and enough.

I think people now spend a while faffing with their sat nav/music. Also I have a bit of an awkward drive and people don't always like people staring at them while doing awkward car manoeuvres.

When I'm visiting a waver I just drive off and stop round the corner to get myself sorted out.

Touch dramatic, don't you think.

But obviously the wavers aren't doing it to annoy.

not really, although this is a small gesture, it shows how we are letting ourselves down more and more by not being bothered.... We are valuing social media posts more than human interaction....

Or... it's just that different people have different conventions within their family/friendship groups.

I say goodbye to guests at the door and then let them drive off in their own time. Doesn't mean I don't value their visit any less than other people who pointlessly stand on the doorstep whilst I faff around choosing a podcast to listen to before leaving.

I always do it myself but don’t think it’s rude not to!

I generally do wave people off but my daughter doesn’t like to be watched as she is trying to manoeuvre out of the drive so I close the door and let her drive off unobserved.

I'm 40 and I do it. The only time I don't is if a friend has popped in and I'm having a flare day. They tell me to stay where I am as walking hurts and they will let themselves out. Then I wave from the front room window. My parents still come to the door to see me off. My dad will even if my mum is driving