Bermudians have always prided themselves on being highly regarded around the world as a polite and friendly.

But are things changing and is the Island still such a beacon of good nature and a bastion of politeness or are we increasingly deluding ourselves by thinking so?

In the wake of Premier Alex Scott being caught using the word ?crap? in an e-mail, the question is ? where does Bermuda stand now?

When went onto the streets of Hamilton to ask people what they thought, a third of those asked believed Bermudians were less friendly than they used to be.

And there is evidence that some employers are actively seeking out training to make their workers aware of the need to be friendly to customers.

But there were plenty of others who thought Bermudians are still an unusually bright and cheerful people.

One man who meets a wide cross-section of Islanders in his day-to-day job is management consultant and people trainer Stuart Doyle.

Asked if he had noticed a decline in politeness amongst Bermudians, he said: ?I haven?t experienced that. I work with Bermudians all the time as a trainer ? perhaps they might be different because they want to learn and get ahead and seem to be very positive.?

Mr. Doyle, owner of Stuart Doyle and Associates, thinks the legacy of politeness that has permeated Bermudian life through the generations still plays a big part in the individual identities of the population.

?I get to see a cross-section of Bermudians and they are very, very solid people wanting to learn how to communicate better.

?You are always going to get extremes on either side. I have lived in this country for 33 years and I would stack up Bermuda as a polite place against any other place in the world.?

There are some areas where, as in other countries, politeness and friendliness may be in short supply, such as when crossing the path of some parts of officialdom or occasionally when dealing with firms on the telephone. This is something Mr Doyle, as a trainer, tries to overcome by encouraging people to depersonalise disputes and complaints.

But this aspect of modern life aside, Bermuda has an enviable reputation as being an Island of smiles, cheery welcomes and warmth.

The reasons are varied, though a primary one Mr Doyle feels is the long association with tourism and playing host to visitors.

He said: ?Many people grew up with the tourist industry. I feel sorry for the tourists who come here and get used to people saying hello on the street and then they go home and people run away from them if they do the same thing.?

The benefit of tourism is two-way, with Bermudians giving out their own brand of friendliness and reaping the rewards from being in contact with a constant stream of people in a good frame of mind who have been working for 51 weeks of the year so that they can vacation on the Island.

Mr. Doyle added: ?Bermuda has a good core of people who have weathered the storms over the years and remain polite and cheerful. What?s amazing to me is the number of people who have left the Island but want to come back.?

On the other side of the coin are incidents such as one observed at last week?s Bermuda Music Festival when a local woman in the bleachers decided to throw water on people in front of her dancing to Rev. Al Green. She deemed it appropriate to yell profanities and throw water rather than ask them to politely move or to get up and move herself.decided to take to the streets of Hamilton to ask people if they still thought Bermudians are friendly. A third of the people polled said they thought Bermuda has lost it?s friendly charm.

Moreover, decisions to start employee training or use profiles when hiring seem to indicate that people are not as polite as they once were.

Bermuda Taxi Association president Michael Ray told last week that training is in the works to ensure that all taxi drivers have a good attitude.

?We need drivers who have tourism at heart, not those who are going to be obnoxious,? he said.

Public Transportation Board president Dan Simmons said bus drivers have had training for the last 15 years. However, the Board recently decided that it would be better to hire the right type of people from the start instead of trying to train people.

Mr. Simmons said they have created a standard based on their best bus drivers and measure applicants against the standard, which he likened to a personality curve.

The retail sector also relies on the friendliness of Bermudians. A Department of Consumer Affairs official, Marisa Sharpe, was not able to provide data on complaints about sales personnel but said: ?Customer service continues to be a significant issue in the retail sector.?