Jontue: BallSox: Race, culture and region have very little to do with tacky.nbsp; I've seen tacky people of all nationalities and localities.nbsp;
But tacky...is that your opinion because of your culture? Maybe a better question is where do the etiquette rules listed on here come from? Do we really believe there is one absolute right way to celebrate...down to the every detail...
Telling other people how to spend their money = tacky
Using your own money to throw a party where people are supposed to come bring you presents = tacky
Throwing yourself a party that celebrates you = tacky
Treating people that are taking time out of their day and may or may not be spending large amounts of money on you like total crap = tacky
Hosting a gathering and making people do any of the following: purchase their own food, bring their own food, address their own thank yous, pay a cover charge, feel bad about not participating in "games" that require them to spend more money than they otherwise planned on = tacky
....I can't honestly think of a culture that would be ok with telling other people how to spend their money (in any sense of the word) or treated guests like anything less than honored visitors.
One could argue that cultures/people have become so accustomed to being treated horribly that they no longer have the right expectations. For example, if you're around someone that says F**k all of the time, you would become desensitized to it and not care/notice if someone said it. This doesn't mean that, at its core, it's appropriate to walk into someones house and tell their hostess "Pass me the f**king peas, please". Just because you're used to being around crass people doesn't make everyone who has higher standards wrong or stuck up.
I think across all cultural boundaries there are sub-cultures of people who are generally less tactful and polite than others, although the definition of "less tactful" would vary by said culture. However, at the basis of all cultures and regions, there are common standards that they find important and one of those is to be thankful for all gifts you are given, to be polite to those people who give them to you, to be appropriately humble, and to treat visitors/guests with utmost respect and courtesy.