I don't know if I have any say here, but I'm from the midwestern US and it we're pretty polite out here. That means holding doors open, sirs and ma'ams, and in this case, being protective of the ladies because "something could happen."
My East coast friends usually tell me about the people in their day who go "Watch where you're goin' pal" or "Hey, redhead, can you hand me that?" and it's like a whole 'nother planet to me.