Why are people nice?

[jeyurkon]

This is off topic, but since there are several illustrations of the question here I thought I'd ask it.

I mentioned to my neighbor who specializes in old telephones that vintage TV collectors seem especially supportive of each other and polite. If someone mentions that they're trying for a particular item, then others often then refrain. He said the same is true of those who look for old telephones.

This certainly isn't true of the general public, so why are collectors of at least these two items different?

Of course unspoken codes like this are loosely formed. Once should never take offense if they call dibs and no one listens. Life is competitive and will likely always be so. But it's refreshing to see people being so nice to each other.

John