As Custom Is - edit

[dukealien]

As Custom Is


I met another man
at our mailbox cluster
and we both gestured
mumbling “Go ahead” as custom is.

So without jostling
we said “Thanks,” “No prob,”
“Have a good one,”
he addressing me as “brother”
and I him as “sir.”

Then we went our ways
each self-satisfied
though he knew perfectly
that I was not his brother
and I had my doubts
he was a gentleman
and both of us had really
wanted to go first.

original version;

I met another man
at my mailbox complex
and we both gestured
mumbling “Go ahead” as custom is.

After slight delay...

as we got our mail
in one order or the other
we said “Thanks” and “No prob”
and “Have a good one”
he addressing me as “brother”
and I him as “sir”
since we didn’t know each other’s names.

Then we went our ways
each self-satisfied
although he knew full well
that I was not his brother
and I had my doubts
he was a gentleman
and both of us had really
wanted to go first.

Basic crit for a basic poem, but comments on content welcome, too.