2008 Woodie Awards
Well Excuse Me ...
Seventy percent of people think Americans are ruder today than they were 20 or 30 years ago.
Kristen Becker
Issue date: 2/15/06 Section: Opinion
- Page 1 of 1
Is there an epidemic of rudeness infecting America?
Who hasn't been annoyed by people chatting in class or someone's phone going off during a movie? I have been forced many times to listen to someone share the most intimate details of their life while talking in public.
Rather than taking these actions to mean that society is headed for ruin, I understand that sometimes we just don't think about the effects of our actions.
Americans are no ruder than they were in the past, there are simply more things to be annoyed by.
According to an October Associated Press-Ipsos poll, 70 percent of 1,001 respondents said people are ruder today than they were 20 or 30 years ago. Were people really that polite in the 1970s and 80s?
"Many people are nostalgic for better days, an age of casual formality and social rules," wrote Irish Times columnist Shane Hegarty. "A time, say, when an argument between gentlemen would be satisfied in a civilized manner. Such as a dual."
People are thinking of a golden age that never really happened.
Cell phones, iPods and laptops make it easier to be oblivious to our surroundings. I doubt that the same complaints about increasing rudeness weren't made in past decades. This poll reflects the tendency of older generations to disapprove of the behavior of younger generations.
Lynne Truss, author of Talk to the Hand: The Utter Bloody Rudeness of the World Today, or Six Good Reasons to Stay Home and Bolt the Door, has some reassuring words for those of you concerned about the increasing rudeness of those around you:
"Reeling in horror at other people's everyday impoliteness may just go with the territory of being civilized."
Every time you get angry with someone for being rude and inconsiderate, just remember that your righteous indignation is a sign that we have not lost our values but are simply becoming more aware of what they are.
Who hasn't been annoyed by people chatting in class or someone's phone going off during a movie? I have been forced many times to listen to someone share the most intimate details of their life while talking in public.
Rather than taking these actions to mean that society is headed for ruin, I understand that sometimes we just don't think about the effects of our actions.
Americans are no ruder than they were in the past, there are simply more things to be annoyed by.
According to an October Associated Press-Ipsos poll, 70 percent of 1,001 respondents said people are ruder today than they were 20 or 30 years ago. Were people really that polite in the 1970s and 80s?
"Many people are nostalgic for better days, an age of casual formality and social rules," wrote Irish Times columnist Shane Hegarty. "A time, say, when an argument between gentlemen would be satisfied in a civilized manner. Such as a dual."
People are thinking of a golden age that never really happened.
Cell phones, iPods and laptops make it easier to be oblivious to our surroundings. I doubt that the same complaints about increasing rudeness weren't made in past decades. This poll reflects the tendency of older generations to disapprove of the behavior of younger generations.
Lynne Truss, author of Talk to the Hand: The Utter Bloody Rudeness of the World Today, or Six Good Reasons to Stay Home and Bolt the Door, has some reassuring words for those of you concerned about the increasing rudeness of those around you:
"Reeling in horror at other people's everyday impoliteness may just go with the territory of being civilized."
Every time you get angry with someone for being rude and inconsiderate, just remember that your righteous indignation is a sign that we have not lost our values but are simply becoming more aware of what they are.
