Is Rudeness An Epidemic?
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Has rudeness become an epidemic? It seems that manners are often seriously lacking in this day and age.
This morning, I dropped Charlie off for his acupuncture treatment.
When I left Charlie with the vet and walked to my car, I stepped into a big mound of dog poop. It is a small parking lot, and I can’t see why anyone would just leave that there for others to step on and possibly track inside.
I opened the door and let them know, so they didn’t have to deal with people tracking dog poop inside all day.
Then I often treat myself to an iced coffee at McDonald’s. A treat for less than $2, and one I look forward to.
After I drove through McDonald’s and picked up my coffee, a car stopped right in front of me. Apparently, they’d stopped to dress up their coffee with creamer, sugar, etc.
It is only one lane after you drive through, so there’s no way to go around someone.
Why not pull into a space? Then you wouldn’t block people behind you and at the same time hinder the line at the window.
While At Braums:
Then yesterday afternoon, I drove to the Braums not far from here because I forgot to buy eggs at Trader Joe’s the other day. I drop in there a lot to pick up this and that.
There is a man who works as a cashier there who’s probably in his mid to late forties. I don’t know his name, but he’s worked there for years, and we’ve always been friendly with one another.
Yesterday I mentioned Charlie going to acupuncture, and he proceeded to tell me that acupuncture is a bunch of nonsense. The procedure doesn’t really help anyone, he said. He told me that I’m being “played” and they’re just taking my money.
Caught Off Guard:
I was caught off guard, but I told him I thought it was helping Charlie and had been since May. He said acupuncture just has a placebo effect.
I was not only stunned by his comments but also a bit angered. Then I told him he didn’t know anything about it. He could believe what he wanted. But that I wouldn’t be paying for acupuncture visits if I didn’t think it was helping him.
He said, “Why don’t you just put him out of his misery?” Okay, that’s going way too far.
I told him Charlie was happy, and if and when the vet (Dr. Poteet) tells me he’s suffering, then we’ll make that decision together.
This went on and on. Maybe he’d had a fight with his girlfriend. Or maybe something had happened with his daughter.
But keep your mouth shut about my dog!
I was very upset for a bit, but after I calmed down, I realized he should feel worse than I did. And if he didn’t, then something is wrong with him.
I know I get on my little soapbox from time to time to bemoan the cell phone users who have lost all sense of manners and respect for others.
Cell phone users often ignore the cashier, who is probably making minimum wage, and don’t even bother to put their phones down. They could end the call to say “Good morning” or “Hi, how are you today?”
I may be blunt, but I know the general niceties one should use with strangers.
And it isn’t just young people who are still wet behind the ears who have these unfortunate traits. Just as often, it’s people my age.
Cell Phone Manners:
Is there something about cell phones that dims their manners?
I read a child psychologist say that if you hand a cell phone to a child, you might as well hand them cocaine. Do you think you can actually become addicted to cell phones?
I’ll have to do some research on that. Because I have no desire to become fused to one and have it front and center at all times.
These electronic devices weren’t around when my girls were growing up, thank goodness, so I didn’t have to deal with them. But when do people actually acknowledge one another? Do they ever talk to one another at the dinner table?
Has this fast-paced society eschewed manners in exchange for expediency at all costs?
I can be contrary when it comes to things like this, I know. And I can be impatient with people who seem to have left their manners at the door. But what on earth is wrong with people?
Am I alone in thinking manners in general have been pushed to the wayside?
I don’t think rudeness is any worse than it’s always been. People either have good manners and respect for one another, or they don’t. I can only speak for myself, but I try to be kind and respectful anywhere I go in public. I am always very polite and friendly to store clerks, waitstaff at restaurants, etc. There are some days when I’m out running errands where it seems like everyone is crabby and in bad moods and have terrible manners. Other days, it’s the opposite and I find myself encountering the nicest people in public: friendly people in line to talk to, pleasant cashiers, someone letting you in front of them in traffic. That store clerk was rude and should not have offered his opinion to you about acupuncture, but it sounds like you two were engaged in a conversation about it. I know you can’t take things back and hindsight is always great, but maybe next time you encounter this sort of situation, you can choose to stay silent and just stare at the person. Or say something like, “Why would you say that to me?”
Just as a side note, I can personally attest that acupuncture does indeed work. I’ve had it myself and it greatly helped my back pain.
The whole thing got started because I asked him if the eggs they had were the closest thing to organic eggs that I give to my sick dog.
I too used to regularly take one of my fur babies to acupuncture, you could see the difference it made. And we got to spend so much more time together. I will always be grateful to our vet for suggesting it. Have a lovely day/night….
Wendy C- Bribie Is, Oz
It is my regular vet, Dr. Poteet, who suggested it to me. And I totally trust him.
I’ve been thinking about this exact topic recently and have been focusing on that what people do is a reflection of them not us. I make a point of trying to be decent and kind. And try to detach from those not expressing the same intent.
I normally don’t get into a conversation like that. I’m in and out. But I was questioning him about their eggs. They didn’t specifically have anything called organic eggs. And I told him that I preferred to give organic eggs to my sick dog. It went from there.