Are people getting ruder? (Discussion)

[Sazerac]

According to a recent survey, most Americans think their fellow Americans have become much ruder in the past few years. Here's an article regarding the subject:

NEW YORK (AP) -- People say you're rude.

You walk around bleating into that cell phone as if you're the only person for blocks. You curse like Madonna on Letterman, your kids think the world is their personal playground, and you drive like a maniac.

That's what respondents to a national survey had to say about America's manners.

A full 79 percent of the 2,013 adults surveyed by telephone in January by the research group Public Agenda said a lack of respect and courtesy in American society is a serious problem. Sixty-one percent believe things have gotten worse in recent years.

"You really do see the majority of Americans pretty anxious about these issues," said Jean Johnson, director of programs at Public Agenda, a New York-based nonprofit organization. "People do think this is an area of the society that they would like to see some improvement on."

Poor customer service has become so rampant that nearly half of those surveyed said they have walked out of a store in the past year because of it. Half said they often see people talking on cellular telephones in a loud or annoying manner. And six drivers in 10 said they regularly see other people driving aggressively or recklessly.

Many people admitted to rude behavior themselves. More than a third said they use foul language in public.

About the same percentage confessed to occasional bad driving.

However, at least half of those surveyed said they think things have gotten better when it comes to the treatment of blacks, the physically handicapped and gays.

The results were remarkably consistent geographically, with little difference in rudeness awareness between the heartland and the coasts.

Opinion on only one issue -- the use of foul language -- split significantly among regions of the country. While three out of four Southerners said it is always wrong to take God's name in vain, half of those surveyed from the Northeast said that there is nothing wrong with it or that it falls somewhere between right and wrong.

The survey had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.

The researchers followed up their telephone survey with focus groups held in Cleveland; Fort Lauderdale, Florida; St. Louis; Frisco, Texas; Danbury, Connecticut; Fort Lee, New Jersey; and Berkeley, California.

In those discussions, some people blamed overcrowding in malls, stadiums and other public places. Others said Americans' increasingly busy lives are making them ruder. And one woman in Texas blamed The King.

"It was shocking when Elvis was shaking his hips up there, but now we see whole naked bodies," she said. "It started with Elvis, and that was a little overboard, but that was the beginning of what we have today."

Harvard University professor Robert D. Putnam said the rudeness epidemic is a symptom of growing social isolation. In his 1999 book "Bowling Alone," Putnam argued that television, automobiles, suburbanization and other forces have led to the decline of community organizations that once held Americans together.

"That's causally linked to all sorts of other bad things, like schools not working as well," Putnam said. "Lots of things are connected to this collapse of social connectedness."

People surveyed by Public Agenda had few solutions. Thirty-six percent said that when confronted with rude behavior, the right thing is to respond with excessive politeness. Twenty percent said it is best to point out the bad behavior. But 42 percent said the best thing to do is just walk away.

__________________________

I would like to open this up as an opportunity for serious discussion on this topic. This should not be taken as an opportunity to "American-bash", nor bash any other race or nationality, as that is a rudeness in and of itself. I'd like to ask a few questions as well, though, and get some discussion about these issues.

First, do you think people in general are ruder now than they were 10 years ago (1992)?

Is rudeness a serious problem, or is just something we have to put up with in today's society?

How often have you encountered rudeness in your daily life?

How often do you encounter rudeness online? Is it more, less, or the same as the amount you encounter offline?

Have you acted in a rude manner within the last week? The last month?

What factors do you think contribute to rude behavior?

Is there anything proactive (not reactive) that you as an individual and ourselves as a society can do to combat rudeness?

I'll post my own thoughts on this up here in a little bit.

Cheers,

[J'aran]

It's not just an American thing, I've noticed it here in The Netherlands too. In my experience it's mostly younger, poorly educated people that show this kind of behavior, although it's of course not exclusive to that group.

I don't think it's a big problem, but personally I just don't understand why it happens, it's so completely unnecessary.

What can be done about it? Hmmm, somehow I don't think those rude people would really care if you told them that being nice is better. I guess the only thing you can do is give the good example and hope it catches on...

[Elif Godson]

I would have to say we are victom's of our own creation. It is human nature to push the limit's and ourselves. People are sue happy, you look at someone the wrong way nowaday's and you are invading there private space, I mean come on we are all on this planet together, if you smell bad, and you know you smell bad take a bath. If you eat with your mouth open and other people comment on it, try to chew with it closed once in a while. And by all means if you drive be considerate, you are driving a 2 ton death contraption, so if you do hit someone they WILL feel it. Did you know that the state of Michigan had a law about public swearing in front of woman and children, the law was 150 yr's old and was just reprieved. This is somthing we can all improve on, I find as a parent, I have to change how I act in what I say and do a lot more. I am a role model for my children and there friend's . So try to be a little more respectful and concous of what you do and ssay. It will make a difference

[fable]

From personal experience, I'd say it has to do with the local culture, influenced by the national one. I've lived in a variety of areas, working for public radio in the US over the years--Washington State, Minnesota, Illinois, north and south Florida, North Carolina, New Jersey, upstate New York, and Dallas, Texas. It's been my experience that the people in Minnesota were the friendliest, and some of that may have to do with the local population being largely descended from Norwegians and Swedes. (There were more Larsens and Jansens in the phonebook than Smiths and Jones.) On the other hand, the last four years that we've spent in New Jersey have shown us the why this state is often called The Rude State. Although no group of people entirely exhibit any specific feature in any area, it has surprised my wife and I how many people here are extremely aggressive and extrovert about it. We've regularly observed parents screaming and slapping their children in the malls--and I don't mean a single tap on the shoulder; I mean a heavy-duty back of the hand, swung wide. We've observed youths walk up to stores during business hours in nice sections of town, and put their fists through windows. We live in a good neighborhood, but our neighbor across the street regularly abuses his son verbally every time we see them outside the house. He screams on an almost daily basis, "What are ya doin'? You're an idiot! A fat, good-fa-nothin idiot! Jeez, you stupid..." Traffic courtesy mirrors personal habits.

Next to Minnesota, I'd say the friendliest people were the North Carolinians--but they were also the most distant. They were courteous, but if weren't from the community they knew, didn't go to the right church or bring in a few jobs to the locality, you were largely invisible. Of course, this was small town, North Carolina; and that prettty much exemplifies small town culture, across the globe. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Memnoch]

This is not the best time for me to answer this but it's a good post and deserves a thought-out reply, which I can't provide since it's 3 am here in Sydney and I need to be up for work in less than 4 hours. I'll post my 2c tomorrow. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Sir Kenyth]

Rudeness seems directly linked to the frustration that comes with overcrowding, overworking, and underpaying. It used to be that people came home at 5PM after work at a job in the same town, had a family meal, and did things like watch TV or play a game together. Now days, if you come home straight after 5PM, you're an underacheiver. If you're not putting in overtime you had better be taking night classes. If you get to work in the same town and don't have to commute, count yourself lucky. Both parents work. People are ungodly busy! We have an unhealthy level of stress because of the time and money crunch. Most of these tasks are passive and require sitting in a chair all day so we don't get enough exercise either. Kids are left unsupervised for hours after school. Bizarre cartoons and video games are the primary form of entertainment. Children are not getting the kind of attention they need to develop proper behavior and manners. There seems to be no end to this cycle of things. We're always trying to do more with less and I think it's becoming detrimental to the very fabric of society.

[Lavindathar]

Good thread Saz...

I agree, even here in Britain, kids are getting ruder and ruder...adults aren't, just the new kids between 10-15.

Originally posted by fable: From personal experience, I'd say it has to do with the local culture, influenced by the national one. I've lived in a variety of areas, working for public radio in the US over the years--Washington State, Minnesota, Illinois, north and south Florida, North Carolina, New Jersey, upstate New York, and Dallas, Texas. It's been my experience that the people in Minnesota were the friendliest, and some of that may have to do with the local population being largely descended from Norwegians and Swedes. (There were more Larsens and Jansens in the phonebook than Smiths and Jones.) On the other hand, the last four years that we've spent in New Jersey have shown us the why this state is often called The Rude State. Although no group of people entirely exhibit any specific feature in any area, it has surprised my wife and I how many people here are extremely aggressive and extrovert about it. We've regularly observed parents screaming and slapping their children in the malls--and I don't mean a single tap on the shoulder; I mean a heavy-duty back of the hand, swung wide. We've observed youths walk up to stores during business hours in nice sections of town, and put their fists through windows. We live in a good neighborhood, but our neighbor across the street regularly abuses his son verbally every time we see them outside the house. He screams on an almost daily basis, "What are ya doin'? You're an idiot! A fat, good-fa-nothin idiot! Jeez, you stupid..." Traffic courtesy mirrors personal habits. Next to Minnesota, I'd say the friendliest people were the North Carolinians--but they were also the most distant. They were courteous, but if weren't from the community they knew, didn't go to the right church or bring in a few jobs to the locality, you were largely invisible. Of course, this was small town, North Carolina; and that prettty much exemplifies small town culture, across the globe. [img]smile.gif[/img]

You are the only person I know who has lived in almost as many places as I have [img]smile.gif[/img]

And the SHOCKER is, I agree with you, the friendliest people I have met in the USA were in Minnessotta, but I only lived there 13 months.

EDIT: Isn't North Carolina where the fictional town of Mayberry was located for the Andy Griffith show?

[ 04-03-2002, 01:20 PM: Message edited by: MagiK ]

Naaaa they aren't ruder..they are just dumber (just kidding heheheh).

I think it is more than just the US that has a problem with manners. I really think if every adult was armed that people would be much more polite [img]smile.gif[/img]

It appears on the surfce of the issue that as people become more and more secure in their own personal safety they tend to become less and less polite. I see it on the highway all the time, the meek timid shy little house wife turns into a kamikaze death dealer behind the wheeel of her super sized SUV.

I see twerpy little weasels suddenly turn and get all fierce when there is some authority figure around who will probably protect him from real harm...its just the nature of the beast me thinks.

[/)eathKiller]

I blame the 80's cartoon Rude Dog. It's spread of Red... err i mena Rude Propaganda is circulating through the conceousness of human existance. It is slowly maturing into what could be an all our RUDE-TOPIA where no one man has respect for another! We can onlly prevent this evil subliminal spread with a quick response from the A team...

What do you mean they're all dead except for Mr. T?

FINE THEN! Get Mister T his own Miniseries PRONTO or else we'll all be sleepin' with the FISHES!

... RUDE Fishes!