Rudeness in Today's Society

Have we as a society gotten more rude? Or has rudeness become more acceptable- merely by becoming less noticeable? By less noticeable, I mean that perhaps we have become more tolerant of rudeness, merely by not making as big of an issue of it when someone is rude to us or others around us. Through the last several years, I've noticed more and more often that people make excuses for others and their rudeness. It now appears to be acceptable to be rude in "certain" situations or to "certain" people. I'm sure my Grandmother would be rolling in her grave! There is never a situation which warrants or justifies rudeness.

We are all in such a hurry to do this, that, or something else- that we don't care whom we (quite literally!) run into, cut-off, or pass in the process. I'm not referring just to traffic, mind you. I'm referring to everyday activities, like grocery shopping, working out at the gym, taking our children to playgrounds, etc. Yes, we are teaching our children the fine art of being rude, complete with excusing rudeness and justifying it. We don't even notice when we are rude to others anymore. How can we expect our children to learn proper manners, empathy for others, tact and respect towards other human beings- if we no longer display the same qualities or set an example for them?

I can remember a time when I was a young child, if someone forgot to say "please" or "thank-you", it was definitely noticed, and we were taught not to be "rude" in such a manner. I have tried very hard to instill the same thing in my own children- to my dismay, my elder children have told me in a matter-of-fact tone; "Mom, NOBODY says or does that!" We as a society have forgotten basic respect and values and have let rudeness be the "norm", so that our children are almost afraid to be polite- for fear of being "weird!" I fear for our children's generations, I fear for their grand-children's generations.

If we as a society have come to accept rudeness, to the point where we aren't merely TOLERATING it, but are also acting as if it's perfectly "normal" and "okay" to be rude, what will the next generation be taught? What a scary place this world will become, if we completely lose all respect and politeness towards our fellow human beings, our environment and life in general. Rudeness has no place in a functioning society. In my opinion, we are far from "functioning", we have become merely "dysfunctional" and it all started with brushing rudeness under the proverbial rug.