by Jimmy Flatbush

Created on: May 21, 2010

A story told to me by an elderly woman summarizes rudeness in today’s society. The woman was driving through her neighborhood, when suddenly, a car unexpectedly pulled out from a driveway that was a mere ten feet in front of her. She blasted the car horn, startling a young woman who lifted her head from a text-messaging device. The elderly woman threw up her hands to signal dismay, only to become the recipient of the middle finger salute. The young woman peeled away from the scene, acting as if she was the one affronted by rude behavior.

Rudeness is an act of unfettered selfishness, which is a behavior that places the wants of one individual over the wants of another individual or a group of people. Baby boomers elevated rudeness to a higher plateau during the 1960s, an era when the boomer generation became infamous for spitting on returning Vietnam War veterans and sauntering around the streets without wearing any clothes. Civil discourse deteriorated into disrespectful rancor, a forty-year trend that continues to poison political debates in Washington and on every major cable news network.

Bickering and abrupt interruptions defile contemporary cable news programs. It does not matter whether the host is a liberal leaning zealot such as Keith Olbermann, or a right wing fanatic such as Glenn Beck. The sole purpose of contemporary cable news programming is to insult guests and hurl invectives at people who disagree with a particular dogma. Programs once predicated on examining important issues changed into Jerry Springer like shouting matches; whoever shouts the loudest wins the debate. Narcissist brashness trumps respect.

The Internet heightens societal rudeness. People no longer look into the eyes of another person when they disagree with a viewpoint. They hide behind keyboards and monitors, while launching insults from thousands of miles away. They use public access computers to make ostensible and veiled threats to people they have never met. The Internet’s invisible wall provides the perfect cover for cowards to demonstrate rude behavior without having to suffer the consequences of their actions. Online chat rooms and forums host some of them more churlish behavior in cyberspace.

Technology exacerbated rudeness with the advent of cell phones, Blackberries, and other instruments that preclude congenial social interaction. The flurry of chatting and texting contributes to people ignoring someone standing directly in front of them. Rudeness manifests

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