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PUBLIC ETIQUETTE ENEMIES

Annoyances abound in modern society. Stressed-out, overscheduled folks have every opportunity to attack others, or simply take offense at every turn.

Sometimes, people may be deliberately disgraceful. Occasionally, they may set out to offend others on purpose, almost for sport. Perhaps certain folks take a pass-aggressive stance towards society, assuming they have the right to be rude. Probably most often, people simply do not realize that their actions affect and annoy others.

What are the top ten most annoying public habits? Most likely, these prolific pet peeves find their foundations in rudeness, discourtesy or a basic neglect of common concern for others. Here are the top offenses, listed in order, from horrible to heinous.

10) LINE-HOPPING

Some people deem themselves above socially accepted protocols for public places. For example, in the checkout line at the grocery store, these individuals muscle their way ahead of other shoppers to gain accelerated advantages in the queue.

Consider what happens when supermarket checkout lines overflow, and shoppers need to duck through a certain queue to reach another aisle of merchandise. Polite and considerate customers may open a space in the checkout line, to allow such folks to pass through. All too often, at this point, line hoppers wiggle their way into the line, filling the temporary gap.

Line-hopping has another flavor as well. When the grocery store management decides to open an additional checkout line to expedite a bottleneck, the impolite line hoppers usually race to the new register, ignoring customers who have patiently waited in a longer line. Polite shoppers consider others who may have patiently awaited an opening, and they allow these folks to enter the new line first.

9) JUMPING THE GUN

Social conversations reveal another form of annoying rudeness. Some folks simply cannot wait for others to finish speaking before commencing their own diatribes. Instead of listening to the words, body language and meaning of others, these proud people consider their own response and plunge right in when they feel like it.

Often, those who jump the gun in conversations will attempt to complete others' sentences, as if they could read minds. Clearly, they cannot, or they might realize the interpersonal effects of their hasty and haughty behavior.

Basically, interrupters consider their own knowledge and opinions to be paramount, while they deem others' thoughts and words insignificant. These folks overdo

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