The rude age

I came across an article titled ” The Age of Rudeness” in The New York Times magazine. The writer recounts her experiences of encountering rude behaviour from people who were in a position of power at that transaction- the customs official at the airport, the security guard at the bag check counter, and so on. It made me ponder-Are we as a society becoming increasingly rude? Have we started lauding rudeness as a virtue? As an expression of power? The more the power, the more is the liberty to be rude. Or the more rude one is, it implies that one is powerful.

Maybe politeness has ceased to be a virtue any longer. Maybe we consider politeness, fellow respect and sensitivity to other’s emotions a sign of weakness. So one is scared to be polite, lest one be taken for granted!

This is a rude age we live in. And many of us who have been taught civility, politeness and mutual respect from childhood find it difficult to react or respond when confronted with rudeness. And when such rudeness is from the boss….well it is a lot tougher. One spends a lot of mental energy trying to figure out why the boss is being rude. Also, the self- control exercised since one cannot strike back at the boss takes a toll and one starts ” paying it forward”. It has been observed that people strike back at their co-workers and their reportees. Continuous and consistent rude remarks, insults, condescension, dismissiveness and disrespectful comments from the boss can impact the culture of the organisation he/she runs. After all rudeness is like common cold- its contagious.

And while we are being rude to each other, while we are enjoying reality TV shows where the participants are scored on their rudeness, while we are enjoying the power game through rudeness, our children are watching us. And very subtly, subconsciously and slowly they are carrying the rudeness quotient a notch higher. And soon we will have in our hands a generation which enjoys bullying, swearing, insulting and hurting each other. I am sure we do not want such a generation.

Let’s take an oath. We will be extra polite to the rude. We will not pass on the rudeness buck to our colleagues, friends and family. We will not disturb our mental peace trying to decipher the reason for a person’s rudeness. We will work towards an amicable and amiable world of mutual respect.