LINK Are Americans Ruder Than They Used To Be? Poll Cites Road Rage, Cell Phone Talk POSTED: 8:02 am EDT October 14, 2005 UPDATED: 8:10 am EDT October 14, 2005 WASHINGTON — Americans’ fast-paced, high-tech existence has taken a toll on the civil in society. From road rage in the morning commute to high decibel cell-phone conversations that ruin dinner out, men and women behaving badly has become the hallmark of a hurry-up world. An increasing informality — flip-flops at the White House, even — combined with self-absorbed communication gadgets and a demand for instant gratification have strained common courtesies to the breaking point. “All of these things lead to a world with more stress, more chances for people to be rude to each other,” said Peter Post, a descendent of etiquette expert Emily Post and an instructor on business manners through the Emily Post Institute in Burlington, Vt. In some cases, the harried single parent has replaced the traditional nuclear family and there’s little time to teach the basics of polite living, let alone how to hold a knife and fork, according to Post. A slippage in manners is obvious to many Americans. Nearly 70 percent questioned in an Continue reading →
