Are people getting meaner and more rude or is it "just my imagination running away with me"?

Yes. Its just slippage from peoples' virtual lives. One can be mean and rude online with impunity and no losses.

I also think it's part of the death of the middle class. People pay more attention to their behavior when they think they have a position to maintain, or believe they will soon have a position to maintain.

I haven't noticed people meaner in real life. I've noticed they're meaner on social media and I've just started blocking them.

It's not your imagination OP.

I was in line at the bank and some twenty something walked in pushed past me and went to the open window I was going towards. I told her to get in line and wait her turn and she put up her hand and said I was crowding her. I asked the teller is she was really going to reward this woman's rude behavior and she sheepishly handled the woman's banking while ignoring me.

In the grocery store a young guy walked up to an elderly man, grabbed something from his cart and tossed it on the floor and then told the old man he dropped something. When the old man went to get the item the young guy cut in front and took his place. Once again the cashier helped him instead of telling him to fuck off.

A forty something guy walked into a coffee shop, physically moved an old lady out of his way and stood at the counter demanding service. And the person took his order instead of throwing boiling water in his face.

And all this happened last week.

wow what city is that?

Toronto R5. So much fr the polite Canadians myth. We're turning into assholes.

I am not sure people are meaner, but they definitely are ruder as mentioned in R4's post. Just look at how people drive these days as opposed to 50 years ago. (Yes, I am that old.) And the misuse of cell phones in public places is getting intolerable. as is the wide-spread inability or unwillingness of parents to control or discipline their children.

There are a lot of rude and nasty people around these days. I think Fox News and right wing radio caused a lot of it.

Drivers are getting ridiculous with their road rage. So much 'me first' attitude on the roads.

I'm mean

I'm rude

I get rid of half my clothes!!

Definitely meaner, nastier, and insufferably selfish and entitled. I have a recent example. I called a guy out who went down the wrong way of a one way street. He almost hit me and my dog by going the wrong way. He gets out of his car, tells me what business is it of mine and am I a traffic cop? I said when you almost hit me and my dog by ignoring traffic signs, it was indeed my business as it involved my personal safety, as well as the safety of my pet. Long story, short, he goes on a rage-filled rant and physically threatens me.

I begged him to do something physical to me so I could throw any number of charges at him and ruin his life with a criminal assault record to toss on top of the traffic violation as there were witnesses watching all this. I think the only reason he didn't actually come after me was because of my dog. He may have been afraid she would jump in and she's not exactly small. But the nerve to go so far as to threaten me when he almost hit me with his car by going the wrong way on a one-way street! Incredible. The witnesses came up to me afterward and said they were in shock. Unfortunately I didn't get his license plate in the melee, otherwise I would have reported him. I have many more examples like this, but this was the "best" of the lot.

Mary Haines!

You are going to get slap in the face if you keep that up, R11.

In NYC, they push you in front of the subway trains if they don't like your shoes.

Yes. People are getting meaner and ruder. Why? Because people are getting stupider.

The presidential election is definitely getting meaner...with the GOP candidates' talk of Uncle Sugar, prostitutes and pimps, punching the teachers' union in the face, and now Trump calling out Ms Kelly for being on the rag. On the left the Black Lives Matter insanity has got Bernie Sanders rattled. It should have the whole Democratic Party worried too. I am old and I have never seen political life so insane and extreme.

C'mon girls, put it down in the DL burn book.

What does that mean R16?

I think so. I lived in the same building for 10 years. As the years went on the new tenants were meaner and ruder and more ignorant than the last. The final year I was there the police were called to the building more than the previous nine years combined. I finally moved to another building. It's mostly seniors and it's really nice.

It's just your imagination, you dumb cunt.

Social media, reality tv, and selfish, inattentive parents are creating narcissistic monsters...and rewarding them for it. I don't know what we can do about it other than become hermits.

This fat fucker got what was coming to him. Assfucker!!!!

When people are under pressure and feel beaten down, their empathy drops. When kids are raised without social skills, manners, consideration, and no reason to use any of those skills, they have zero empathy because they don't even know what it is or why it matters.

OP knows ten people.

Children are over indulged and brought up to believe they are the center of the universe. They become sociopathic adults who believe they are entitled to do as they please. Materialism and the pursuit of 15 minutes of fame has taken the place of culture and self improvement. It's not getting better any time soon.

Reality tv. Public discourse and behavior is at an all time low. Just look at Trump. He is riding high on a wave of public enjoyment of his bluster, bullying, and in your face egotism.

A lot of posters are mentioning young people but some of the rudest meanest bastards I've dealt with over the last few years have been adults, especially people in their 40s. And I can't lump them all in the same group because its men and women, wealthy and middle class, smart and stupid. There seems to be a serious rise in bad attitudes among society lately.

I have to agree with previous poster. Canadian neighbor in the "friendly" maritime is 56 years old and shouts and berates anyone for any minor and I mean inconsequential traffic issue. It is brutal being around her. She is high on pot 24/7 and I asked my physician if that anything to do with it . He said yes and I will leave it at that - not going to go into his clinical response. But it opened my eyes. I just avoid her. Work colleagues for municipality I worked in quit in droves one former colleague calling the office environment "pure evil." Being from central Canada, I am somewhat saddened that what is suppose to be a friendly unparalleled tourism region is just the opposite.

Forgot to mention, crazy neighbor is well off financially and uses that to belittle and push people around. Husband tolerates it.

So much for the polite Canadians myth. We're turning into Americans.

There you go R6. I've corrected it for you.

R29 can't accept a little truth. His thumb and blanket will rock him to sleep as the source of his bizarre self esteem goes up in smoke.

Don't worry, you still have the blue jays

Actually, R29, I've lived in the USA my entire life and haven't run across folks as bad as these Canadians cited.

One thing I've noticed in Seattle is that NO ONE offers to let someone with only an item or two go ahead in line. A truly unknown concept here.

It's the approaching apocalypse.

"One thing I've noticed in Seattle is that NO ONE offers to let someone with only an item or two go ahead in line. A truly unknown concept here."

Not true. I just did that last week here in Seattle. I'm not from here, though. Overall, the people in Seattle are pretty polite.

R31, I'm in Phoenix and have noticed people don't let someone in with one or two items. They make it a point of not looking at the person with one or two items too, but you know they've seen them.

Why do people with 1-2 items feel so entitled?

If you are dumb enough to go to the supermarket at peak hours for your slim Jim and fungal cream, then you get what you deserve.

Haven't any of these people ever heard of 7-11?

R35, it is called courtesy. Of course you are probably one of those mean and rude people.

I occasionally let someone pass, but not 100% of the time and definitely not out of obligation. never once in my life have I asked to cut either.

I am not rude at the checkout... I am not entitled either!

R20, most of us ARE hermits. God help us if the world is so bad that we're all consoling each other on DL.

R37, who said it was an obligation? Man you're screwed up. You're the one bantering about "obligation" and "entitled." I'm surprised you haven't committed suicide having to be around all the perceived "entitled' people. You're insufferable.

Yes which is weird because our society has become much more accepting of people as a whole.

You're right R39: people calling out others who don't bend over backwards to make their life easier as 'mean' and 'rude' aren't entitled at all! Not one bit!!

I'm sure you are used to those around you dropping like flies from suicide, but please don't project your shortcomings onto me...

R39, you're the rude one. I've let people go ahead of me in line and I've had people let me go before them. You are exactly what is wrong with our society. You are the one that actually feels entitled, You must be miserable to be around with your superior attitude.

Thank God I live in New Mexico, where everyone I encouter on the street says "Hi, how ya doing?"

Part of it is we're now out of practice interacting with people. I just heard a recent study say that most of us are eating alone. I think now we're trained to just look out for ourselves.

But I've found people are nice to me for the most part so I don't encounter that much rudeness.

I was watching that TV show "What would you do" which has fake set ups with actors. They had a lesbian couple go into a store to shop for baby things and had the sales clerk lecture them about how it wasn't right to bring a child in this world without a father among other things. Almost every time, someone in the store was horrified by this salesclerk and stood up for the couple.

Interestingly, a few weeks back the show did episodes in Texas. They had a gay couple come into a restaurant and then had a crazy woman yell at them that they were an abomination and being gay was wrong and they shouldn't be eating near her etc. I think they had a few people who'd defend the couple but a lot of times the TExans would tell the homophobic girl that they agreed with her.

Maybe rudeness is regional.

R44 or could it be because of the internet. People become very rude towards other posters if they don't agree with what they are saying and I think to some degree they carry that over in their environment. Being anonymous has let people say a lot of things that they probably would not in person. I realize there are some people that are just jerks.

I feel a lot meaner lately.

Yes, people seem ruder, meaner and sometimes just brutal. It's like we're all rats crowded into a cage that are turning on each other. I've seen it in all parts of the country, so I don't think being rude or mean is regional. Just watch the news.

[R47] here again. I just want to add that there are wonderful, kind and generous people also in this world. We just need to tip the balance toward their side.

I was heading for the bathroom when a young woman pushed me out of the way and said, "Oops! Too slow, Gramps. You lose!"

I said, "I'll have you know young lady...."

And she slammed the bathroom door in my face.

When she came out, she'd stuffed the toilet full of bathroom paper and peed on the floor!

"I'll have you know young lady..."

"Shove it, Gramps. Shove it up your unwiped ass!"

"I'll have you know that I don't have any grandchildren or any children for that matter, and I DO NOT appreciate you coming in my house and vandalizing my bathroom!"

But she was gone. And my dog, instead if making a fuss and standing up for me, sheepishly accepted a head pat from her, as if nothing at all had happened.

Asking this question on DL of all places. That's rich.

You're not wrong. There's too much encouraging of narcissism, entitlement, immediate gratification, short-term thinking, and anti-intellectualism these days. Buckle up, baby, because the time of civility, manners, and common courtesy is long gone....

They are. I can see it in myself and others. There's not much need to interact with each other anymore, and people just don't give a shit about each other.

I used to be polite, considerate, laid back, helpful chivalrous, courteous, always with a smile on my face and a helping hand.

Then I stumbled upon DL one day, settled in and became a nasty, judgmental, grumpy, selfish, unfeeling, unsympathetic, dour cunt. I don't miss my former self for a nansecond. What a pussy I was!

On vacation at a luxury result, I was walking up a long path to get to my hotel. A teen boy was about a block ahead of us on the path. As he walked past the extensive pool area, he grabbed every chair that he passed and set it on the walking path as obstacles to the people behind him.

I thought it was weird and had forgotten about it until I saw this thread.

For no reason, he just placed every chair he saw on the path. Like it was no big deal.

I had to move each chair off the sidewalk to proceed. Elderly, the handicapped and children were also there.

My assumption was that he was a spoiled brat. He probably will grow up to be a CEO...effortlessly, of course.

I watched r21's video.

I'm a cyclist, and I side with the driver.

That cyclist needs to get a life. He should get out of the way of cars instead of trolling them.

He then stalked the driver and further antagonized him. He was looking for trouble, and found it. Good for him (not).

Lack of manners has been on the decline for years. The Internet has nearly killed manners altogether.

Oh fuck off

[quote]Lack of manners has been on the decline for years.

Hope you're right.

It may be worse now -- and I too would blame the Internet, horrible parenting, lack of education and just a general coarsening of society. People are incredible self-centered and entitled now. So it's gotten worse, speeded up by the Internet and selfie culture, but the coarsening has gone on for years. Decades, I'd bet.

And the thing is -- while all those general observations are true, I also find people are mostly nice in person. Yes, there's the occasional asshole. But I find if you treat people politely, or even just benignly, they'll do the same with you. I see that here in California, where I live, and I see it across the country when I travel.

If you are in this scenario....

You are waiting in your car to pull out into traffic from a driveway or side street. A driver in the traffic lane, stops and lets you in.

Do you wave in thanks to that driver?

Or do you pull out and drive away without acknowledging the kindness?

Correction: Lack of manners has been on the increase for years..

I wave, R60. I have a friend, however, who wouldn't think of waving. When I'm in the passenger seat, I wave for him.

Of course sometimes the most polite person to your face is the nastiest ones behind your backs. The people in the South can have lovely manners yes dearing you to death. But some of them are like Paula Deen on steroids behind your back--secretly wearing brown face and calling people the n word.

I wave too R60. I drive for a living and if how people are on the roads is an indication of society in general then I think we're all in big trouble. I've been driving for 20 years and I've seen more road rage in the last 5 years than all the years that came before. And then those people get out of their cars and go interact with other people.

Everyone is miserable nowadays. People are just rude as shit, especially when they think they have the security of being an asshole to someone online. They don't even have to be anonymous -- look at all the horrible things people do and say online under their own names.

I've noticed it in real life, too. I have a half-brother pestering me after literally 25 years of never speaking to him, and he's being inappropriate beyond belief. When I found out I had a chronic condition that needed surgery, my two really good friends disappeared. Haven't heard from them in weeks. None of this has ever happened to me before.

A decade ago I was wondering why I kept coming here since DL was so rude; nowadays, I find DL to be one of the nicer places online. We're still cunts but we're cunts with rules and expected behaviors.

I wave, r60. I also flash my lights for a truck that has on a lane change signal if it's clear for them.

As a previous poster said, I think a lot of it is "reality TV". Nobody gets ahead or "famous" by being polite, civilized and classy. You get "famous" by being an aggressive asshole.

I'd also like to point out that homeschooled kids usually have very little social skills. They're doted on by their parents and never learn how to interact with anyone outside of their families. If they're aggressive, rude or bullying, the parents adapt to the behavior. Once these demons are let loose on society, they think the rest of us should have to deal with them (or discipline them).

But I'm old and I don't think any kid should be homeschooled - they never learn "social norms" and many are cultural idiots when they suddenly have to go forth in the world.

It's because people are more self-centered these days. It's all about "ME!!" all the time and what "I" want.

It's because people are more self-centered these days. It's all about "ME!!" all the time and what "I" want.

If I know someone's trying to catch a train/bus, I'll try to hold things up for them (usually). Likewise for elevators, though in that case I have run across folks who (should have known) I was trying to catch theirs, and let the doors close often enough.

The gratification culture of "I know what I want and I want it NOW!" I find more depressing: driving anything less than an Audi or BMW means the person is a L-O-S-E-R.

[quote] When people are under pressure and feel beaten down, their empathy drops.

Not an excuse. People have always had pressure in their lives. Tere have always been people who feel beaten down. Poor people back in the day had a much harder life than "poor people" today.

As many have already said parents aren't bothering to teach their children manners or generous behavior.

People need to train themselves to immediately take pictures of these rude people or video them - little viral youtube video of Miss Bitch at the bank can go a long way to curbing behavior. Some people may be immune to shame but most people aren't.

I don't know if this fits in or now. I was at ABC News a few weeks ago and posted a comment. The next morning the story is still up and I start reading the comments. There is a comment that looks familiar and I realize it is my comment that I made the night before that someone is posting it as their own. I told them glad they liked my comment and would have been nice if they credited me for it. They told me to prove it was my comment, which I was able to do. Then they had the nerve to tell me something about creativity and I should try it. Anyway, I get banned from ABC for confronting this person and they are able to continue to post others people's comments as if they are his own. I've seen other people plagiarizer and it drives me crazy. Are people that uneducated that they don't know when someone has plagiarized something?

[quote]Are people that uneducated that they don't know when someone has plagiarized something?

I think people seem to forget that the internet is more or less "forever". The other person probably never thought that your comment was still there and you could prove your accusation.

R72, I'm not even talking about my comment. I've seen people plagiarize authors. They don't use quotations marks or give credit to the author. Are people looking for validation on the internet by the up-votes they get? If that is the case that is a pretty sad life.

R69, it's rude to the people already on the bus/train/elevator for you to do that. They've been waiting already and you just held them up even longer for someone who didn't have to wait at all. If they're disabled in some way, that's one thing, but otherwise, please don't do it.

R74, calm down. Jeez, it is only a few seconds.

I hate the people who need to announce that they're in a hurry and therefore move ahead of everyone else. If you're in a hurry then you should have left home 10 minutes earlier.

We had a crazy-ass neurosurgeon at my hospital in NYC years ago. He shaved his head and wore combat boots with his scrubs waaaay before that kind of thing was popular. We called him Charlie Manson

We only had 3 elevators for our very busy 18 story medical center and every.single.day one of them was out of order, leaving us with only two. There were hundreds of people using those elevators. The wait time in the lobby was ridiculous. (There was actually an SNL film skit about our hospital's elevators. A dying man is told he has a half an hour to live. He runs to the elevator and presses DOWN thinking of all the things he needs to do. He watches the elevator stop on every floor, get stuck, etc.)

One day, a kid gets on and presses every single button for all 18 floors. Charlie Manson literally grabs the kid by the collar and pulls him over next to him, clamps a hand on the kid's shoulder and says, "This is a very busy hospital with hundreds of patients. Doctors like me need to use these elevators to see our patients. Since you've delayed me from seeing my patients, you are going to ride with me as we stop on all 18 floors. You will then ride with me all the way down to the floor I need to go to."

That kid was shitting bricks, but Manson held on tight.

[quote]I hate the people who need to announce that they're in a hurry and therefore move ahead of everyone else.

I don't think I've ever had that happen to me. I must have Permanent Resting Bitchface.

R75, sometimes it's a few seconds. Sometimes you hold the door for someone and then you're waiting for the door to close on a timer which starts all over again, and then another person runs and puts their arm in the door and the whole cycle starts again. Meanwhile, people already in the elevator before all this had waiting a while for that elevator in the first place. This is very simple logic to grasp. Don't hold other people up.

Aren't you precious R79. Wow, a minute or two or three is really going to inconvenience.

But the people who haven't waited at all shouldn't be inconvenienced by having to wait for the next elevator? Just like the people in the elevator already did? Jesus, you're an idiot.

How do you know they are "inconvenienced?" Like I said a minute or two is not going to ruin your life. If it does you got a lot of issues.

What's so hard about waiting for the next elevator, R82? Why is that such a problem for you?

[quote]Thank God I live in New Mexico, where everyone I encouter on the street says "Hi, how ya doing?"

The 2nd poorest state.... Their motto is "Well at least we're not Mississippi"

R83, you lack reading comprehension. I do hold an elevator for someone. You might try,. doubtful you can this late in life, get some manners.

Most people have come to expect rudeness, and are delighted by courtesy.

I always give a 'thank-you wave" when I'm driving. Btw, if you do something annoying when driving, on purpose or by accident, a thank-you wave goes a long way towards calming other's road rage. Plus it's a nice thing to do anyway, too.

Wasn't there an old datalounge about this subject and about the fact that some people keep a bag of excrement to fling at rude road ragers? Which one of you were that?

[quote] One thing I've noticed in Seattle is that NO ONE offers to let someone with only an item or two go ahead in line. A truly unknown concept here.

There was a whole discussion on this up-thread. I think this is a nice thing to do if you like, but NOT if there are other people waiting behind you, because you're not just letting this person ahead of just you, you're letting them ahead of all those other people. That makes it actually selfish. You get to feel good for doing a "good deed" when you're actually inconveniencing a slew of other people. This is just like 'over-holding' the elevator, which I can't define, but I know it when I see it.

OH, my favorite is when someone jams on their brakes to let some kid pass in front. I know the law, but if you atop abruptly and wave a kid in front of you, you might easily get that kid killed when someone rear-ends you.

R89, who said anything about someone that is far behind in the line. Jeez. Were are talking about the person behind us. I've never seen someone wave the person 4 or 5 people behind and told them to go ahead. Common sense for God's sake.

I believe hatred of humanity is a byproduct of overpopulation.

[quote]Are people that uneducated that they don't know when someone has plagiarized something?

God, yes. I write online and people are plagiarizing me constantly. About 50% of online writers are plagiarizing EVERYONE, and even with evidence presented in a clear manner, a majority of people will side with the person who stole someone else's article. There's this crazy anti-intellectual streak in our culture right now, and that gets combined with the fact that people online always want a scapegoat to yell at. Someone says "My writing was stolen" and THAT person gets attacked, because clearly they're a nerd who cares about words and wants to cause trouble for everyone. I'm not even joking, that is the exact attitude. It's probably what that moderator was thinking when they banned you instead of the guy who cut and pasted your reply as his own.

A guide for most of the elder queens on DL

In the comments section of the above article, read the 3rd comment down by Skan One ( I think that's how you spell it). I agree with him and so do many others (303). What a condescending article.

I am disgusted by the spike in tattle-telling, snitching, and merciless backstabbing, especially at the workplace. I just started a new job May 1st. 2 weeks ago, and 2 weeks into my new job, my boss called me to let me know that he got “complaints from facilities about my behavior”. My boss accepted everything said about me as final. I mow live in constant fear of losing my job., which is a self fulfilling prophecy. I can’t eat, or sleep through the night. I hide in my house and watch MSNBC without watching i, or the ID Channel. I torture myself by ruminating about every negative comment I have ever gotten since childhood. I have internalized all of them. especially the ones from my new job. They called me inappropriate and unprofessional. They implied that I am crazy.. Maybe I was always inappropriate and unprofessional, but no one told me. Maybe I was always crazy but no one said so. I never thought I was crazy. Now, I do. I no longer belong here.

You are definitely not imagining things OP. There are still good people out there but the less people need each other, the less we have to rely on each other the less people value each other.

R95, What? Why would the facilities dept have a complaint about someone's behavior? Who called you inappropriate and unprofessional? Very confusing post.

Everyone sit down and watch this.

[quote]no one told me.

Hmm...maybe they did. You just didn’t pick up on it.

People don’t explicitly tell coworkers they are “unprofessional” — that would only make things worse.

They would just avoid working with you like the plague. Because unprofessionalism is a plague — it spreads easily & nobody wants to catch it & risk hurting their career.

And on top of it, r95, if your unprofessionalism hurt their feelings, don’t expect them to help you out. Don’t expect anything from them at all.

Yes, OP, it's the unfortunate result of an overly permissive far-left society, influence of Generation X, increasingly poor nutrition and "social" media.

I've been a registered Democrat for my entire adult life but am seriously considering changing my political affiliation. America is losing its boundaries.

I have because meaner and bitchier as I gotten older. I just don't care. its hard enough to get up in the morning, and you want me to be polite when I go outdoors? You are asking too much.

R95 Sounds like sociopaths at work gaslighting you. Every workplace has its share. They are sick mentally disordered people. They gaslight people so they think they are going crazy. Read up on sociopaths and gaslighting and find a new job.

Meaner and more rude.

It isn't just entitled kids and Canadians...

I can't speak about rudeness, but I recently visited NYC. Those people are idiots and ignorant. So much for being sophisticated.

NYC is friendly compared to Toronto; easily the rudest city I've been to. The thing I disliked most about NY was the 'bubble voice' thing that some young women there seem to have. It's this weird loud talking with what sounds like a bubble and then...aaahh...vocal fry. Horrific.

^ The bubble talk, upspeak and vocal fry are all thanks to Kim Kardashian. They aspire to be like her. Now that Kim is with the President, discussing pardons, she will be even more admired that she has his ear. And whatever else. They have no idea how stupid they sound. As soon as I hear that I think stupid low-IQ Kardashian wannabee.

There WILL be a test on the Thoughtfulness video.

Blame Trump. He is a bully and a vicious liar who uses his bully pulpit to abuse any innocent person who ever disagrees with him.

R108: It's happened long before Donald Trump was elected.

Thank you pointing that out R109. (Sheesh R108, let's focus our energy on forcing him to resign or impeaching him.)

R110: Do you want Mike Pence as president? I suppose he would not be nearly as controversial as Donald Trump and might actually be a calming and positive influence on an increasingly hypersensitive American public. Some people find him boring or not trustworthy but I do like his cool, calm and collected demeanor. America needs more of that kind of social refinement or it's just going to get worse.

Earlier today, I saw part of a video with a woman SHAVING her legs at a swimming pool in front of young children. Not only was it a health and safety hazard but totally distasteful. This is the kind of insanity becoming socially acceptable in America today.

Toronto, huh R6? Most of those people aren't really true Canadians with any pioneer stock running through them.

It really depends on the area. I'm in NY and it is so true how rude we are here but nothing compares to Frankfurt and/or Heidelberg Germany. Been all over the world and their behavior leaves no wonderment on how the Holocaust occurred there. So uncouth, almost knocking you down on the streets and keep marching straight ahead. The men spit all over the streets. Aspies on steroids. I'm in shock they haven't killed off the migrant populace by now. Eventually they will though. Their OTT rudeness must have sparked a couple of incidents by migrants. I often wonder if that is part of the equation and the reason why a lot of German incidents get hushed up by police and the media. Not all incidents, of course, like rape.

Cross the border into France the people look the same but will bend over backwards to help a complete stranger.

[quote]Yes, OP, it's the unfortunate result of an overly permissive far-left society, influence of Generation X, increasingly poor nutrition and "social" media. I've been a registered Democrat for my entire adult life but am seriously considering changing my political affiliation. America is losing its boundaries.

Sure thing, Boris.

R71, 2 months ago I changed my settings and someone was writing as if they were me. Even used my term "Genetic Chernobyl ". Weird but I was flattered. I guess that particular poster missed me. I agreed with every one of their posts, WW on each one.

No, it's not your imagination, OP. And in case you're wondering what the hell happened, what you're seeing is 30 years of the breakdown of civility, starting in the 1980s. When PC became a thing in the mid-80s, a whole bunch of people decided to backlash against it in the entertainment industry. In the world of comedy, you had people like Howard Stern, Joan Rivers and Andrew Dice Clay introducing mean-spiritedness and vulgarity in their acts and indoctrinating everyone with the idea that nothing was off limits as long as it was a joke. In music, there was the rise of gangster rap, which mainstreamed the N-word, abusive language and misogynistic terms against women.

Around the same time, there was a push for trash television, which relied heavily on argumentativeness, rudeness and fighting, starting with the likes of Morton Downey, Jr. and copied by Jerry Springer, Sally Jessie Raphael, Maury Povich and so many other shows. A few years after these types of shows became popular, we saw the birth of the nasty, belligerent political pundit (Ann Coulter, Bill O'Reilly), who were encourage to shout down opponents and use abusive language to get their points across.

Then along bullshit libertarianism, which propagated the lie that freedom of speech means you should be able to say and do whatever you want without consequence, and finally, the toxicity of social media, which is that libertarian ideal put into practice.

Yeah, it was the internet and people like Howard Stern before that plus a general breakdown of society and civil society.

I agree with the comments that it isn't just people being angrier. For me the real issue is how inconsiderate people have become. No sense or care for those around them.

You got banned @71 is bc you derailed and got petty.

This is how you do it:

Reply to plagiarism : Hey _____, I wrote the same exact thing last night at 8:53. Feels good to know I'm not the only one feeling this way. Kindred spirits through and through. Thanks for that.

It's called diplomacy. RL or online. You call the person out w/proof and thank them for making you feel not so alone in your opinions.

DON'T attack over petty nonsense. Makes you a troublemaker. No one needs a troublemaker. You make your point known but go around it a different way. Win-Win-Win

If you see someone plagiarising someone else you agree/disagree with both posts bookmarked. Or u could say poster A @ 6:30 & poster B @ 10:30 are riding the same exact wavelength. Get a room you 2.

See how that's done?

Once upon a time people were raised to be polite and strive for greatness. Now we have social media and (young) people are striving to be as classy as *gulp* Kim Kardashian.

Not to mention we have Donald Trump in the White House giving us a Reality TV show political media experience.

People have come to expect it. 4 way stop sign or letting people in front of you. Very courteous driver. My m.o. is to spread joy & a sense of kindred relations w/all. Animals, people. I wasn't always this way but figured out the hype around 14 years old. I remember all models in Vogue scowling. I thought this was glamorous. Victoria Beckham still hasn't figured this out. Saw on here last night her smiling pictures. Hasn't figured that out either.

Anyway, my true self came out & life became a breeze. Blond pony tail driving convertible MB. The 4 way stop sign, OMG! I should take video & load it up here for you guys. Like short scene from movie. Other drivers assume I'm just going to take the right of way. When I brake & gesture giving them the go ahead, they don't know what to do. Like they don't believe it. Just sitting at the stop sign. I gesture again then they gesture for me to go. Since they have the right I annoyingly gesture for them to go & scream out Let's go! Sometimes they refuse and wave me on again. Then we both go. Hilarity ensues.

I'm on rude ass Long Island. I remind people new to area & visitors to lay low, let those drivers go. Drivers here are competitive & spiteful! You better wave if I let you in. It is offensive to ignore a random good deed from kind soul. But here, it could end up getting sidelined & crashing into a tree if you get the wrong one. Drive up someone's ass here they'll think nothing of hitting their brakes going 60 to 0 for a second to show you. NYC knows how to flow. They get it. It all falls down to $. Long island didn't get the message yet.

A flight attendant on a plane headed from DC to New Orleans SCREAMED at me about 18 months ago and then stomped off and I was just totally dumbfounded and taken aback. The woman sitting next to me sheepishly said, “I...don’t think it was appropriate for him to speak to you that way.” It really rattled me and I was on edge for the entire flight, but I told her “this is Trump’s America,” and that for the sake of personal safety it’s probably best to just remain calm and let hostile people carry on. The flight attendant was black and I am white and my mind was going through all sorts or scenarios to figure why he might have been so set off, and honestly it wasn’t hard to come up with scenarios. If I were black, Muslim or Latinx in this country at this time, I think I might be a human pressure cooker, too.

R122: An apologist for anti-white black people who are paid to scream at you and you blame Donald Trump? You're part of the problem.

Misanthropes and Alt-right loons, such as r123, constantly encouraging everyone to hate and fear each other hasn't made people nicer.

R124: Misanthrope? I'm not the black flight attendant who screamed at a white person nor am I the ineffectual person who excuses such behaviour. Name-calling is not productive and neither is hypocrisy.

The "alt-right loon" remark was especially presumptuous. (I'm a registered Democrat but people like yourself are making me reconsider that.) Your overreaction is a fine example of what is happening in America.

[Bold] YES, OP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes R115 I believe you are correct. The first signs of this appeared in the 1980s with Reagan and the idea that all groups are divided into winners and losers. Everything is a competition and it's winner take all and the losers are rightly to be openly ridiculed and pitied. The ultimate and best value of everything is money. I remember remarking to myself at the time that the appearance of the punch line/ catchphrase "You want fries with that?" really showed the way society had changed- that now some people and some jobs were beneath contempt.

Abbey at rot, is there a reason you bumped an old thread instead of starting new?

R95, not "rot."

I enjoy my keyboard autocorrecting r-numbers just before I hit post. So handy.

[quote] The "alt-right loon" remark was especially presumptuous. (I'm a registered Democrat but people like yourself are making me reconsider that.) Your overreaction is a fine example of what is happening in America.

Certainly not as presumptuous as labelling someone you've never met as an "anti-white black [person]."

R130: Why else would a black male flight attendant just suddenly scream at a white passenger?

Your imagination is getting the better of you. You are just looking for evidence to confirm a viewpoint you already have. Overall, the quality of life is getting better and better.

R132: I think not.

R122/R125 I totally see where both of you are coming from, and agree wholeheartedly.