Rudeness When Jim Morrison of the Doors

Rudeness

When Jim Morrison of the Doors famously sang, "People are strange," what he should have sang is, "People are rude!" Two articles, one published by ABC.com and another published by CNN.com (via the Oprah Winfrey Show), discussed how rude modern day America is. It is the purpose of the essay to compare and contrast these articles to learn about a particular rude habit we (Americans) have and how we can correct that habit.

The ABC article, "Poll: Rudeness in America, 2006," is a researched-based article that surveyed 1,014 random adults on what type of "rude" behavior they most often witness as well as what type of "rude" behavior they find most irksome. The five categories tested were: Making Annoying Cell Phone Calls, Being Rude and Disrespectful, Using Bad Language, Using Words Like B.S. And Freaking, and Using Cells or E-mail Mid-Conversation.

In the other article, the 'Oprah' piece, the methodology for determining rude behavior was significantly less scientific. That is to say, beside some expert advice and a completely random, unsubstantiated fact, "Eighty percent of Americans think rudeness is a serious national problem, but 99% of the same people say that they themselves are not rude," the article was mostly anecdotal (Winfrey). It consisted of Oprah asking famous people, like her Jewish friend Jerry Seinfeld, and her audience what type of ill-mannered behavior they found most displeasing.

In both articles, cell phone etiquette came up. Apparently, as a society, we are rude and/or disrespectful when we use our cell phones. The ABC article found that 87% of people bear witness to other individuals talking on cell phones "in a loud or annoying manner" (Cohen & Langer). Moreover, 71% of people are bothered somewhat or bothered a lot by cell phone offenses. In short, annoying cell phone usage is an epidemic that pisses almost everyone off.

With regards to the Winfrey article, rude cell phone behavior was brought up on four separate occasions (more than any other gripe). The cell phone issue was raised by Mr. Seinfeld, a woman who went for a visit at the gynecologist, by a TSA agent, and a disgruntled waiter. In each experience, the witness was felt at the very least disrespected and in some cases dehumanized (a gynecologist answering his phone while he's got one spread eagle in stirrups, labia, vulva, clitoris totally exposed is the pinnacle of rudeness).

Where the articles differ is with respect to solutions. The ABC article doesn't really provide any. However, it points out interesting trends, such as "there's no clear, consistent link between the use of communication devices and rudeness" and "impoliteness does not increase as frequency of cell phone use rises."

The Oprah article outright offers behavior modification, tips viewers (or readers) can observe to decrease impoliteness. Her local expert, Dr. Forni -- a professor at Johns Hopkins University and author of "Choosing Civility: The 25 Rules of Considerate Conduct" and "The Civility Solution: What to Do When People Are Rude" -- argued that one should, in a sense, follow the golden rule.

"[The principle] says that we ought to treat others as ends in themselves rather than as beings for the satisfaction of our own immediate needs and desires," he told Oprah. While one can argue that sounds like a hill of beans, one of her other guests (the cynical waiter) suggested something a little more obvious, "Don't talk on a cell phone at the table." Easier said than done, right?