Manholes For Manners

[lupestripe]

Reading Jocasta's travelogue of Japan, and particularly how polite everyone was, I started to wonder about manners in this country. Nowadays, most people in the UK seem to be very rude and uptight, and this lack of common courtesy is having a knock-on effect on my own behaviour. It is making this country a thoroughly miserable place to be.

I was always raised to be courteous and polite so I don't use my phone on the bus nor do I listen to loud music for fear of pissing someone else off. I don't talk loudly, eat smelly food or swear around strangers either, nor do I share my munty breath around. Seriously, the secondary smell of chewing gum and halitosis is worse than smoking. All these are bus things and this may be tainting my view - relaxing on public transport is pretty much impossible for me.

However, out and about I hold doors open for people yet the number of thank yous I receive has diminished in recent times. In the high street there is a heads down bulldozer attitude which literally bowls me away.

We seem to live in a society that celebrates individualism over community. The recent cuts have demonstrated this attitude perfectly - don't scale back MY stuff, THEIR stuff is what should face the axe. The politics of selfishness is ruling and this attitude has pervaded into culture. This has been catalysed by advertising, who use stereotypes designed to make us feel insecure by portraying aspirations which we could never possibly live up to.

Coupled with the difficult economic situation and heightened stress over the need to make a living, I guess this rise of rudeness is understandable. It doesn't make it right though but it's difficult to see how we can go back. I'm sure the vast majority of people are nice once you get to know them but there is an open hostility to strangers right now which I'm not sure was there before.

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