Rude? There’s no excuse!

Accusation:

So you’re having a great day, chatting and laughing with lots of lovely people then you have that one encounter that just ruins the moment… you speak to someone rude.

Now, manners don’t cost anything, and politeness isn’t that hard to achieve so why do some people insist on spoiling your day? I’m sure we’ve all got out of the wrong side of bed at some time or another but just because you’re in a crabbit mood (another good Scottish word…) doesn’t mean you should pass it on to everyone else.

My particular experience today left me lost for words and that isn’t something that happens often! I was in full spiel, being friendly and polite when I was cut off in mid sentence with “and that’s why I’m not interested. Goodbye”!

What surprised me most of all was that it was a meeja body I was speaking to – as a license fee payer, I would expect a modicom of courtesy!

I’m not vain enough to think that everyone should lap up what I’m saying but still, there’s a way of saying “thanks but no thanks” that doesn’t cause offense.

I’m sure we’ve all encountered rude people: the shop assistants that are too busy talking about what they’re going to wear that evening to pay attention and serve you; or the people that push past you in the street without a simple “excuse me”.

Recommendation:

The only feasible solution is to fit rude people with a dog training style collar – one of those ones that gives out a short electric shock to correct rude behaviour.

These collars would detect rudeness, through tone of voice or lack of action at the appropriate time, and would give the culprit a ‘shock’ as a reminder that they should be polite. Clearly the ‘shock’ wouldn’t cause permanent damage, that would obviously be cruel, but it would be an effective encouragement to generate ‘nice’ behaviour.

Representation:

An organisation would need to be set up to receive and verify reports of offending individuals – any volunteers?