Living in the rude world

I read this article on Modern Etiquette with great interest. With empathy, even. And, I totally can resonate with what the author said about rudeness and etiquette. I especially find this sentence very meaningful:

“Manners have to do with our basic attitude and approach to life and the people in it. Kindness is the essence of good manners. Etiquette, on the other hand, is a set of rules that govern our relationships in various situations.”

The saddest thing I see in today’s world is the fact that people get so busy chasing fame and being materialistic day in day out that they have forgotten how to be gracious and kind to other people (or animals).

The worst things about humans (and this is most glaring in the corporate world) is that usually “kindness” can sometimes come with an agenda…and with agenda, comes certain etiquette (or the lack of it).

Perhaps, I’m cynical but what peeved me off most is that while they have the perfect etiquette of being superbly friendly to even a fly on the wall and knowing what to say at the right time and right place to the right people, they often do appear fake, insincere and generally do not give a rats’ ass about others apart from themselves. It is like they get so busy being in the “me” world that they have (perhaps subconsciously?) forgotten to be gracious, and sometimes to the point of being plain rude.

Kindness indeed is a virtue and I would very much rather be hanging out with “Barbados David” than with someone who has flawless etiquette but come across as insincere.To me it only goes to show that etiquette is only but a façade.

Such is the world we live. Sad isn’t it? I know I cannot expect everyone to be kind, but I don’t see the need for the rudeness I see on the streets everyday either. (And by golly! People can really be so rude!).

I know that to err is human. But to be rude is just plain appalling! Unacceptable.