Everyone who is out in public and doing business today is complaining  about the incredible lack of respect and courteousness one experiences  in everyday life. There seems to be no barrier through socio-economic  levels, it has reached pandemic proportions throughout society.  Parents are no longer teaching their children about manners or  respect, people are stressed out and angry, and will take out their frustrations on whoever is in front of them.

The problem with this is that eventually it incites violence, as not everyone is able to deal with this level of disrespect and anger.

Some examples of extraordinarily bad behaviour follow, but there are more than can be listed in one small blog…..

• returning business calls at 7:10 in the morning, hoping for voicemail so you don’t have to speak to the caller.
• walking into a store, and before anyone approaches to see if you need assistance, screaming at the sales staff.
• sending emails at midnight to change a scheduled meeting for early the next morning.
• sending emails one hour before a meeting to change the time and day.
• phoning a help line which says ‘press 9’ for English, then being told by a recording that the line has been disabled.
• rude, surly cashiers who are speaking loudly with a co-worker about their social life while scanning your purchases, then being rude and dismissive when the client has the audacity to interrupt the  conversation with a question.
• people who interrupt others constantly to talk about the minutiae of  their boring, insignificant lives, and never let anyone else get a word in.
• people who constantly complain about hard it is in business, how they can’t pay their rent or their bills, yet have abundant cash to eat in restaurants 3 times a day, go to the spa, go to the hairdresser and manicurist, go to movies, trips, and new clothes. We all have bills to pay. Get over it.
• Is it a question?!!! stop up-talking, it is not cute.
• don’t discuss the intimate details of your sex life, particularly when you are denigrating your partner’s abilities, or lack of abilities. How are we supposed to look this person in the face?
• never answering your phone or voice mail messages, but spending the day texting furiously. Not everyone likes to text, or have the means
• to text. Some of us actually believe in real live conversations.
• speaking on your mobile while getting into the elevator, walking through a store, sitting in a restaurant, sitting in a movie, sitting in a business meeting……at the top of your lungs. Do you actually think you are that interesting?
• cutting in front of people while they are being served in a shop or a restaurant, interrupting as though the other person is invisible, not excusing yourself, as though you are the most important person on the planet.
• being referred through someone in business, who has absolutely no idea who you are, what you do, what company you represent, if any, and spending 10 minutes denigrating the caller, never letting them speak or explain the reason for the call.
• behaving like a DIVA at a party or other social function, and not taking the time to look around the room and assess who is there, when in fact, most of the other guests are more successful and famous than you, they are simply being quiet about it.
• treating people who actually DO have manners and are courteous as  though they are either weak or invisible. We are not and we KNOW who
• you are. Do you REALLY think we won’t tell each other about your appalling behaviour?
• just because you married a man who is rich and successful doesn’t make you a lady. Behaving like a lady has nothing to do with money or position, it is simply a matter of class, or lack of it. Many of us know where you came from, and if you continue berating us in public will let the world know who you REALLY are at some point when we have had enough.
• we are all in business to make money, it has to be conducted in a fair, equitable, respectful manner. It HAS to be win, win. Just because you work for a large company today, does not mean you can’t be fired, nor does it mean the company will still be in business in 6 months. If you diss all your suppliers, we will remember all the details of your insults when you come crawling for a job, regardless of what level of position you have held in industry. Recently we have had a number of former Vice Presidents, and Senior Vice Presidents knocking on our door as they were fired from their previous employment, and behaving as though we are their long lost friends. Have you forgotten just how rude and arrogant you were when we tried to do business with you??
• calling someone either Miss or by their first name when they are old enough to be your mother. If you don’t know how to address them, then just call them Madame……or as in French, tu-toyer……when it should be vous.
• the French (France) have an absolutely wonderful expression for this which is ‘monsieur, or mademoiselle, nous n’avons pas elever des  cochons ensemble’!!! to translate, we didn’t raise pigs together, or  FIND YOUR MANNERS.
• attacking the food and drink at a cocktail party as though you have never seen food before. It is a Cocktail Party, you were not invited to dinner. You are expected to politely graze not fill your plate to overflowing, and go back for seconds.
• going to a party in someone’s home, staying until you have consumed every drop of alcohol in the house, including rooting through cupboards and the refrigerator to make sure you have consumed it all.  YES, we did see you, and we also heard all about it the next day.
• arrogant employees in companies who actually think they have the right to tell you who you have the right to speak with or not. Seriously??

I am sure there are more examples out there…….but these are the ones which come to mind……please feel free to share this BLOG, we need a return to polite society.

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