Ducks in a Row: Rudeness
by Miki Saxon
I have little tolerance for what I perceive as rudeness.
However, a jam-packed, always-on, socially-enabled lifestyle combined to varying degrees with a me-centric view of the world appears to be driving a rising tide of rudeness in people of all ages.
Is there anything else going on beyond the obvious?
Perhaps part of what comes across as rudeness is merely misunderstanding.
Perhaps the difference between such actions as “acknowledgment” and “feedback,” which is a different animal altogether, have blurred to the point of merger—for the record, feedback requires thought, while acknowledgement doesn’t.
Ask anybody in resume limbo how much they would appreciate some form of acknowledgement that their resume had been received.
There was a time when companies sent form letters acknowledging receipt, as well as thanks/no thanks rejections on hard copy and actually paid postage to do it.
These days they can’t even bother with programming an auto-response that costs them nothing, but gains good will.
Many (most?) individuals are even worse; screening their responses to calls and email through a what’s-in-it-for-me filter or are so busy checking Facebook and playing Angry Birds that they don’t have time for the niceties.
Yet, as with most things, the rudeness is not one-sided.
Resumes sent and contacts initiated based on the premise that if you throw enough something will stick also deserve the rudeness label.
Then, of course, there is always the possibility that my definition is archaic and what I see as rude has become acceptable.
Flickr image credit: Ronald Saunders
