Episode 45: Are People Really Getting Ruder?

Public Etiquette in a Distracted World

Nearly half of Americans say people have gotten ruder since the pandemic — but 84% say they personally know exactly how to behave.

Both can’t be true.

This week Greg, Rich, and Sarah ask whether people are really getting ruder, or whether “rude” is mostly about perception, expectation, and capacity.

We reframe rudeness as a gap — the space between what you expected and what you got — then walk through six everyday “Is it rude?” scenarios where hidden context flips the verdict every time:

• the waiting-room speakerphone
• the bus seat
• being filmed in public
• the dog in the grocery cart
• the friend who cancels by text
• and the loud “correction.”

Along the way: what invisible disability looks like from the outside, why most rudeness is overwhelm rather than malice, and the one thing you can always control - your own reaction.

In this episode: - Why “rude” is a gap, not a fixed behavior - The 47% / 84% paradox from Pew’s rudeness survey -

Capacity vs. character: why overwhelm drives most rudeness - Six “Is it rude?” scenarios — and how context changes each one - Extending grace (to others and yourself)

Chapters:

(00:00) Welcome & intro

(01:47) Defining rudeness: “face” and the numbers

(05:49) What does “rude” first bring to mind?

(09:41) The post-pandemic shift

(13:44) Capacity, sensory needs & being misjudged

(24:20) Fading etiquette: phones, holidays, meals

(30:50) Common Questions: six “Is it rude?” scenarios

(45:22) Extending grace

(51:14) What’s on your heart: Liam’s 50th

(53:23) Closing & weekly challenge

This episode featured Greg, Rich, and Sarah.

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