Battling Rudeness

No matter how gracious your own behavior, you are bound to encounter other people who behave rudely.  And sometimes no matter our best intentions, we can unknowingly commit rude behavior as well.  So this week we are taking a look a rudeness and how to handle it with grace.

For starters, lets look a few different ways rudeness presents itself:

Aggressive Rudeness:  Intentional, no holding back, rudeness. This is someone yelling at you after you bump into them or someone slowly down as they drive because they feel you cut them off or are tailgating.

Casual Rudeness: These are the behaviors that are often unconscious or unintentional but annoying none the less.  Chatting loudly on your cell phone or rushing to a new line being opened after being a very end of a long one.  

Rudeness in Disguise: This is the rudeness I always categorize as a "dig" or a backhanded compliment.  Here's an example: " I love that sweater, it makes you look so much thinner than you usually do."

Bottom of the Barrel of Behavior: These are things one should NEVER do.  Blowing your nose at the table, burping loudly, cursing in public.