A beautiful day...

There was a discussion today on society being more "rude" in general now than it used to be. After initially agreeing, I did some thinking and now wonder if there aren't some contributing factors:...am I all wet on this?
1) technology has made everyone far too accessible at any opportunity.
2) with a "true" middle class obsolete, we are only left with the rich (and people living rich - only one paycheck away from disaster) and the "monetarily challenged"...this huge gap only serves to highlight class differences, therefore heightening tensions and defenses.
3) people (in my opinion) now personalize everything to the extreme. Yes, in general, customer service has become more homogenized and less personal, but peoples perceptions have changed as well.
4) Egocentrism! The theory that the world revolves around you, and that everyone who enters your world better be a mindreader!
5) People do not apologize anymore. How about saying, "Hey, I'm sorry your order was wrong." or "I'm sorry, I'm in a bit of a rush."

When you experience a negative interaction with a stranger, at a store, on the bus - wherever, how many times do we walk away saying, "What the heck did I do to them?" The answer is usually NOTHING. We never consider the fact that maybe that person had a crummy day and we just walked into it. Maybe they lost their job, spouse, cat...whatever. How often do we slip on their shoes and try to see that their goal in life is not solely to tick us off? Are we that important to them?

Conversely, how often do we initiate the negative encounter without intending to, by being distracted, impatient, or just not "in the moment"? Oddly enough, it is never OUR fault: "You should have SEEN this clerk, he was a complete idiot...don't they train those people?!" You are still griping hours later, and that person has taken care of 75 people since you - you don't exist to them anymore. Who ends up with the negative baggage...not the idiot clerk =)

It's true that perception is reality but the rub's in the perception; both in what others project and how we percieve it, and what we, ourselves project. I don't think it's a question of rudeness escalating, but more that tolerance has waned. People aren't mindreaders...they're not out to get you, so don't personalize...it isn't your problem!...egocentrism is supposed to stop by age 8!

Didn't mean to vent - what do you think...are we ruder?