Civil Behavior

There is no doubt we've lost a lot of basic civility in my lifetime.  There are many examples I've been thinking about lately that illustrate not just impoliteness and incivility, but also extending to unethical and immoral behavior.

Who hasn't had the experience with rude drivers on the interstate?  The most common is the aggressive driver that speeds to your bumper in the left lane while you're moving past a slower truck or a string of slower vehicles.  The aggressive driver tries to intimidate you by accelerating so close to your rear bumper that you fear she's about to ram you.

As we're wrapping up orange barrel season, I have noticed the behavior of aggressive drivers when the barrels funnel traffic into a single lane.  They pull into the breakdown lane and drive past all of the waiting vehicles to the front of the line.  Some will even pull into the grass to get around everyone else.  These are individuals who believe they're more important than everyone else, and in their self-centered minds making it to their appointment on time is much more vital to the survival of the world than the mundane destinations the rest of us are trying to reach.

McDonalds has a creative new drive-through line designed to speed up service for those who want to grab a meal on the run.  The drive-through line is single-file until it reaches the ordering kiosks, where it splits into 2 lanes.  Some inconsiderate people have discovered that they can jump the line by driving past all the cars in the single-file line, then nosing into the outside ordering lane.  I've seen that behavior result in angry shouts from somone in line who was jumped in front of by the cheating customer, horns blown, and even attempts of some in line to block the line jumper with their car.  The offender's reaction is mostly to ignore the objectors, but a couple of times I've seen a middle finger salute.

Years ago I attended a conference session about recruiting the best people to come to work for your company.  She suggested an interview strategy involving having the candidate drive the interviewer somewhere, preferably in a big city during rush hour.  In her world, the most aggressive driver, one who speeds, violates traffic laws, uses the breakdown lane, cuts people off, or otherwise uses overly aggressive tactics to get to the destination sooner is the best candidate.  Somehow she suggested that you want to hire these kinds of people, because they're hard drivers who will get things done. Needless to say, I was not impressed.

Certain cities are worse than others in these respects.   My worst experiences have been in the NorthEast.  My best experiences with civil and polite folks are always in the south.  Increasingly I get a sense the incivility is spreading.