First a confession, I am a shopaholic. I have to visit shops every day.
Yesterday, I visited three budget shops.
I prefer Waitrose and M & S.
I like Waitrose, but can't afford their prices. Same with M & S. I shop in my local Aldi and Morrison's. Yes, there are plenty of rude people in both. People who shout and barge around with their trolleys. People who let their kids use scooters and skates in the store. People who use their phones all the time at the checkouts, or have earphones plugged in. People who don't say 'please' or 'thank you'. There could be many reasons for rudeness. Ignorance. Lack of education. Pure arrogance.
I'm not quite sure what you mean by 'common people', Robert. Are you implying that there might be a 'class' thing attached to this? At least, all the stores you've mentioned are those that would be frequented (though not exclusively) by those with less money to spare: people on low incomes and benefits. Of course, as you and I know, income level is no indicator of manners. And plenty of those at the top of the pile, who've had good upbringings and excellent educations, can be rude and vulgar. I suspect such people, too, would be less likely to go to discount stores.
I'm sure you're not being judgmental or making generalisations - so I'm just wondering how you would categorise these 'common people' otherwise.
There seems to be quite a debate going on now about society, and whether people are actually getting ruder or not. Personally, I think they are. The smart phone has certainly had an impact here. I've lost count of the number of times I've been speaking to someone and they've broken off either to answer their phone or reply to a text. And carrying on loud conversations with them on public transport and other public places. Before the advent of the mobile, we only really did such things in sound-proofed phone booths, or in the privacy of our own homes. So, I classify these habits as rudeness - if you define it as disregarding the presence of others, or not caring less how intrusive you are being. As Will Self has said, these devices seem to be the absolute realisation of anomie in our culture.
And whatever happened to common courtesies? I've also lost count of the number of times I'll be looking at something in a shop and someone else has reached across in front of me without a word. Or, if they do speak, it's most often an 'Excuse me', rather than the 'Excuse me, please' that I was brought up to use. I actually turned to someone one day - a middle-aged woman, who should have known better - and said 'Excuse me what?' She glared at me. 'Excuse me... I want to get to the shelf!'
At Christmas, my niece's husband was showing off their Alexa. 'Alexa. Tell me the temperature in the kitchen'... to which I intoned 'Please'. 'Alexa. Play 'Merry Christmas, Everyone.' 'Please.' I understand that they've now reprogrammed these virtual assistants to respond to 'Please'... but people still don't seem to use it. I guess if people - especially the young - get used to having things done for them without 'please' or 'thank you' being needed, they could easily end up not using them in any kind of exchange.
Maybe I'm just being pedantic. Forgive me for trying to maintain some politeness in an increasingly couldn't-care-less world.
I like Waitrose, but can't afford their prices. Same with M & S. I shop in my local Aldi and Morrison's. Yes, there are plenty of rude people in both. People who shout and barge around with their trolleys. People who let their kids use scooters and skates in the store. People who use their phones all the time at the checkouts, or have earphones plugged in. People who don't say 'please' or 'thank you'. There could be many reasons for rudeness. Ignorance. Lack of education. Pure arrogance.
I'm not quite sure what you mean by 'common people', Robert. Are you implying that there might be a 'class' thing attached to this? At least, all the stores you've mentioned are those that would be frequented (though not exclusively) by those with less money to spare: people on low incomes and benefits. Of course, as you and I know, income level is no indicator of manners. And plenty of those at the top of the pile, who've had good upbringings and excellent educations, can be rude and vulgar. I suspect such people, too, would be less likely to go to discount stores.
I'm sure you're not being judgmental or making generalisations - so I'm just wondering how you would categorise these 'common people' otherwise.
There seems to be quite a debate going on now about society, and whether people are actually getting ruder or not. Personally, I think they are. The smart phone has certainly had an impact here. I've lost count of the number of times I've been speaking to someone and they've broken off either to answer their phone or reply to a text. And carrying on loud conversations with them on public transport and other public places. Before the advent of the mobile, we only really did such things in sound-proofed phone booths, or in the privacy of our own homes. So, I classify these habits as rudeness - if you define it as disregarding the presence of others, or not caring less how intrusive you are being. As Will Self has said, these devices seem to be the absolute realisation of anomie in our culture.
And whatever happened to common courtesies? I've also lost count of the number of times I'll be looking at something in a shop and someone else has reached across in front of me without a word. Or, if they do speak, it's most often an 'Excuse me', rather than the 'Excuse me, please' that I was brought up to use. I actually turned to someone one day - a middle-aged woman, who should have known better - and said 'Excuse me what?' She glared at me. 'Excuse me... I want to get to the shelf!'
At Christmas, my niece's husband was showing off their Alexa. 'Alexa. Tell me the temperature in the kitchen'... to which I intoned 'Please'. 'Alexa. Play 'Merry Christmas, Everyone.' 'Please.' I understand that they've now reprogrammed these virtual assistants to respond to 'Please'... but people still don't seem to use it. I guess if people - especially the young - get used to having things done for them without 'please' or 'thank you' being needed, they could easily end up not using them in any kind of exchange.
Maybe I'm just being pedantic. Forgive me for trying to maintain some politeness in an increasingly couldn't-care-less world.
Some people have class, others are common.
The distinction is NOT about having money.
Some poor people have class, good manners , eccentric behaviour, interesting lifestyles, and finally many Autistics.
Now, common is common, even having money cannot make up for it!
