I have to say there are a lot of rude people out there.... mostly the younger generation. I think they know better but choose to ignore what little they've been taught. I've noticed a huge lack of respect for elders ... but maybe that's a different subject.

As for the cell phones.... I've noticed it when I'm riding the bus. It makes me uncomfortable and frankly I'd rather not listen to someone's conversation (even if it is one sided). I'd have to say alot of people out there are indifferent rather than ignorant.

I am a regular bus commuter trying to do my part for traffic and environmental sensibility. Every morning, at about six forty-five, I leave my vehicle at the park and ride, and line up with about twenty others at the bus shelter. Some days, I'm near the head of the line, and others well back. But to a few individuals, when they arrive seems to make absolutely no difference, as they boldly walk to the head of the line, past one or two dozen waiting folks, to assume their privileged position at the head of the pack. On a few occasions when I have spoken out and politely noted that we are all waiting our turn, responses have ranged from the obscene to frosty glares, and of the half dozen times when I've made mention of the lack of civility line cutting demonstrates, only one person actually headed to the back of the line.

When I announced my first pregnancy, several people asked me if it was planned. I was married and in my thirties so it shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone. The people that asked were not relatives or close friends. They were co-workers and people I barely knew. I didn't know what they wanted to find out. Did they want to explore a failed method of birth control? If they were wondering if it was a happy time, they need only have seen the smile on my face. We were ecstatic! Needless to say, I didn't give the nosy parkers the satisfaction of an answer. None was required.

As a teacher I am constantly frustrated and amazed at the level of rudeness of my students. I am in a battle against cell phones (calls and texts), mp3 players and now even personal game systems. Teens don't seem to have any concept of manners although parents that call their children during class do not seem to either. These devices are now so widely owned and used that the behaviour has become almost impossible to control and seems acceptable among youth today.

I was once in the washroom at the airport in Edmonton when a lady in the stall next to me decided this was the perfect time to make a call on her cell phone. Amid the flushing and other noises she says to the caller on the other end "You'll never guess where I am!" I thought if they only knew. I didn't stick around to hear how the call ended. I can only hope it was done before she was...

I have a funny one. My sister went to Florida (Disneyland) with her family. They come from France, so their little 6 years old son doesn't understand any English...but his father hears the little Fred say: "excuse me" and push over people to let him through. His father asks him: Fred can you tell me what "excuse me" means? and the little one answers: "ça veut dire: pousse-toi de la". (which means in French: "excuse me means get out of the way")

The issue with Blackberrys is that if you don't respond immediately you are being rude to whomever sent the message because that person knows that you are connected. If you do respond immediately on your Blackberry, you are being rude to the person, or group, with whom you are with. With Blackberrys the question might be: "Who do you offend the least?"

What a timely topic! I see the decline everywhere, everyday. When did it become socially acceptable to put on make-up, brush your teeth and apply deodorant in public? Whatever happened to the powder room - and - where do we go from here? What's next? We see girls and boys spitting everywhere. Small matters, I suppose, but indicative of broader attitudes. Is this the legacy of the 'do your own thing' 60's? As a child of that time, I'm afraid to say that, in large part, it is. Children have no respect for adults, because 'they're special' and manners are simply irrelevant and never taught. It's very sad. We are producing a very brutal, me-first society that is going to be very cruel to our weak, our young and our elderly.

The thing that annoys me most of all is the cab drivers who talk on their phone the entire time they are driving you from one place to another sometimes in the middle of a snow storm. Then they forget to turn up your street because they really don't remember where they're going, or aren't paying attention because they're on the phone. It's rude, dangerous and sometimes costs me more money. I take a LOT of cabs and it is a rare occasion that a cab driver is not on the cell phone.

I am always amazed how people pretend not to see others in an effort to avoid holding the door for them when entering or exiting a building. Last year when I was visibly pregnant I noticed that because of my pregnancy, more people made an effort to hold the door for me, for which I was very grateful. I don't mean to undermine the civility that these strangers showed me, but that whole episode made me question why it took me being noticeably pregnant for strangers to be courteous and civil. It's unfortunate that in our society good manners are now the exception and no longer the standard.

We all live busy lives and the phone is a constant reminder that the world is always just a phone-call from jumping in. When I telephone others, for work or for pleasure, I always ask the person at the other end if I am interrupting and/or whether they have the time to take my call? I don't know anyone who reciprocates with this same courtesy. ?? It would be nice... but instead I often get calls where the caller just launches into their agenda without any concern that I may have been in the middle of something important or inconsequential.

I'm at Superstore deciding what line to enter and I make a move, a wee girl buds in front of me and I place my stuff on the conveyor belt and Cashier does her thing. the girl is yelling at her mom to hurry up but she is too late. Next week same thing I enter a line behind a man with a bag of rice and start loading up the conveyor belt. He is yelling at his wife to hurry up, she has a full cart and the only way she can bud is if I take stuff off the Conveyor belt. I was with my son and just shook my head and said "its not gonna happen"...so the guy buys the rice then waits for us to make our purchases and then watches his wife unload the rest of their goodies. I think it’s a new strategy for people, one to line up the other to meet them in the line up.

I call them The Oblivions, they are completely unconcerned with others. The subway doors open. There is an oblivion leaning on each side of the doorway. Neither will budge - one needs to shove their way in. They stand in the walking side of the escalator, stop on stairs and in doorways, and if you refuse to run down an old lady, they will step on your heels to hurry you along.

Bicycles on the sidewalk - that is the most rude behavior - it makes me crazy. Sometimes they will even make noises to get pedestrians to move out of the way. The cyclists weave around pedestrians at top speeds - no concern at all for other's safety. I am a cyclist, I ride on the road - sadly, the bike lanes are often blocked by cars and trucks.

At 40-something I decided to take an introductory Hebrew class. Within the first couple of weeks a young man sitting in the row ahead of me frequently talked with his friends so loudly that I couldn't hear what the professor was saying. As a professor myself, I find this behaviour annoying. As a student, it interfered with my learning, so I politely asked the perpetrator if he could speak less often or more quietly to his neighbour during class. His response? He told me I could sit somewhere else in the class if I didn't like hearing him talk; I didn't need to sit close to the front. "Besides," he added, "I've paid my tuition. I can do what I like."

Over the fifteen years that I've taught, I've noticed the civility gap is widening. Most of my students are polite, apologizing for missing appointments or for coming late to class. But some seem oblivious to the notion that their behaviour might have an effect on others or even that there are others around them. Technology exacerbates the gap so that the solipsist can plug up his or her organs of sensation with i-pods, laptops, and cell phones and be truly unaware of the surrounding human community.

My story about the curse of gum chewing: Once I had to lead a meeting at my job and, of the 14 in attendance, NINE people on the opposite side of the table were chewing away, seemingly outdoing one another with mouth calisthenics and noises. It was difficult to make my points with that display in front of me. And it is becoming ever more prevalent all the time.

There was a case sometime in the last few years where a Canadian judge (in Quebec, maybe?) objected to those in his courtroom chewing gum; he threw them out for contempt of court. It was written up in the Globe & Mail at the time so you could probably turn it up with some work; I considered clipping it to deposit in my boss's mailbox since she is a dreadful example but didn't have the courage.

I work in the Telecommunications industry and find I spend more time now at meetings asking people to either turn their devices on vibrate or to pay attention to what's being presented. There used to be a time when if you left someone a voice mail, you gave them time to respond but with email and so many hand-held devices now, instant response is expected. With the way technology is evolving, quiet time to think is going to be impossible to achieve. I listened to you today on Q107 and can't wait to see your documentary. I am often told by my peers that I'm old school when it comes to the "social graces" and I say to them "no you just never went to the right school".

After watching "Rude" I have to say that my parents did a fantastic job raising me! My parents taught me to hold a door for someone, say excuse me when I burped, keep my elbows off the table & sit up straight! I'm 34 years old and see people that park in no parking zones and never say thank you for anything! Sad part is they are both younger & older then me.

People can't say that "generation X" is the generation that thinks of themselves first; which for the most part is quite an accurate statement but I find many older people do the same thing. I love music as much as the next person but if I sit beside you on the bus I don't want to hear your music that's why you are required to use headphones but at the same time, if you are in a car and I'm beside you if I want to hear your music I'll turn to that station or buy the CD. Turn it down if for no other reason then you're going to lose your hearing!

Being from Nova Scotia, we have been known for our friendliness which as a customer services representative for a major communications company is great but I have actually had people comment that I'm so friendly and perky I can't be from well central Canada; however not everyone that is living in Nova Scotia is that way. Perhaps this "doc" should be mandatory and played by all employers and should be required in schools.

There are a number of rude people out there and, yes, it is mostly the younger generation. I would never even consider doing most of the things that youth these days are getting away with.

I am recently in a new job and working in a department that "has a reputation" within the company (other employees have told me this). It was answered in tonight's show ... there is office Incivility demonstrated by one of the managers in the department I work in. People say "good morning" to this woman and she just pauses for 15 seconds (not acknowledging the greeting) and then goes about her business.

Thank you for giving this the name of Office Incivility .. I didn't know how to refer to it.

I know that I am not a typical 21-year-old. I hold doors. I give up my seat on the bus to the elderly, injured, or pregnant women. I give a wave of thanks to drivers that stop for me at crosswalks. I prefer not to use my cell phone in crowded places. I say please and thank you. And I find myself embarrassed by those of my peers that do not extend these common courtesies to the people around them.

However, I take issue with the implication of this documentary that this epidemic of rudeness is mainly the problem of people around my age. I work in a retail store and I have encountered more people who are incredibly rude to me who are 40+.

Just this past weekend, I had a woman in her late fifties come into the store and demand that I fix a product for her. Never mind that we do not carry this product, I wanted to try to help her because it was the kind thing to do. This woman proceeded to yell at me the entire time I was looking at her product and told me I was "taking too long" after having been in the store for five minutes. I was shocked at her behavior, especially since I had been going out of my way to help her. I think everybody should have to work retail once in their life... maybe this would open people's eyes to the concept of treating others the way you would like to be treated.

Oh gosh, where to begin...as with the other teacher above, I am in agony trying to instill a sense of civility in some of my students. I'm afraid negative experiences in the classroom have left me no choice but to absolutely ban cell phones in my classroom (still working on the ipods...). Unfortunately, the more you are aware of the problem, the more glaringly obvious it becomes, until you become hyper-sensitized.

However, recently I gleaned a special piece of information that has helped me deal with the tidal wave of incivility; every day, I try to count at least 7 fools. I "collect" them, as it were, and laugh at their follies. Instead of getting mad (and uncivil myself) I just smile and them and wink.

I guess there's no need to mention most days I meet my daily quota of fools before noon...;-)

I agree with the documentary's take on the "Me Generation" and I have come to feel that alot of the inconsiderateness of people is not only selfish personality traits, but also that people cannot practise what they have not been taught. Sadly, even when part of a person's professional training should dictate otherwise, that selfish "me first" inclincation still rears its ugly head and adds to the misery of people whether in the workplace, or otherwise.

I was at the receiving end of such unprofessional behaviour while a patient in a large city hospital in Alberta very recently. Out of 30+ nurses that probably looked after me; I enjoyed great relationships and was treated extremely well, with the exception of one nurse. Her behvariour was not only rude and very disrespectful towards me as a patient, but also in general principle, due to the fact that I am of an age that I could very easily have been her Mother. She very brusquely breezed into my room early in the morning hours for her rounds, and in less than 2 minutes, she had sized up what she believed what my circumstances to be (only due to her own ignorance, impatience, and misunderstanding) and promptly berated me and complained that she hadn't even been to see yet another patient up the hallway yet, that was "even sicker than you!". (quote) Her gross lack of respect, rude comments fueled by her own lack of understanding of the facts, caused her to find fault, not with her own shortcomnigs in carrying out her job, but instead very swiftly turned my circumstances somehow into the reason why she was not doing her job effectively, and very rudely making that point known to me.

Even so called "professionals" can and do act very "unprofessionally" and it seems to me, more and more that such behaviours are common to that "me generation" and have become the standard of acceptable behaviour! One of the professors in the program made mention of 'being cognizant of the fact that others claim to comfort and happiness is as valued as our own'; this one nurse out of 30, sadly stands out, not for her kindness and goodness that others in her profession demonstrated; but for her total lack of manners where it should be paramount; that in looking after the weak and sick, one place that her profession demands to be concerned about the comfort and happiness of others to be valued!

I calmly told this nurse that perhaps she should go ahead and look after her "other patient who was far sicker than I." I was so taken aback, being a person who was raised to value to feelings of others, that I was totally stunned by her brutal rudeness within the confines of an interaction that could have taken all of five minutes from start to end. As it turned out, she got her facts straightened out and casually mentioned later to me: " that, oh, I guess you were right after all, I just wasn't aware that we gave that medication in that form, but obviously we do" but yet she continued on in her facetious manner and never offered any apology. I hope that by my responding to her with kindness instead of by replying to her in kind, that a better outcome was achieved; and tried to calm myself by wondering what kind of stress this young woman might have been under to cause her to lash out in such a manner in such a short period of time. I believe that before society in general can change; individuals will have to change, and sadly, human nature being what it is, I don't see that improving on its own.

I share an office with a co-worker. She talks loud on the phone and off the phone. Chews gum loudly, snaps.....she snacks on sweets and crackers all day. She slips her tea.
I have asked her to keep her voice down as i am either on the phone with a customer or i am working.

She ignores me. This person also talks over top of others when they are talking. Nobody will tell her about her rudeness or lack of manners, but everyone complains.

I greatly enjoyed Rude: Where are our Manners? last night. My husband and I speak often about the lack of manners today. Our parents taught us the importance of manners and respect, and I believe we are better for it. At 28, many of my peers have little or no manners and their children have even less.

As parents of 5 and 6 year old girls, we have decided to teach them manners and etiquette. This has proven hard at times because many of their friends are very rude. I have caught my 6 year old giving her friends lessons in Please and Thank You.

My biggest issue right now is swearing in public. I dislike how it seems so acceptable and I don't understand why people will swear up a storm with my young children right there. But just when it seems like all is lost, I have had people come up to me and ask how I get my children to be polite and to behave. Its hard work, but by setting a good example yourself and some encouragement, children can learn a lot - and change the world! It is my hope that we will see manners and etiquette come back to the forefront of society.

Good overview of the problem, I would say, but you missed one big issue when it comes to the part played by technology. I'm referring to voice mail. For countless thousands of young people with not a clue about what it means to be polite, voice mail is a wonderful tool for abusing others. In the world of the badly bred, "I'll call you back as soon as possible" really means "Get lost." The idea of picking up a phone and answering someone politely has become as rare as the bow and the curtsy. Had you brought up the voice-mail issue, your expose would have been more complete.

I really enjoyed the documentary, although I fear they are preaching to the choir.

The youth of today lack manners because they simply don't know any better. However, the boomers are hands down, the rudest, most uncivil people I have ever met.

I switched to a customer service job in the food industry a few years ago, and I have interacted with a decent cross section of Canadians since then. When I see someone 'of a certain age' approach the counter, I instantly feel stressed.

The Boomers are overwhelmed with their career and family obligations and probably buried in senseless debt from "Keeping up with the Joneses.' There are repercussions from standing up to your boss or partner, so customer service people make great targets.

Anytime I'm determined to put on a smile at work, there is someone, inevitably a boomer, equally determined to wipe it off.

Excellent show! I cannot agree more!

This show hit home for me. It stated all the things going on in my head recently that I've been meaning to write about (I write for an online zine).

I can't even tell you how many acts of rudeness I experience daily. I hold doors for everyone and probably 1 out of 10 times (when not at work) do I hear a "thank you". It baffles me.

Another type of rudeness that really gets to me is in team meetings when we are discussing clients progress, co-workers will take private calls during the meeting. Some don't even step out. I do not believe we are paid to take private calls, especially during a meeting where the focus should be on our clients. It's amazing! Then there is the other end of the scale. I will be running my therapy groups with clients and they will take personal phone calls in the middle of group! They seem to think their call is more important than the reason they are in hospital! Yet, I'm only allowed to ask them to leave the room, not that they do not answer their call. Usually they do not come back to group after answering their phone, as they will talk for a long time.

On the transit is probably the time when I can count the most amount of acts in such a short time. I constantly see people sitting in seats, look up at a pregnant woman, someone with a visible disability or an elderly person and not even bother to offer their seat to them. It's especially horrible, when these people are sitting in the seats designated for these exact purposes. Where do people get off behaving so badly?

Have you ever tried getting off the subway at a busy station during rush hour?!?!?! It's horrible. People are shoving past you to get on and you haven't even exited the vehicle! I have a habit of nicely letting them know that they will not be getting on, until everyone leaving has exited.

There are so many more points I could make about this, but there just isn't enough time right now.

I will continue my mission to be a polite, helping citizen, in hopes that others will see this and do the same.

I was absolutely enthralled by your story and I felt like I was back in my university sociology class. I too have been appalled by the lack of manners and ettiquette our society displays, as I think of how I stood in a long line up at the dollar store with crutches under my arms and an ankle brace holding up my broken ankle that required surgery. An elderly woman trying to sneak her way in line ahead of me, finally turned to face me and had the gumption to say "Oh I just have two things to pay for." I suppose she read my face of shock and explained she had a swollen ankle and could not stand. So I suppose standing with crutches and a brace in a long line says "HEY world I'm fine and could stand here for hours?" As she said this I pointed to my own casted ankle and she persisted comparing that hers was more swollen and she had no one to help her, when just moments earlier her very healthy looking but annoyed, daughter ditched her stating that she would wait for her in the car. I figured there was no educating her now.

Great show on the decline in civility and some of the contributing factors. Highly socially relevant.

I really enjoyed this doc and i think this topic needs a great deal more attention. As a mom of a tween, I am aghast at how permissive todays parents are. Your expert was right, we've gone so far in the wrong direction in the name of childrens rights and self esteem. We've lost authority and respect, and the scary thought is that our children will be the ones in charge some day. It is an uphill battle trying to instill manners and values, when our children spend more time in the public school system, watching media and having it all re inforced by their friends.

The program on manners was fascinating. I absolutely loved it.
I am bothered by two of the comments. The first is the comment from Gillian about "boomers" and how they are supposed to be so rude. I am a boomer and I have to disagree. It's too bad that you feel stressed when you talk to them, but it's quite a generalization to make.
The second comment that I find somewhat bothersome is the one about public school and media and the influences of others on your own children. So typical to blame others. Wasn't that one of the points of the program?
Children are what they live, and as a parent, you have the greatest influence in their lives. My two children are wonderful examples of good manners.
I was on a bus with my son (22 yrs old) in San Francisco. I watched him, without any fanfare, reach over to press the rear door opener for someone who had difficulty doing so because her arms were full of packages. My daughter (24 yrs old) is no fan of cell phones, but had one while her boyfriend was deployed to Afghanistan. We were in a movie theatre and she had the phone set to vibrate. The phone vibrated and it was her boyfriend. She immediately left the theatre to talk to him and came back when she was done.
It's no fluke that they are both respectful of those around them. It's what they saw while they were growing up - with both their parents and all of our friends.

I loved the documentary, i wish there were more like this! I am a mother of two, soon to be three children under the age of 5 and I do not want them raised as self centred egotistic brats. we do our best in our home but when we are out and I see the lack of manners and rude behaviours of adults, it makes me cringe! what are they learning! why has the world become about ME and we can find and validate every rude behaviour with reason and right!
it was a great doc on attitudes , one thing that a future doc can ciover is our lack of respect for our resources, including the food we eat, we'll pile on our plates and through away the rest when we are full, the rule of take just enough and you can always have seconds are gone! or finish what is on your plates don't apply anymore, we don't keep left overs from our plates, just toss them in the bin. why is that? can't we save it for later, or why do we pile high to not finish it later?
anyway I think it was a great article i hope we can all learn from it, we are not all perfect...thanks Doc Zone and Valerie Pringle!