Rudeness?

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From The New York Times December 21,2003

Survey Finds Rudeness a Problem for Travelers

Remember common courtesy? Or service with a smile? A new survey suggests that when people talk longingly of the golden age of travel, they refer not to a bygone era of majestic ocean liners but to a time, not so long ago, when passengers and travel industry workers were unfailingly polite.

Americans who take to the road, rails or skies increasingly take along bad manners, according to a survey published last Wednesday by Public Opinion, the nonpartisan opinion organization, and the online travel site Travelocity. And travel industry workers, while better behaved than those they serve, do not always follow Emily Post.

Among respondents, who included 875 airline, bus, train and highway workers canvassed by Public Opinion and 1,009 Travelocity members who traveled within the last 12 months, 65 percent of passengers said rudeness was a serious problem. More than half of travel employees cited rudeness as a major cause of job stress.

Lack of civility in travel is the result of two trends, the survey found: a general loss of respect and the effects of working and traveling under trying conditions. While more than half the respondents said a decline in values had led people to be less polite, they reserved their greatest ire for parents who "failed to teach respect to their kids." Indeed, 80 percent of the passengers cited "uncontrolled children" and people who kick the back of the seat as major aggravations, followed by swearing (67 percent), loud talking (66 percent) and littering (55 percent).

Stressful conditions that did not exist a decade ago have coarsened behavior as well. A majority of travel workers (69 percent) believed rudeness stemmed from "stress due to lack of adequate staff and resources," while more than half of workers (66 percent) and passengers (65 percent) agreed that long lines and crowds were behind unseemly behavior.
Nearly half the travel workers said they had seen a situation where discourteous behavior had almost escalated into physical confrontation. An additional 19 percent had witnessed situations that did become violent. Most industry workers said rudeness was generally limited to a few people.

The survey, with support from the Pew Charitable Trusts, was an outgrowth of a larger report two years ago on rude behavior in society. "When we decided to look at specialized areas that trouble people in daily life, travel was high on the list," said Ruth Wooden, president of Public Agenda.

Is there a solution short of time travel to an earlier, kinder day? While bad manners are contagious, the survey found, good manners are, too. "I would like to think if people were aware of this, they might take a second breath before flashing out to the next level," Ms. Wood said.
TERRY TRUCCO