A: Empathy. That feeling that says, ‘Am I bothering you?’ Unless you stumbled onto a moon crater, chances are you’re on Earth, not on the moon, and there are a lot of people who will be bothered by your loud conversation on your cell phone. So think about what you’re doing that’s offending people or stopping them from sleeping.
Amy Alkon talks manners in ‘I See Rude People’ - San Jose Mercury News
nicole sent me this great article, and for it i’m grateful. while i still come from an era in which correcting someone’s poor manners constitutes being rude by itself, i have to appreciate someone willing to say the obvious: the rules of polite society exist because, when it gets down to it, you really ought to be thinking “am i bothering you?” more often.
