Rudeness is a common element of modern life. "If you don’t like it, lump it." Or "Mind your own business." Or “Get out of the way." This kind of talk and attitude is cropping up more often in public experiences - on the highways, in theater lines, on public transport. Whether it is people smoking in public, or people cutting in line, the examples are almost endless.

It is generally thought around the world that the inhabitants of large cities are ruder than their fellow citizens from smaller towns or the countryside. Walk down streets of any major capital around the world and you will encounter taxi drivers who believe a "Walk" sign at a walkway is an automatic invitation to bump their cars against pedestrians’ knees. Recently, an angry pedestrian reacted by kicking a cab, prompting the driver to get out and give chase. And hardly a day goes by without a reluctant office worker riding an elevator with someone talking loudly on the cell phone, despite the obvious disturbance to fellow passengers. "If you don’t like it, get out and switch to another elevator," one cell phone user recently told another passenger who objected to his loud voice. In New York and other cities, quiet walks are a thing of the past. Who is to blame? The cell phone users talking loudly as well as the annoying drivers behind beeping car horns. In some big cities, subway terminals are bulging with herds of commuters, elbowing their way to grab seats, intimidating the old, the young, the disabled and the pregnant. It’s common to hear people on the bus or subway talking on their cell phones very loudly, being a nuisance to those around them.