OT: "As the Rudes Get Ruder, the Scolds Get Scoldier"

[Lenona]

I enjoy Amy Alkon's blog (and she has a new book, "I See Rude
People"), but this startled me.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/fashion/15rude.html

As the Rudes Get Ruder, the Scolds Get Scoldier

By DOUGLAS QUENQUA
Published: November 13, 2009

Do two rudes make a polite?

Amy Alkon, a syndicated advice columnist and self-described “manners
psycho,” certainly thinks so. Just ask “Barry,” a loud cellphone
talker she encountered recently at a Starbucks in Santa Monica, Calif.

“He just blatantly took over the whole place with his conversation,
streaming his dull life into everybody’s brain,” Ms. Alkon recalled in
a telephone interview.

Among the personal details Barry shared that day — errands to run,
plans for the evening — was his phone number, which Ms. Alkon jotted
down.

“I called him that night and said, ‘Just calling to let you know,
Barry, that if you’d like your private life to remain private, you
might want to be a little more considerate next time,’ “ she said.

So there.

(snip)

36 comments follow.

Comment from Nov. 14th:

"Revenge can be very sweet.
"At a coffee shop in Philly, an obnoxious jerk was talking extremely
loudly about the condo he was selling. He went on and on about how he
had convinced 'some dumb b****' to pay $40,000 more than he was
prepared to accept and that he had her fooled into thinking there was
another buyer ready to pay cash--a total lie.

"It took me only a few minutes of unavoidable listening to realize
that my best friend was the object of his contempt. Shortly after he
left, I gave her the news. The jerk's loud-mouthed bragging cost him
$40k."

Lenona.