Hi all, I live in South Florida and I have to say that for the last four years I have been here it seems that people are becoming nastier by the minute.

Citing a few examples: People don't say thank you when you hold the door for them; driving seems more like an episode of Starsky and Hutch due to the road rage I experience on the highway everyday; people are extremely competitive and secretive; the list goes on and on...

I don't want to be the typical senior citizen that complains about the aberrant youth (I'm 22 by the way) but I am amazed how people behave! Not that I'm mother Theresa in no way, shape or form! I even find myself acting differently as a reaction to the aggressivity. It almost seems that people mistake kindness for weakness.

Please let me know if what I'm experiencing is only true for my portion of the world (South Florida) or is true for the rest of the globe? I'm curious to know.

Thank you for taking the time to listen to my complaints!

It's just you.

The world is the same it has always been.

I think she's right, the world has always been this way.
This feels new to me too though, and I think its because we are all growing up to see what the real true world is really like. Nasty, cruel, heartless, ect. People were DEFINTELY much nicer to me a couple years ago. I think what it was is that they saw innocence in young ones eyes. And now that were older, people feel the need to judge and to be defensive and rude in order to protect what is theirs, and simply for human survival.

I'm inclined to agree with MsDimples and Eyes. (BTW, welcome to CNet,
to both John [I'm assuming... correct me if I'm wrong] and Melissa)



If we're lucky, we don't see a lot of cruelty the world has to offer
when we are children.  As we grow up and navigate the world as adults,
however, we see what colossal jerks people can be.  We hear our parents
and grandparents speak nostalgically of days past, and we assume that
those days were as golden as they describe, but they weren't.  There
were problems then, and jerks, too. 



It reminds me a little of this lyric from the sunscreen song: "Advice
is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from
the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling
it for more than it’s worth."



Them not telling us about the problems and jerks of the world is also a
way of protecting us.  Who wants to tell their bright-eyed
five-year-old that some jerk is going to cut them off in traffic and
flip them off, maybe on the day they get fired and find out their lover
ransacked the apartment and left without a trace?  But, as the saying
goes, $#!+ happens.



The world sucks sometimes.  People suck sometimes.



That all being said, it isn't just you.  Many people feel this.  People
from every generation feel this, and the following ones will feel it as
well.  We may change as far as technology, etc. goes, but at a very
basic level, people are the same as they've always been.



So... to put what I've been rambling about in a nutshell, it isn't you,
and it isn't your portion of the world.  Many people experience this...
but people aren't really changing.  Your perception of the world is. 
And that's not really a bad thing at all.

I agree with tribujohn. The world is getting nastier and more rude and aggressive by the second. If you don't believe me, just look at the mainstream media. The media shows the state of everything. Talk to your elders like your granparents and whatnot...they will tell you all about it.

I will give you an example. I was at the store buying some clothes and I was raised to refer to those older than me as ma'am or sir. So that is how I addressed the lady that was ringing me up. When she finished, she looked at me as if she had never experienced that before and thanked me for being polite.

I was surprised because to me, that is just how things are done. Address as ma'am and sir, and open doors for women regardless if you know them or not. To me, this just shows how much this world is changing. I know that there have always been rotten aspects to this world, but that doesn't mean it isn't getting worse.

Hey William- I think the media IS the reason you think the world is getting meaner & nastier, because they feel it's their job to report on EVERY single mean & nasty thing that goes on in the world. You didn't have that 50 years ago.

I hear the same thing about politicians & athletes. The old timer always saying things like, 'they didn't need to take drugs & hop around with everything in a skirt back in my day'!

Actually they did, you just didn't know about it!

I really don't think people have changed all that much. Technology has changed, our lifestyles are different, but I still think there are just as many good people out there as there were years ago, maybe those people just don't get the press coverage because the media doesn't care about them!

Just a thought!

Well I agree with all of you and disagree at the same time. I agree that it is the omnipresence of the media that makes me think that the world is getting nastier and also that I'm growing up and experiencing "adulthood", but at the same time, life is also getting more competitive and difficult. For example, I am interested in going to pharmacy school, 15 years ago, you just needed a Bachelor degree. Now you need a doctorate in Pharmacy (PharmD). You have to be licensed in order to clean floors! It's ridiculous...so I think that's also part of the equation.

That being said, it's true the world had always had its share of good and NASTY people.

I think that people are becoming more stressed out due to things such as a tough economy (more hours at work, unemployment, higher standard of living costs), less time relaxing, road construction, traffic...the list of stressors could go on and on. In turn, they take this stress out on other people and it seems as if people are more aggressive.

My brother once called the McDonald's comment line, just to compliment some new sandwhich they had. The lady was super surprised, because she gets complaints all day. She sent him coupons for free sandwhiches. So, in short, be nice to people. You don't know what they're going through.

I do have to agree that there are still a ton of nice people out there and there always have been. People can be polite, in general, but then you catch them at their worst moment and it makes it seem as if the world isn't so good. There are many people who come to the zoo and the dollar store when I work that aren't so polite, and then I get the other people who are polite and courteous. I tend to think that most people aren't really that rude and inconsiderate as they seem at times.

I'm pretty sure aggresivity is not a word. Might want to try aggression.

I know what you mean. I grew up in California and is a little over four years ago. Even then the area i lived in was horrible. I saw a two year old yelling and cursing at a four year old to get off his bike and at some point he even threatend to kill the kid. It turned out it wasnt even his bike he just wanted the kids bike. Where i lived all the little kids had vulgure mouths im no saint but thats just horrible.

It just seems to get worse.

Hi Kcmom, thank you for your reply. It's nice to hear that some people have had similar experiences.

Hey LauraD, you made me doubt myself for a second. Aggressivity is in the dictionnary so I guess it is a word, however, I would admit that aggression is more commonly used.

Thanks guys.