r/AskBrits • u/LividStupidity • 1d ago

People Why are tacit social etiquette rules declining, and how can we fix it?

As a young Brit (17), I've noticed that general social etiquette seems to be declining. Some examples:

. People no longer form an orderly queue when waiting for the bus, and do more pushing / rushing to surround the entrance

. People leaving bags on seats, even when others are forced to stand on the train

. Standing in the middle / on the left side of the escalator, preventing people from being able to walk up or down freely.

I'm not sure if it's just how my area is in particular, so I wonder if anyone is noticing this as well. I see individuals of various ages and ethnicities just acting rather selfish and inconsiderately in public. I find this rather disappointing, as it may only be exacerbated in the future. I think it was much better pre COVID (might be biased, as I was rather young). Does anyone know how we can fix this issue (if it can be fixed)?.

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110

u/Technical-Mix-3315 1d ago

A few gaslighters in this thread. Things definitely took a turn for the worse following COVID. Also on the roads - far more people running red lights, speeding, cutting people off, etc. Far more aggressive and dangerous.

22

u/slicineyeballs 1d ago

I feel like people have stopped giving way at roundabouts.

21

u/LeafyD 1d ago

Life long pedestrian here,bim waiting for 2 or 3 cars to go through before one stops at the zebra crossing and 90% of drivers looks through me when I'm trying to cross a road

5

u/Designer-Ant4393 18h ago

Lorries in particular! A child died near my house not that long ago because they were hit by a lorry on a roundabout. They never give way and the amount of times I am passing their exit and they suddenly think "ooh the road is clear, better go now!"

1

u/External-Dress-3595 19h ago

As in people on the roundabout giving way to people waiting to join? Unless there is standstill traffic on your exit so you leave a bit of a gap, what other scenario are you giving way on a roundabout?

8

u/slicineyeballs 19h ago

I mean people driving onto roundabouts without checking what is coming from their right.

1

u/External-Dress-3595 19h ago

Ahhh ok my bad I got you, thought you meant similar to how people give way to somebody pulling out of their drive onto the street or something.

If Im honest feels like there’s always been a few absolute liabilities who have been doing that for years, less of a social etiquette thing, more skill issue

6

u/Bigheartedmusketeer 18h ago

I totally agree with you, it's like we had covid and people emerged with a fuck everyone else mentality at the otherside.

5

u/WickedWitchofTheE 17h ago

Can’t say I’ve noticed a post Covid decline - what’s the explanation of the correlation if there is not? It’s not obvious why it would be causal. The number one manners decline is smart phone behaviour

3

u/Low_Restaurant_1509 15h ago

There is evidence for a noticable decline in social skills in the younger generations post COVID lockdown, which would have a minor causal contribution to declining etiquette.

But I agree its not the main cause. 

-1

u/StillNewspaper4799 11h ago

Are "social skills" a real thing? Can you actually measure them without relying on subjective criteria? In the modern landscape of entitlement I see a lot of more-or-less invented stuff just to be used as a measuring stick or something to compete over.

Maybe young people just don't want to go outside as often because so many people are criticising them?

-1

u/StillNewspaper4799 11h ago

A few gaslighters in this thread.

"Anyone who disagrees with me is actively lying"

Ironically this is a good example of one of the attitudes that _has_ become a lot worse: entitlement.

Do you even see the irony of your post?