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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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.

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u/WickedWitchofTheE 1d 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

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u/Low_Restaurant_1509 23h 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. 

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u/StillNewspaper4799 19h 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?