評(píng)論
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編者按：
粗魯?shù)娜丝偸前缘榔廴耍t遜有禮的人卻無(wú)能為力。這就是我和米歇爾在思索如何對(duì)付這些粗魯?shù)娜酥蟮贸龅慕Y(jié)論。
Rude Awakening
I was driving late one night，alone．This was not easy，as two feet of snow lay on the road．The heck with what lane I was in；I was just trying to keep my car pointed forward．A guy behind me in a four－wheel－drive vehicle began flashing his headlights．I figured there must be some danger ahead or that something was wrong with my car．So I slowed down．He pulled up beside me and gestured as though he had something important to say．I stopped and rolled down the window on the passenger side．
“What are you，stupid？”he said，spitting his words into the crisp winter air．“Don’t you know how to use a turn signal1)？”Then he used a lot of curse2) words to characterize my driving，my heritage and my sexual history．He was still yelling when I rolled up my window and drove off．Rude people are taking over．You run into them more and more often，in more and more places．
Recently my friend Michele went on her first shopping expedition after breaking her ankle．There she was，balanced on crutches，looking through a rack of dresses．She felt so me pressure，then a push．A woman at the same rack3) was trying to nudge her out of the way．“
Um，”Michele said，“I think there’s room for both of us here．”The woman glared at her and said，“Get out of my way unless you want your other leg broken．”Michele reported the incident to the store manager，pointing out that the store was about to lose a good customer on account of this bully．The manager said there was nothing she could do――not unless there was actual physical contact and a store employee witnessed4) it．“Rude people like that are just the type to sue，”she told Michele．
Rude people seize all the power．Normal，courteous5) people get none．This is what Michele and I concluded as we tried to think of a way to combat the bullies．We imagined laws against rudeness．We considered mandatory6) tranquilizer7) prescriptions for rude people．We envisioned support groups for the victims of rudeness．
Later I went to another friend’s house where a lot of neighborhood kids were playing．One was different――a rude person in training．For no apparent reason this nine－year－old kid kicked my friend’ s dog and made an obscene gesture at it．Then Katie，my three－year－old niece，gleefully8) plopped down in a seat．She didn’t know it was the rude kid’s seat．“Get up，”the boy said，“before I kick you too．”I wanted to scoop up Katie and carry her away．I wanted t o shield her forever from the generations of bullies her future held．But Katie straightened her back，folded her arms and looked the boy squarely in the eye．“You are rude，”she said．
The room went quiet．The boy retreated．
It’s a start．All together now：“You are rude．”
□by Jeanne Marie Laskas
