To think people are becoming more inconsiderate and selfish

[TwentyOneGuns]

I'm getting so fed up with having my life and space interrupted by other people's selfish behaviour. I know you can't live in a bubble but surely it's not BU to expect basic manners?

It's things like colleagues who think it's acceptable to put the radio on through their computer and sing along even though it disturbs everyone else. Or idiots on trains who play loud music, watch videos without headphones, eat smelly food or just think the rest of the carriage is interested in their conversation. Or neighbours who think it's fine to sit in the garden drunkenly yelling and laughing until stupid o'clock when people are trying to sleep.

These are just a few recent examples. I appreciate I am probably getting old and grumpy but this is really getting me down. Why should I have to sit at work wearing headphones or sleep in a different room just because of other people's thoughlessness? I'm sick of it :(.

I think we have gone too far down the road of believing everyone's opinion should carry equal weight in all circumstances. This is why (IMO) the world seems so much more selfish these days...

Since your solution appears to be that your opinion is unquestionable, no matter whether or not other people agree, I wouldn't consider that less selfish!

Ultimately, it's up to the senior management in each office to decide whether or not they should be silent spaces. You don't get to make a unilateral decree.

I was speaking with a woman in Morrisons today who worked behind one of the counters and she said she'd worked with the public for 10 years and she thought their behaviour was getting worse

Really? Do you genuinely think that the positions of 'radio on in office environment' and 'radio off in office environment' are equivalents and should therefore be given equal weight?

That was a genuine question by the way, I'm interested to hear the logic behind it...

I certainly don't expect a silent office and if I was working by myself at home I may well have the radio or music on. But I'd have the choice to turn it off if I needed to concentrate which I don't have when someone else has made the decision to play it and chosen an advert-packed station - I don't think it's unreasonable to find that distracting.

I'm not suggesting everyone should think the way I do but surely some things are just basic good manners? That's what I think has changed, people don't seem to consider anyone else.

Well, I would actually prefer a silent workspace, but I think if 9 out of 10 people preferred some background music that outweighs my own personal preference. Is that really such a controversial opinion?

That's what I think has changed, people don't seem to consider anyone else.

I think what has happened is that, in a noble attempt to be more democratic and to ensure that all voices are heard, we have inadvertantly gone too far down this path.

We now seem to attach equal importance to opinions that are informed and well-considered as we do to those that are ignorant and selfish.

I hate to say it, but I think the situation in our schools, in which teachers have had pretty much all their 'crowd control' powers taken away from them has contributed to this. Young people seem to have very little respect for authority, and from this has flowed a general lack of respect for others.