Rude, Crude, and often Tatooed
 

How to handle rude passengers.?? Good question. We find them pushing ahead in lines, saving lots of seats on deck and in the auditorium, taking most the goodies from the buffet before others can get some, etc. Way to handle them is to just hold your ground, sit down in an empty seat (of course, if they are in the pool, it should be obvious), and DON"T BAck up.~~~!~! Rude people count on that, being able to buffalo you back and out. And I stand up for the old folks too., like "sorry, but this lady was in front of you" .

Mable, unfortunately the world, not just cruises and vacations are being taken over by rude, crude, loud jerks that don't care a hoot about anyone or anything.Whats the answer? Who knows.<BR> One thing for certain--well mannered people are a minority.

Tatooed? Huh? Interesting. Used to think those who were tatooed were bikers and white trash,...but the grandkids are now sporting tatoos, here and there (near their nose and belly button rings) so we can't necesarily count them among the very rude. It's a 'dog eat dog' world, it seems, and the kids, mine not excluded, haven't the foggiest idea what real manners are, like waiting til a lady sits down, rising when she comes to the table, not using dirty language, etc....everyone now seems reduced to the lowest common denominator.

Times change. Manners change. Not neccessarily for the better or worse, but for different. Among my generation, waiting until a lady sits down and rising when she comes to the table seems at least faintly condescending and sexist. It's not really a matter of reverting to the lowest common denominator, just valuing different things in manners. For instance, it used to be the custom that a man would always hold the door open for a woman; among younger people, whoever gets there first holds it open. Better? Worse? Just different.<BR><BR>Tatoos are just ink on skin. They only gain significance for the way that we view them. They used to be a social marker, a way to tell that somebody was a blue-collar worker or had been in the navy, but now younger people view them as purely decorative. Is one age group right and the other wrong? They're both right on their own terms.<BR><BR>Cicero talked about how the morals of young people were decaying irreparably more than 2000 years ago. It's human nature. I'm sure in 40 years or so, the people of my generation will be talking about how rude young people are these days.<BR><BR>On the other hand, cutting in line is just rude, no matter how you cut it. I agree with mabel's advice on how to handle that, if not the tossed-off tatooed reference.

Yeah? And tatoos are a good way to Hep C too. Believe me...many of my friends are finding out too late that they have it and there is no cure. I'd skip the tatoo if I were young again, and practice a few more manners. Maybe I wouldn't be living alone in this trailer.

Rudenes is not limited to RACE, GENDER, RELIGION, ETHNIC BACKGROUND,REGIONAL AREAS, OR WEALTH/POVERTY. It affect those who ALLOW it to affect them.

xyz<BR><BR>"Tatoos are just ink on skin."<BR><BR>Yeah, I believe you believe that. Tattoos are what young people do as a result of peer pressure. They have become more universal in the US because the media, which propagates anything abberant, has run thousands of stories on them and piercings ever since they showed up in the disaffected youth of the west coast, Seattle primarily. (How many pictures of Angelina Jolie have you seen showing off her tattoo?) Kids, always desparate to be different or unique, embraced them for the peer reaction they got. "Hey man, cool tattoo." Not knowing how to single themselves out in any constructive manner they get instant recognition and "Ahhhh" points by getting a tattoo or a piercing. The sad thing about this, as it is with any rash or unwise decision you make at 15, is that you'll spend more years regretting it than enjoying it. Not to mention the risk of Hepatitis C or Hepatitis B.<BR><BR>It wasn't Cicero but Pilanitus that said, "Never underestimate the stupidity of youth."<BR>

Hi all,<BR><BR>I don't think we should start bashing young people, they aren't the only rude people I have met. Lots of older folks can be crude and rude, too. I think Minerva's post says a great deal. Why don't her kids have a clue as to what manners are? Did you expect them to pick it up at the mall? They have to be taught something along the way. If parents aren't bothering to teach them it won't get much better. I don't mean to bash Minerva, at least she is honest. <BR><BR>Feminism did tend to confuse things a bit. When I was 14 I offered my seat to a woman on a bus once and she called me a male chauvenist (sp?). I was mortified, here I thought I was just a nice kid-- I was 14, for crying out loud!!! It certainly confused me. In that scenario, whom do you think was being rude? <BR><BR>I also do not get the connection between tattoos and rudeness. Some of the nicest drivers I encounter on the highways are truckers with lots of tattoos!<BR><BR>So, there's my deux centimes.<BR><BR>Bill

xyz<BR><BR>"Manners change. Not neccessarily for the better or worse, but for different."<BR><BR>I've read some dumb rationalizations before but this one takes the cake.

Children should be seen, not heard. ( or read )<BR><BR>

xyz<BR><BR>You say about tattoos, "but now younger people view them as purely decorative"<BR><BR>If this is so, why is it that they have to - 1.) risk a disease in order to wear something decorative and 2.) have to wear this decoration for the rest of their lives.<BR><BR>Wouldn't it be wiser to have it put on as a wash off tattoo if it is only for decorative purposes. The answer to this is obvious. No, it is not just for decorative purposes. It's for peer pressure reasons that children get tattoos.

Uh, Neil, maybe it's not because any of your psycho-analyzing. Maybe it's because we want to have tattoos. Maybe there's something in our lives that we want to commemorate and remember forever. Eh?

Ike<BR><BR>Two things:<BR><BR>1.) If you want to commemorate something, get a plaque, don't disfigure your body for life and risk contracting a life time illness like Hepatitis C.<BR><BR>2.) Who is Neil?<BR><BR>

Otto<BR><BR>LOL! Who's Neil!!!<BR><BR><BR>You are right on the money with your remarks.

Excuse me but if I want a tattoo on MY body, I will get one. I don't need or want any plaque. I can not see how it concerns you how I chose to live my life and treat my body if I am not harming anyone else. I think it is rude of all of you insisting that I look a certain way and that if I don't I am somehow weak and succombing to "peer pressure". I also think it's rude of you to judge someone by how they look and not how they act.

Tattoos and piercings are for punks and white trash. Can't wait til you losers are sixty years old with sagging breasts and fat bellies - you'll be real proud of that tattoo then. Yeah, right. Maybe your grandkids will ask why you've got six holes in your ear, one in your nose and one in your tongue. "Well, kids, when Grandpappy was young, he thought he was the coolest thing around..."

Hey Fodors police!!!!! This thread hasn't been about cruising since poster number two - its going on and on about tatoos, hepatitus C and children. Why aren't you doing your job? Blow this thread up - isn't that the critieria - has to be about cruising and not bashing anybody????<BR><BR>Surely you aren't discriminating against the anti-Paul people, ARE YOU?

Otto,<BR>I mistkenly referred to you as Neal. I don't know why -- maybe the tattoos are affecting my brain?<BR>Seriously, I don't know why people are offended by other people getting tattoos. Why do you care? Does it threaten you in some way? <BR>I got my tattoo over 15 years ago and had no health problems from it. I put sunscreen on it to keep the fading down. <BR>Peter, what are you getting so hysterical about? BYT, I'm not anti-Paul, even if he probably is against tattoos.

Excuseme<BR><BR>You no more make that decision than i do. Your decision to tattoo your body is a result of peer pressure plain and simple. You have little if anything to do with it. Once your friends came to school with a tattoo and you saw more and more people with tattoos, it was a no longer a controllable decision for you to make. You HAD to get a tattoo or not fit in. You have little control over your life when you do the same thing everyone else does. It's funny how people who think their actions make them non-conformist are often times the biggest conformist of all.

Ike<BR><BR>I like to argue.