5/19/2006
One woman's story of rudeness at home
Dear Laurie,
My husband is a workaholic and he used to keep his cell phone on during our family dinners at home. I had asked him to turn it off during meals, but he would always get mad and say that we can have these nice meals because he works hard all the time. Our kids were getting frustrated (and so was I), but eventually we all learned to deal with it.
When I heard your interview about the rudeness epidemic on Wisconsin Public Radio I was stunned because I felt like you were talking about my family! I think my husband is a nice guy so I never thought about his cell phone during dinner behavior as "rude." Once I thought about his actions in that context, I was able to talk up and persuade him to change his ways. I took your advice and told him that his actions made me feel like he didn't value me or respect my time. I said that he made me feel like he didn't care about having a conversation with me and the kids. We talked through it and he finally realized that his actions were rude and disrespectful.
Laurie, I hope you will highlight my story on your blog because people should have hope that rude people can change their ways if only we take the time explain their impact on others. Let's stop being oblivious and talk up!
Sincerely,
Janet in Wisconsin
A blog reader's response to Janet's story...
Laurie,
It was on your blog that I read Janet (in Wisconsin)'s story of how she handled her husband's rudeness during family dinners. I think that listening to your radio broadcast gave Janet plenty of courage to speak to him about this issue, thus persuading him to change his behavior, even if it meant confronting him, or "fighting fire with fire." And I hope that readers of your blog who are facing similar issues will follow Janet's example.
Thank you for highlighting her story! And if Janet's husband relapses, or reverts to using his cellphone at dinner, it is likely that his children will follow suit, and resort to being rude at dinner. And one of their children could even say, "It's a drag having a donkey for a father!", or even end up holding a grudge for a while.
-Ruth
My husband is a workaholic and he used to keep his cell phone on during our family dinners at home. I had asked him to turn it off during meals, but he would always get mad and say that we can have these nice meals because he works hard all the time. Our kids were getting frustrated (and so was I), but eventually we all learned to deal with it.
When I heard your interview about the rudeness epidemic on Wisconsin Public Radio I was stunned because I felt like you were talking about my family! I think my husband is a nice guy so I never thought about his cell phone during dinner behavior as "rude." Once I thought about his actions in that context, I was able to talk up and persuade him to change his ways. I took your advice and told him that his actions made me feel like he didn't value me or respect my time. I said that he made me feel like he didn't care about having a conversation with me and the kids. We talked through it and he finally realized that his actions were rude and disrespectful.
Laurie, I hope you will highlight my story on your blog because people should have hope that rude people can change their ways if only we take the time explain their impact on others. Let's stop being oblivious and talk up!
Sincerely,
Janet in Wisconsin
A blog reader's response to Janet's story...
Laurie,
It was on your blog that I read Janet (in Wisconsin)'s story of how she handled her husband's rudeness during family dinners. I think that listening to your radio broadcast gave Janet plenty of courage to speak to him about this issue, thus persuading him to change his behavior, even if it meant confronting him, or "fighting fire with fire." And I hope that readers of your blog who are facing similar issues will follow Janet's example.
Thank you for highlighting her story! And if Janet's husband relapses, or reverts to using his cellphone at dinner, it is likely that his children will follow suit, and resort to being rude at dinner. And one of their children could even say, "It's a drag having a donkey for a father!", or even end up holding a grudge for a while.
-Ruth
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It was on your blog that I read Janet (in Wisconsin)'s story of how she handled her husband's rudeness during family dinners.
I think that listening to your radio broadcast gave Janet plenty of courage to speak to him about this issue, thus persuading him to change his behavior, even if it meant confronting him, or "fighting fire with fire." And I hope that readers of your blog who are facing similar issues will follow Janet's example. Thank you for highlighting her story!
And if Janet's husband relapses, or reverts to using his cellphone at dinner, it is likely that his children will follow suit, and resort to being rude at dinner.
And one of their children could even say, "It's a drag having a donkey for a father!", or even end up holding a grudge for a while.
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I think that listening to your radio broadcast gave Janet plenty of courage to speak to him about this issue, thus persuading him to change his behavior, even if it meant confronting him, or "fighting fire with fire." And I hope that readers of your blog who are facing similar issues will follow Janet's example. Thank you for highlighting her story!
And if Janet's husband relapses, or reverts to using his cellphone at dinner, it is likely that his children will follow suit, and resort to being rude at dinner.
And one of their children could even say, "It's a drag having a donkey for a father!", or even end up holding a grudge for a while.
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: Wednesday, May 24, 2006 9:44:00 AM
: Wednesday, May 24, 2006 9:44:00 AM << Home
