Rude: Where are our Manners?

I'm always being shocked. No one signals, people don't say hello back when you pass them in the park, people walk three abreast on the sidewalk and don't move for anyone. Who says excuse me or sorry or thank you anymore? -Valerie Pringle

Rude: Where are our Manners? is a one-hour documentary exploring our ideas of modern civility, or lack thereof. 

Valerie Pringle walks with civility expert, Benet Davetian, on a P.E.I. street. 

 

People's perception of our world is that we've become increasingly uncivil - kids are out of control, people talk on their cellphones everywhere and the f-word is a standard greeting. 

But hasn't every generation since time began worried that their world was becoming less tolerant and less civil? And isn't change sometimes for the better? Not too long ago a woman wearing pants could be seen as uncivil, and for that matter so was an African American person using a public water fountain.

Valerie Pringle interviews Judith Martin, aka Miss Manners. Read more of the interview online.

Rude: Where are our Manners? will take a journey through the past and into our present while asking difficult questions - are we more uncivil, where did we go wrong, did we go wrong, and is it possible to change? 

Our guide will be Valerie Pringle, she wants answers to why our world seems so rude. She tracks down the experts in her quest for a 21st century guide to manners.  Watch the full episode at CBC Doc Zone