[Hifred]

We live in The Villages year round. I agree whole heartedly that once the car carriers start bringing in the out of state cars the roads get more crowded and the lines at stores and restaurants increase. I also noticed that rudeness increases at least 100%. In the summer people smile and say hi. In the winter people vie to be ahead of others. If I take a vacation, I tend to do so in the winter as I have found it to be my least favorite time to live in The Villages.

[midiwiz]

Originally Posted by Bill14564

This will be our second season seeing the snowbirds return though I'm not sure last year really counted. We've noticed a marked increase in rudeness in the last couple of weeks; does it always get this way and do we get to enjoy another five months of this?

.

Seriously???? There isn't a single minute of a single day that you won't find something anywhere that someone will whine about. That's just a fact of life. not location, age, or anything else.

[Luggage]

Don't blame me, I hold the door open for people still. But honestly I would say a lot of the people feel their entitled and feel their special because they are a "villagers" . We once went on a cruise and for divorced or single woman by death stop talking to us cuz we didn't live in the right place. I would have to say they are mostly rude until you meet a few nice ones of which they are certainly several here. ( Janet ,Carl, Al) you guys know who you are.

[Luggage]

There are a lot of AAA personalities that still don't get it that they are retired. They are in a rush to get to the next golf game or poker tournament or bridge . I got honked as I was pushing my car to get out of the parking Lane so he can get by a 30 miles an hour yesterday . I still don't get why they speed in the parking lots here especially the golf carters who don't understand if they get hit by a car they will probably be dead

[John-US]

For a senior village, y'all seem to be in a hurry for some reason.

Lastly, Can someone explain to me why the villages doctors office is so crowded, yet we have a parking lot full of FL tags sporting' in god we trust' - are we confusing religion with science again?

[frank1975]

You need to chill and just expect this crap to happen. I see it all year long.

[MandoMan]

Originally Posted by Bill14564

This will be our second season seeing the snowbirds return though I'm not sure last year really counted. We've noticed a marked increase in rudeness in the last couple of weeks; does it always get this way and do we get to enjoy another five months of this?

Just this week:

- Car coming through the Residents gate honked at a cart that had the audacity to pull into the neighborhood rather than crossing the road. The cart didn't impede the car, it was well into the diamond lane before the car reached it, but apparently not sitting and waiting for the car to pass was an offense.

- Car swerving out of the Residents lane and coming through the open gate on the Visitors side without stopping honked at a cart stopped in the center area waiting for exiting cars to pass. Since the incoming car did not stop at the gate it's possible the cart was still part way in the lane when the car reached it which would have caused the car to have to actually slow down after it raced through the open gate.

- Shopper in Publix trying to push my wife out of the way with their cart as (edit) she was looking at the turkey breasts. "I want one of those," seemed be the signal that her time had expired and she was required to move or risk being bumped.

- Shopper exiting Publix making rude comment about me being stopped to load groceries. Not parked, actually sitting in the drivers seat with the vehicle in drive as groceries were actively being loaded but apparently I was inconveniencing them somehow.

In large parts of North America—indeed most of it—politeness, thoughtfulness, and patience are engrained. It’s just how people are. They can wait an extra couple seconds. There;s no big hurry. There are a few areas—generally crowded, but not all crowded places—where there is little patience with delay or indecisiveness. People are expected to be ready, to know what they want, to get what they need and go. This is what prevents chaos. For example, in New York City, a tourist from Pennsylvania who refuses to edge across a busy street in a car or push into a turn after a light changes holds up dozens of cars behind. If people stand outside a subway car unsure of whether to enter, some other people are blocked and may miss their train, and this may disrupt their entire evening.

There are a lot of different cultures in this country. In some cultures, honking is not only acceptable but nearly required. Think for a minute about American cultures. If your family has lived in, say, Beatrice, Nebraska, for a century, a huge amount of how you see the world is culturally conditioned. In so many ways, you react the way your grandparents did to whatever happens. And if you move to The Villages, your speed of doing things meshes with that of a large percentage of villagers. But what if your family has lived in, say, Brooklyn or Long Island for a century? Even in 1860, New York and it’s environs were teeming with activity. It hasn’t gotten better. People got off the ships, found rooms and jobs as quickly as possible, worked long hours in thousands of businesses, then rushed through the crowds to get home for dinner and a fight with the family. “Time is money” was burned into the brain. Children and grandchildren inherited it, along with many other traits and accents. It’s a large part of the reason why the city has thrived, even though it’s also sort of a long-term trauma that damages the brain, like multiple concussions.

This way of reacting to events is not changed in a few days as people unwind. It’s a part of one’s being. It gets better, but it can take years. And if your culture considers honking a way of saying “pay attention,” who teaches you that it isn’t acceptable? And who are they to decide? Have you ever listened to someone speak with a very slow Southern drawl and wondered if they think as slowly as they speak? Like their minds as well as their tongues are wading through molasses? Or you hear people from New York or some similar place talking so fast you can’t follow them? You wonder if they can think as fast as they speak, and you find it exhausting.

I lived for decades in rural Pennsylvania, but after a year here, while I try to be polite, I find that I’m still in a hurry and impatient with indecisiveness and a failure to pay attention and an inability to gauge the speed of traffic and merge. And yet I’m incapable of driving in New York City! I seem like a hopeless oaf to them, and that’s the way some people here seem to me.

Add to that a level of pent-up anger a lot of us seem to have, even though we love it here. I’m not sure why that is. Still, I’ve seen more people in vehicles here giving the finger to other people in vehicles in one year than I’ve seen in the rest of my life combined. It’s as if a lot of us old guys are spoiling for a fight—and I’m definitely not.

So in brief, if it’s rudeness, it’s come by honestly, and it isn’t easy to eliminate. If people are rude to you somewhere, ask yourself what could have led to that, whether it’s because of their upbringing and culture, rather than because they are offensive people. Maybe you yourself are being selfish, getting in people’s way, not thinking, doing what you are used to doing instead of paying attention. That happens around here, and it doesn’t get better with age.

[RBW225]

That attitude you described is one of the main reasons we moved to a small town in South Carolina.

[JMintzer]

Originally Posted by Bill14564

You must be right, IATA. In front of the keyboard I complain about people parking in fire lanes, honking at non-issues, and making rude comments while the whole time I feel I am special and feel it is okay for me to inconvenience others and do those very things. Yep, that's me, the one with the golf cart long enough to block the entire entrance

First rule of holes: When in a hole, stop digging...

[JMintzer]

Originally Posted by n8xwb

Oh, and I might add, that a Publix bagboy (for lack of a better word) will gladly push your loaded cart to your car, unload the cart, and return the cart to the store!

I believe the "woke" term is "bagperson"... Or maybe "person of bag"...

Well, it's something like those...

[rrtjp]

Lol

[La lamy]

Originally Posted by n8xwb

My only comment is to your last paragraph about loading your car in front of a Publix in The Villages. Unlike Lowes and Home Depot, I don't believe Publix has a dedicated "loading zone" in front of any of their stores, perhaps I am mistaken. So, since there is no such zone, YES you are inconveniencing EVERY car that has to pull around your car AND every shopper leaving or entering the store who has to go around your car. So maybe you can tell me why you feel it is OK for you to do this? Do you feel you have some kind of special need, or right? Is there some reason you feel you shouldn't park your car and push your grocery cart to that location? Oh, and I might add, that a Publix bagboy (for lack of a better word) will gladly push your loaded cart to your car, unload the cart, and return the cart to the store!

Maybe I am missing something??

Totally agree with you. I've never been 'rude' to people who feel they are in the right to inconvenience others with this practice, but inside I sure think "how selfishly inconsiderate". If it is an ability issue there are plenty other ways to get the groceries home or to car without idling in the street.

[gettingby]

Smile, wave, wish them a good day. Don’t let them live in your head, it’s not worth it.

[rrtjp]

Rudeness does not discriminate, you can be any color. race, religion or snowbird and be rude. LOL.

[aces_04]

I hear complaints of long lines, slow workers, asking why isn’t there more employees. The rudeness is uncalled for. Maybe shopping at a different time would the solution.