The worst part about reading that stupid (with THREE Os) student's email is that is doesn't surprise me at all.

Maybe I just never noticed it before...or my perception of behavior like that is obscured by the fact that, should I ever have spoken to anyone like that as a young person, I would literally have lost teeth in the aftermath...(I remember mistakenly flashing a peace sign at my father and ending up in an ace bandage for weeks...and I wasn't even meaning to be disrespectful.)...but I am quite honestly appalled by the way people see fit to speak to each other these days.

By people, I mean folks who aren't even aware of the social boundaries they are crossing...not the ones who see the boundaries but shit on them anyway. There seems to be this growing horde of nurtured narcissists that I can't bring myself to laugh at.

Please, somebody tell me that they've always been out there, but I just never saw them. Otherwise, the trend is going to make me hide under my bed until the apocalypse.

eta:

the email was more like a superior would send to a subordinate, and the tone was inappropriate.

THIS is what I'm talking about!

Is it a result of the 'everybody wins' culture of the last couple of generations?

You don't have to hide under the bed - just stay in here and you'll be fine.

Otherwise, the trend is going to make me hide under my bed until the apocalypse.

On the bright side, when the apocalypse comes they'll be all whining about how unfair it is... I mean, more than the rest of us.

On the bright side, when the apocalypse comes they'll be all whining about how unfair it is... I mean, more than the rest of us.

This actually made me laugh out loud. I guess that is the upside. At least we'll have a realistic view of the end...while we all burn together! Maybe the enlightened flames will hurt less?

You don't have to hide under the bed - just stay in here and you'll be fine.

Sometimes, it's my only refuge, I tell you what.

"I specifically planned for this apocalypse and am very disappointed that it does not meet my standards. My zombie repellent kit is useless against invaders from outer space. I ask that you change my apocalypse immediately."

So in addition to being a world-class entitled douche, he also has reading comprehension problems.

Actually, I'm pretty sure I used to work with this guy. He got fired for sexual harrassment.

"I specifically planned for this apocalypse and am very disappointed that it does not meet my standards. My zombie repellent kit is useless against invaders from outer space. I ask that you change my apocalypse immediately."

You guys are really cheering me up.

Now I'm just appalled in lowercase.

erika, baby, you know we'll be your shelter from the storm.

Those emails...the entitlement, it burns. And is totally mystifying. What the fuck were these kids' parents thinking? Ever?

Bonny, I wish I could, but...at the risk of sounding like my grandma, I think there really is a difference in manners and "entitlement attitudes" today. I don't have a large amount of direct experience with other countries to go on, but I do wonder if it is particular to American culture.

The difference in manners and courtesy evinced by my Hispanic and Vietnamese students, whether American or immigrant, and many of my white or African-American students was astronomical. However, with many African-American students, courtesy was deep, once it was earned.

Along with grammar and critical thinking, I found myself, in the high school classes, teaching manners and courtesy, and pounding into my student's heads that it is a SOCIAL LUBRICANT, and has nothing to do with saving face. Writing skills and politeness will take you further than just knowledge or skills, in most situations. Being courteous and using manners and honorifics costs you nothing, and gets you almost anything.

My phone interview today went pretty well. The interviewer started off by saying that I'm over-qualified and that this probably isn't going to be a very interesting position for a new Ph. D., but that he knows what the job market is like. He asked about my plans for the future, and I said that I was probably going to get an instructor position (like the one he was interviewing for) for a year or two, build up my CV, get a few more things published, and then have a better chance at getting a tenure-track job in a few years, and maybe by then the economy will be better and there will also be more jobs available. He said that sounded like a good plan.