Rudeness

The following is a guest column.

Rudeness

By Kirk Wentzel

Hmmm…so what is rude? How do we define rude? Some people seem to think that just by accusing them of being rude, you are defaming their character. Clearly these people are living in their own reality and I have to wonder what happens there when people don’t just curl up and run away when they protest.

Recently I wrote an article and in it I said someone was rude because of something they hadn’t done. Now, they are kinda sorta quasi-threatening legal action saying I “defamed” them. I’m still laughing. Basically because my lawyer started laughing (as she snarfed her iced tea right out her nose) and her laughter is contagious. What she said about this person was REALLY rude and I will not presume to repeat it here but I will say that her comments, while rude, were quite entertaining.

So I decided to explore, comically I hope, what is rude and what is character defamation.

If I expel foul smelling colon gas in your car in the middle of winter and don’t say excuse me or roll down the window, well that’s just rude. If I accuse you of doing it by asking “What in the name of all that is holy crawled up inside you and died!!!???’…that’s defamation.

If I accidentally run over your puppy that ran out into the street and I don’t stop to offer my help and apologies, that’s just rude. If I call the police and tell them you were sexually excited at the sight of the dying puppy, that’s defamation.

If I spill something on you at a party and don’t apologize, that’s rude. If, while helping you clean up, I announce that your padded bra really doesn’t do much to help, that’s defamation.

If, like the Vice-President, I accidentally shoot you in the face during a hunting trip and don’t apologize or come to the hospital to visit you or do whatever I need to do to help you, well that’s rude. If it wasn’t an accident….well that’s the subject of another article.

Finally, if someone asks you for information and you don’t have the common courtesy to respond, even with a “no”, well that really is just rude. If you then threaten them with legal action before you consult with your own attorney, because they publish an article about it, that’s just unwise.

Because if you threaten people, especially journalists and bloggers, you’re likely to find out how rude their lawyers can be. Nuff said?