| I’ve been wondering lately whether this is just one of those getting older moments — you know, the kind where you start sounding like “people these days…” — or whether something has genuinely shifted. Because it’s not just one thing. People speak more casually now. Not relaxed-casual, but rougher casual. Less care with words, less effort to be clear, less interest in how things land. Conversations feel flatter, quicker, more transactional. Not wrong exactly — just… thinner. Then there’s driving. Roads feel more chaotic than they used to—less patience, more rushing, more forcing gaps that aren’t really there. Everyone seems perpetually late, perpetually irritated, perpetually convinced that it’s everyone else slowing things down. And it’s not confined to cars or conversation. You see it in queues, shops, and everyday interactions. Short fuses. Little flashes of irritation. Less tolerance for inconvenience, for difference, for other people simply existing in the same space. None of it is dramatic on its own. That’s the thing. It’s not that society has collapsed — it’s that civility has thinned. So I ask myself: Was it always like this, and I didn’t notice? Or is this genuinely new? The honest answer is both. Getting older sharpens your sense of contrast. You’ve got more reference points. You remember when conversation had more shape, when driving felt more cooperative, when there was an unspoken agreement to give each other a bit of grace. Experience tunes your radar — you start noticing patterns instead of isolated moments. But it’s also hard to deny that life now runs faster and hotter than it used to. We live in constant reaction mode. Messages, notifications, deadlines, pressures — everything is competing for attention. When people are stretched thin for long periods, patience becomes optional. Courtesy becomes effort. Thoughtfulness becomes something you “don’t have time for. What links all of this together is the loss of pause. Less pause before speaking. Less pause before reacting. Less pause before leaning on the horn, snapping in a queue, or firing off a thought without softening it first. And when the pause disappears, so does the polish. The irony is that kindness, calm speech, patient driving — all the things that feel a bit old-fashioned now — actually stand out more than ever. They feel grounded. Almost reassuring. A reminder that we don’t have to move through the world at full tilt. So no, I don’t think it’s just grumpiness or nostalgia. And no, I don’t think everyone’s suddenly awful either. It feels more like a tired culture. And maybe noticing that — and choosing to slow things down where we can — is one of the quieter privileges of getting older, not a failing at all. |
Is It Just Me… or Has Everyday Life Got a Bit More Abrupt?
Earthly Comforts 