November 7, 2003

Rudeness Loves Company

By JESSICA BURSTEIN

Growing up in an academic family, one of whose members hailed from the South, entailed two views of politeness: (1) Display it; and (2) to hell with that. I blossomed into a small, rude person, seeking out tables on which to rest elbows, interrupting my elders, playing with my food, staring vacantly at horizons when something purportedly interesting was being recounted, and writing thank-you notes for birthday checks received, sullenly ("That's it?"), only under the threat of physical pain. I