Nearly half of Americans think people have gotten ruder since Covid

Pretty much everyone picked up some quirks from the time we spent in our own company during lockdown — and, after becoming perhaps too well acquainted with ourselves, there was bound to be a socially awkward adjustment period that followed where people had kinda forgotten how to act in public.

But almost five years on from the start of the Covid pandemic, many Americans still think their fellow citizens are failing to act civilized.

A new survey from Pew Research Center, published Wednesday, found that almost half (47%) of US adults said that the way people behave in public these days is ruder than before the pandemic, with just over a third reporting that they see people behaving rudely in public almost always or often.

But what behaviors do Americans think are least socially acceptable? Top of the list is smoking in front of people, with 77% of those surveyed considering the bad habit as net unacceptable, followed by taking photos or videos of people without permission (74%). The most divisive by age group, naturally, was cursing out loud — which 38% of 18- to 29-year-olds disapproved of, compared to a whopping 89% of those aged 65 or over.