How being busy makes us ruder

OUR lives have become so busy that we are forgetting our manners, according to a poll.

Hectic work schedules and the distraction of smartphones mean one in three people no longer remember to say please and thank you as often as they should, researchers found.

Seven in ten admitted they were less polite now than ten years ago.

Around half of those quizzed in the poll said they frequently walk away or end a phone call without saying goodbye. And six in ten said they struggle to find the time to even say ‘hello’. Men were found to be more likely to forget their manners.

A spokesman for the mint company Mentos, which commissioned the research, said: ‘When we’re busy, or engrossed in our phones, we can often let our good manners slip – but we should all make the effort to be polite and say hello.’