LixyChick,

Excellent! I shouldn’t have doubted that for a moment! With attitudes as difficult to change as these, the best way of battling them is not letting the bad behavior pass without challenge – but the challenge can be pointed without being uncivil.

Look at the example. The woman’s coarse and unpleasant behavior was illuminated and then publicly derided without stooping to her level. Not, I suspect, that she will ever change, but the others will remember that a bad apple was identified – and why.

We may never know, but I suspect that the reason they appear to need the support of others is because they are not at all confident that their feelings are appropriate. A "strength in numbers" mentality perhaps. People with a better grasp of psychology may be able to provide better insights.

I must admit a certain pessimism on this subject. While the goal of eliminating the behavior is laudable, I suspect that in the end the best that can be hoped for is to marginalize those who refuse, or are unable to move beyond such limiting behavior. Still, we must stay the course and hope – and work - for the best. Your comment "…and there have been a few times when I actually saw a reflection of introspect on the faces of those I didn't back down from" is encouraging.

Thanks.

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Eudaimonia