Rude is the new black

I was on the bus yesterday, enjoying the beautiful Chicago weather and having a peaceful commute.  
An elderly asian woman boarded the bus with a younger girl, possibly in her 20's.
The elderly lady inserted her transit card and proceeded toward the back of the bus, where I was sitting.  The younger girl yelled from the front of the bus "Grandma, they don't take day-passes so I need your transit card".  The older lady returned to the front of the bus and swiped her card a second time, allowing her granddaughter to ride the bus.
When they sat down behind me, the younger girl launched into a barrage of insults toward the elderly woman...
"I can't believe you are such a dumbass grandma!"  "How can you not know that they don't take day-passes in your own goddamn city!"  "I can't believe you are so fucking stupid."
This continued for several minutes.  
But, the grandmother simply stared forward and never acknowledged what her granddaughter was saying.
I was amazed at the way this little girl was speaking to her elder, a member of her own family!  Where on earth did she get off?!
Now, when I was growing up in rural South Carolina, if I had ever uttered something even remotely similar to my grandmother I would have been beaten senseless...and then beaten again even harder!


I entertained a thought for just a moment...what would this little bitch think if I had stood up, turned to face her, and slapped her so hard that she landed on the bus floor...then I would say "That's from your grandmother, you ungrateful skank!"


The thought brought a smile to my face...still does.  


And no one, including myself, came to the aid of the grandmother.  We all just quietly sat and listened to the disrespect...not wanting to cause a scene.
But, it made me realize that this is more commonplace than we'd like to think.  People have developed such a sense of entitlement that they feel it is acceptable to be rude to everyone...even their own family.  


Have we all become so numb to the amount of rudeness we experience everyday that we simply accept it?  
Maybe we have.  But, that color doesn't look good on me.