What to Say to A Rude Person Recently，as the British doctor Lord Robert Winston took a train from London to Manchester，he found himself （1）

becoming

becoming

（become） steadily enraged.A woman had picked up her phone and begun a loud conversation，（2）

which

which

would last an unbelievable hour.Furious，Winston began to tweet about the woman.He took her picture and sent it to his more than 40，000 followers.
    When the train arrived at its destination，Winston quickly got off for he（3）

had had

had had

（have） enough of the woman's rudeness.But the press were now waiting for her on the platform.And when they gleefully showed her the lord's messages，she used just one word to describe Winston's actions：rude.
    Winston's tale is something of a microcosm of our age of increasing rudeness，（4）

fueled

fueled

（fuel）by social media （and，often，politics）.What can we do to fix this？
    Studies have shown that rudeness spreads quickly and virally，almost like the common cold.Just witnessing makes it far more likely that we in turn，will be rude later on.Once infected，we are more aggressive，（5）

less creative

less creative

（creative） and worse at our jobs.The only way to end a strain is to make a conscious decision to do so.We must have the guts to call it out，face to face.We must say，"Just stop." For Winston，that（6）

would

would

have meant approaching the woman，telling her that her conversation was frustrating other passengers and politely asking her to speak more quietly or make the call at another time.
    The rage and injustice we feel at the rude behavior of a stranger can drive us to do odd thjye.aigs.In my own research，surveying 2，000 adults，I discovered that the acts of revenge people had taken ranged from the ridiculous （"I rubbed fries on their wind—shield"） to the disturbing （"I sabotaged them at work"）.Winston （7）

did

did

shine a spotlight on the woman's behavior — but from afar，in a way that shamed her.
    We must instead combat rudeness head on.When we see it occur in a store，we must step up and say something.If it happens to a colleague，we must point it out.We must defend strangers in the same way we'd defend our best friends.But we can do it with grace，and by handling it（8）

without

without

a trace of aggression and rudeness.Because once rude people can see their actions through the eyes of others，they are far more likely to end that strain（9）

themselves

themselves

.（10）

As

As

this ride of rudeness rises，civilization needs civility.