I wouldn't let it bother you too much, Kim. Some people save their most extreme rudeness for the internet, where before they used to only bless their immediate families with it. Let it roll off your back.

I wouldn't think the internet had as much an influence on their manners as the media. The bulk of TV shows and sit-coms seem to feature a lot of sarcastic, snotty dialogue between characters. When it's presented as the way to speak to people, especially elders and authority figures, and when backed up by a laugh track, they can't help but try it on for themselves.

I saw this kid outside the mall the other day, about 10 or 11, smoking a cigarette. I remarked that he looked a bit young to smoke. He told me to "f" off. I said, "You probably don't even know what that word means." He laughed and said he had actually been doing it the night before. I said I didn't believe him. He laughed again. So I asked him what the girl's name was. He said he didn't know because he was drunk at the time.