Opinion: In a nasty era, insisting on basic politeness is a revolutionary idea

“Be Kind or Leave.” The newspaper article, and the restaurant sign that inspired it, caught my eye. The owner of an Erie, Pa., eatery posted the notice after tiring of obnoxious, belligerent customers berating his employees and sometimes each other. It seems the escalating — make that descending — level of boorish behavior in our society has many in customer-facing enterprises rethinking their traditional “all are welcome” policies. As a Rhode Island hotel manager put it, “The customer was always right. Well, they’re not.” One consumer-research consultant said he now advocates drawing of clear and firm rules: “If you don’t meet our expectations of decorum, leave.”