JENI O’DOWD: Cost of living pressure blamed for surge in rude behaviour and retail worker abuse in Australia

What is it with rude people lately? They seem to be everywhere I go.

I was on the bus the other day because driving is now a luxury sport, when a man suddenly started yelling at a young woman to move so he could get off at the next stop.

She was already trying to move, but she just wasn’t doing it at the speed he had apparently decided was acceptable.

The whole bus fell into that strange public silence where everyone stares intensely at their phones while missing absolutely nothing.

When he finally stormed past and jumped off, another passenger leaned out the door and called after him, “Have a good day, mate!”

That broke the tension instantly. People laughed.

But it did make me wonder whether the spirit behind our famous “no worries” attitude is under pressure. Are we still a laid-back nation?

I’m talking about the barista being abused over a delayed coffee. The supermarket worker confronted at a self-checkout. The airport gate attendant delivering routine instructions to a crowd simmering with irritation.

Or the latest clip of someone having a meltdown on a plane, shared all over social media.

This change in behaviour is so bad in Victoria that the Government stepped in with criminal charges to clamp down on violence against retail, hospitality and frontline workers.

The Allan Labor Government passed legislation in December creating specific offences for assaulting or threatening frontline workers, from shop staff and kitchen teams to delivery riders and taxi drivers.

The scale of the problem is confronting and not confined to Victoria.

A survey by the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association found about nine in 10 retail and fast-food workers copped verbal abuse, intimidation or aggression from customers last year.

A lot of them were teenagers in their first job after school. Taking orders for burgers and fries should not require a crash course in dealing with badly behaved adults.

And it’s not just the extreme incidents. If you speak to anyone working in retail or hospitality, you hear the same thing — people just don’t have the patience they used to.

Australian Retailers Association chief executive Chris Rodwell told The Nightly that the trend of worker abuse was worsening.

“Unfortunately, the data confirms what retail workers have been telling us since the pandemic; aggression, abuse and violence are now far more frequent and far more severe,” he said.

“In Victoria in particular, retail crime has escalated into a genuine safety crisis, with incidents rising sharply year after year, and it’s having a real impact on workers and customers.

“Retail workers deserve the same respect and protection as any other frontline worker, and the community is overwhelmingly calling for stronger action to keep them safe.”

A few weeks ago, a 21-year-old worker at a Woolworths in Queensland was allegedly punched in the face after arguing with a customer.

In Adelaide, a man jumped over the counter at a KFC restaurant and allegedly started attacking staff. Three workers were assaulted before police arrived.

And this type of behaviour is not just happening in shops or restaurants. On South Australia’s rail network, aggressive behaviour is so frequent that authorities have increased security.

There’s no excuse for abuse, but it’s clear a lot of us are running on empty, which is starting to show in how we treat each other.

It’s not surprising when in Sydney, a takeaway coffee is pushing $6, you think twice before driving anywhere, and the weekly supermarket shop can end up costing more than a meal at a five-star restaurant.

Then add in war headlines, shaky markets and a constant bad-news cycle, and it’s enough to make you cry into your Weet-Bix.

If we are saying “no worries” less and less, it’s not because we’ve forgotten how to be polite.

It’s because many of us are simply under too much pressure just trying to live.