What's going on with the world?

This morning, my mother made me scrub a toilet. I wasn't supposed to scrub the toilet, but she made me anyway.

Okay, now you're thinking that I'm being whiny, angsty ager. But there's actually a story behind this. And a point. There's a point to this story, too.

We the children are assigned one chore a day. Theoretically, we do the chore in exchange for our priveleges, like using the internet, the wii, the dvd player, etc. Usually, each person doing one chore a day is enough to maintain our household at a livable level of cleanliness. Today I was supposed to scrub the bathroom floor.

I was in the middle of cleaning out the mop, when my mother, walking by, said, "Clean the toilet, too."

My response (whilst blinking in bewilderment): "But that's not part of scrubbing the floor."  She was technically violating the one-chore-a-day policy. In my defense, I was not challenging her authority. I don't mind doing a little extra work. In fact I usually do some extra cleaning everyday, especially in the kitchen (not that she notices...*sniff*sniff*). I was confused about the requirementsof my job. But...

She snapped at me. "Well I just made if part of it!"

Ouch.

My response was sort of instinctual. I kind of bristled up and thought rebellious, agery thoughts. But I didn't say anything out loud. I kept my mouth shut, like the little goody-goody that I am. And I scrubbed the toilet. I didn't want to be rude.

My mother was rude. I'm used to her being rude, but it still ruffles my feathers, every single time. I rarely bite back. But today it made me think. Some of my "friends" have called me too sensitive when I expressed dissatisfaction with their rudeness to me. Like my "friend" exhibit A who eats my food without asking or being offered it. Not like my friend exhibit B, who will do puppy dog eyes, look hungrily at my food, and then ask, "Uh...can I has some?" Exhibit A punches people when she is annoyed at them. Exhibit B just gives them a look like "Did you seriously just say that?" I kind of like exhibit B better.

Does it make me old-fashioned, that I prefer politeness, friendliness, and consideration over casual rudeness? I've never considered myself old-fashioned. Has society just decayed to the point where it's okay to be rude? What's going on?