Terrible 10 Behaviors at Work or Play

I found this article on Yahoo! about behaviors considered offensive in US culture. This probably includes those of us who work with Americans and/or Europeans. I would imagine that this would include Africans educated in universities in these countries as well.


Here is the link followed by an excerpt:

More than 600 workers and college students in the Baltimore area ranked bad behavior on a scale ranging from 1 (not offensive) to 5 (most offensive).
The 'Terrible 10' List

Based on those rankings, the "Terrible 10" behaviors are (from most to least offensive):
1. Employment discrimination.
2. Erratic (sans prevoir) /aggressive driving that endangers others.
3. Taking credit for someone else's work.
4. Treating service providers as inferiors.
5. Mocking race, gender, age, disabilities, sexual orientation, or religion.
6. Children who behave aggressively or who bully others. (Ne respecte pas les autres, traite mal)
7. Littering. (mettre la poubelle sous la terre)
8. Misusing handicapped privileges. (il y a le parking ou les sieges particulars pour les handicaps)
9. Smoking in non-smoking places or smoking in front of non-smokers without asking.
10. Using cell phones or text-messaging in mid-conversation or during an appointment or meeting. (c’est vrai!)

Some actions, such as discrimination, may be illegal; but even more subtle behaviors, such as making a sexist joke or not asking before lighting a cigarette, still add to the stress of the daily grind and can actually lower productivity.

"The research suggests that people are bothered more by the transgressions of coworkers and strangers than by those of family and friends," says P.M. Forni, director of the Civility Initiative at Johns Hopkins.