Whatever happened to people politely talking their issues through?

This reminded me of a guy I was in a group therapy session with. A girl kept bumping his chair and he didn't like it. He told me and several others about it. He gave dirty looks. He even scooted his chair over a little. She didn't get the hint. She was manic and on a lot of meds. He finally just left.

I kept wondering to myself why he couldn't say 'excuse me, could you please stop bumping into my chair?' I find that asking someone nicely to stop doing something usually stops the behavior dead in its tracks. You usually get an apology too. I encouraged this guy to speak up. I offered to say something for him, but instead he just left. He literally stewed about it for days when all he needed to do was be brave enough to kindly ask for what he wanted.

Joe... Maybe the person was inconsiderate, but that doesn't mean they are less than or have some sort of disorder. Missing the basic opportunity to speak up politely seems what is out of place to me. You shouldn't have to move your chair. Just move your mouth in the right way. People aren't mind readers and they aren't the idiots you make them out to be. They are just people. Like you.