> My daughter works in a restaurant and she says it's striking
> to note the difference between customers waiting to be seated
> (anxious, quick to anger, resentful, paranoid) and once they
> are seated (grateful, genial, relaxed, trusting, etc.)
My explaination of this is what is happening everywhere else: it's the self-centered outlook. This is the same reason why people have Road Rage (or are "bad" drivers in general). It's all about me. And if it's not all about me, then I'm unhappy. It's not just in restaurants.
If it's really about the "betrayal of mothers" then mothers have a lot to 'splain, because there are a LOT of people out there with their eyes firmly glued to themselves. Empathy is at an all-time low.
/jordan