[treve]

I think the author is just not very self aware. The rules of communication do change, but they probably weren't aware of the unwritten social cues that they picked up earlier in life. Cues that probably were equally annoying and frustrating to someone a generation earlier.

I think lots of people would be a bit more at peace once they start embracing the fact that language and culture are always going to be moving and changing. Thing are going to feel awkward and forced until they feel normal and you'll continue to be expected to adjust to the norms. Some of those norms will suggest that you've been doing certain things 'wrong' all your life and it's gonna be hard to swallow, but everyone will always go through this stuff and this is why you can probably find some rants against political correctness for as long as there have been columns in newspapers.

It's a complete waste of energy, I hope the author found some peace in the 22 years since this article.