> Hard to claim the moral high ground if you do eye for an eye.
I do not claim the moral high ground. My moral is more flexible, than just "an eye for an eye" or "be nicer than the other side". I can do any of that depending on a situation. I'm starting any communication with the latter, it is a consequence of my upbringing, but if it doesn't work I may do anything. I want to note, I know that "be nicer than the other side" works oftentimes, people are entering into a communication in some emotional state and with some expectations, and these things can change during the communication. So I let my upbringing to try it first not just because of upbringing, but because I know the value of it.
> one can leave such situations without being rude back or making a scene.
One can. And I can. However there are situations when I just don't want to. A series of interviews that took my time just to end with the rudeness, so I just wasted my time is one of these situations. If they wanted to hire pushovers they could write it upfront in the requirements for applicants, I wouldn't bother them.
It's easy to be nice in the beginning or when the other side is nice. Point is to be nice even if the other side is rude or wants conflict. In a sense you are giving in to their game if you are rude back. What really hits them is if their counterpart can't be bothered to be rude back.
Beautifully spoken, you take the words out of my mouth.
Agreed. Wasting applicants time should have consequences. I can play along for a little bit to appease people who are intentionally testing how I handle a difficult situation but I am not going to allow an extended waste of time to occur and that's something I want to communicate to potential employers as well