I am, believe it or not (i&#x27;m not sure I believe it myself sometimes), socially aware enough to realise that there are different cultures, personalities, etc etc, some of whom believe various actions are &quot;disrespectful&quot;.<p>I get that.  I really do.  But there&#x27;s so many things on that list these days.  Its what I feel if i&#x27;m told to close a laptop when its quite clear i&#x27;ve already made a decision on whether what is being said is relevant to me or whether i have better things to do. I&#x27;m also aware of the social power&#x2F;authority plays involved in such, as well as traditional etiquette.<p>But i&#x27;m also getting to that stage of life where I&#x27;m no longer as concerned about whether some numpty feels i&#x27;m disrespecting them by prioritising my time against their preferences or being &quot;rude&quot; by being practical.<p>I&#x27;m aware you can&#x27;t do this in many workplaces&#x2F;contexts where you basically have to be submissive&#x2F;concordant with a workplace culture that says otherwise.<p>But my life is too short for me to worry seriously about such things anymore. I don&#x27;t go out of my way to offend, nor do i take said actions as some kind of social&#x2F;political power play.  If a person doesnt want to work with me because of that or gets offended, well, rack another one up on the board...<p>Its not black and white, granted...but I think its more statistically valid that people who make a big fuss about such are more likely to be on my own &quot;waste of time&#x2F;oxygen&quot; list...