By Caroline Clemmons
How often do
you hear that phrase in public? Is it just me, or are people in general ruder
now days? At the risk of sounding like the older lady curmudgeon I am, I
believe they are less considerate of others. Some appear enraged or as if they’re
entitled to whatever special treatment they want. Oh, there are plenty of nice,
polite people out there. Sometimes it’s easier to remember the other kind.
For
instance, today we went to lunch at a small restaurant with a tiny parking lot.
Two cars were blocking the parks. That is, one was waiting as far to the right
as she could without sideswiping a car. The other angled so she blocked all the
available parks plus the narrow passage and refused to move. A car was waiting
behind us, so we were trapped in a Stepford Wives’ stand off. We almost never
use our car’s horn. We gave it a little toot, but nothing changed. A little
longer toot gained us a dirty look, but no car movement. Leaning on the horn
(for probably the first time since we’ve owned the vehicle) produced a fierce
glare before she peeled off. As we walked toward the restaurant, one of our
party asked the first woman, “What was her problem?” The woman gave a derisive
laugh and said, “She recognized me and doesn’t like me. She didn’t want to let
me park.” Hmm, why would someone old enough to drive choose to act like a child?
Which
reminds me, when our youngest daughter taught second grade, one of the first
things she had to teach the class were the magic words their parent should have taught them: please,
thank you, excuse me, and
may
I. The words Mr. Rogers
taught in his daily television show. I’m a devoted fan of Fred Rogers and what
he did for a generation or more of children. There is strength in being kind—and it’s contagious.
Once when my
daughter and I were walking into Macy’s, a young man held the door open for us
after his party had entered. We each thanked him as we went approached. In a
lovely Southern drawl, he nodded and said, “My pleasure.” That brightened our
day and couldn’t have delayed him more than sixty seconds. I love the “pass it
on” commercials in which one person does some trivial thing, like hold open a
door for another, who is cheered and goes on to smile at someone who needs one,
and so on.
Let’s all pass
on kindness today and every day.
I see a lot of kindness and good neighborliness, but there seems to be something about being behind the wheel of a car that has a terrible effect on some people! Good to see you back, Caroline!
ReplyDeleteIt's good to be back at my desk! Thanks for commenting, Liz.
DeleteHi, Caroline! It's nice to see you back. I do believe our society is more rude than other older generations. Everyone is glued to their phones and what my son refers to as "situational unaware" of his/her surroundings. Also our society seems to be "rushing" and failing to stop and smell the roses. Maybe we are just human dinosaurs.
ReplyDeleteI often refer to myself as growing up when the world was black and white and dinosaurs roamed the earth. Thanks for commenting.
DeleteI don't hear the politeness as much in recent years- I know when I was a kid, we were all taught to say "yes, ma'am". That is one thing I do love though about the Montessori School where the grands go= they teach politeness every day. Welcome back <3
ReplyDeleteWe're still down home in SW Idaho. People hold doors for ladies and the elderly (I was shocked to be considered elderly, but there I am), but the one thing that annoys me is when people nearly always say "perfect" instead of "thank you." I have no idea why--makes no sense at all to me.
ReplyDelete