A LESSON IN MANNERS

Am I the only one who's noticed that manners seem to be sliding out the back door like the mailman when hubby comes home unexpectedly from work?  Are we all so wrapped up in our cyber world of Blackberry Crack-berries, I'm in a Pod's and And yes I'm an Droid's that we've forgotten the basics of human interruption?   Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip (I am not 50, just  I grew up in the country with no cable).  This my friends, is what I like to call "the checkout at Walmart."  I stood in the express line for 16 items or less, which in and of itself is a joke because people heed that sign like they do the seatbelt sign on an air plane (another rant for another time).  The woman in front of me in the long line was on her phone talking about things that really didn't need to be discussed at that exact moment.  Is Walmart really the place you need to broadcast your latest hair do for all the express check out to hear?  When she made her way up to the check out she continued to blather on about which celebrity was dating whom and whether red was the it colour of fall (really??).  She never once made eye contact with, spoke to or even remotely acknowledged the  woman on the till who  was ringing her through.  Now I'm not saying she needed to spill her whole life story to this woman, but a smile and a "how are you today" would have gone a long way.  Just imagine how that clerk felt, that this woman thought so little of her as another human being, that she couldn't put her phone down for 30 seconds while she was being rung through.  And maybe the woman on the phone was a lovely person who just didn't think about what she was doing, but that my friends is the problem these days.  It seems we are all so wrapped up in ourselves and our own priorities that our fellow man is nothing more then a hinderance in our way.

I will point to another example that irks the bejeezus out of me.  When someone holds a door open for you, in any capacity, how fracking hard is it to say thank you??  I can tell you that out of 10 times holding a door open, I will get the courtesy thank you about 50% of the time.  50%!  That means either 50% of people think they are so entitled that you should always hold the door for them, or they are just so absorbed in their own little world that they don't even notice.  I'm actually thinking it could be a little of column a and a little of column b in this scenario.  It boils my blood when it happens, but what can you do?  You can't say "hey get back here so I can let this door slam in your face!"  Well you could, but I'm not sure you'd get the desired result.   I have taken the typically Canadian passive aggressive attitude to deal with this and started muttering "you're welcome" in a haughty tone under my breath.  One day I might get the courage to say it at a decibel that is loud enough to be heard by more then just dogs, but that would make me as rude as they are.  To brazenly call them out in such a public way.  So instead I keep holding doors and muttering under my breath like I have a multiple personality thing going on.

I'd like to propose this to blog readers:  Remember, when you're out in public, you're not the only one there.  Hold a door, say thank you, move over to let the car merge onto the highway.  Try smiling at a stranger, but not in a creepy way.  Say 'hello,' again, don't do a creepy smile and say hello, that's not going to get the desired result either.  My point is, if we all just did even one nice deed a day for each other, that shows we acknowledge there is more to this crazy world then just ourselves and our agenda's, then maybe we'd all be happier and get along that much better.   It might even breed understanding and tolerance and who doesn't want that?  So lets all give it a try, all 123 of you who've taken the time to read my rants and raves.  It has to start somewhere so why not with us?

Cheers,