Mini-rant #6 - Manners, or the lack thereof...

Maybe it's me. Maybe I'm an anachronism. Maybe today's world has passed me by, and I just don't understand modern society. Maybe I'm the grumpy old man I used to laugh about when I was a kid...

Or maybe we just aren't teaching our kids the right things. Instead of teaching them independence, or teaching them to stand up for themselves, damn the cost...we should teach them common courtesy.

Hmm...common courtesy. Just the words bring back things I learned at a young age. Hold the door for those behind you (which, I will admit, happens more often than it sometimes seems). Excuse yourself when you walk in front of someone in a store (this one really kills me, since few people do it anymore...even those that should know better). Step to the side when you see someone older walking toward you (I've had more than one confrontation over the years about this one...and I always win).

Do the simple things that make life easier, both for you and for someone else. Some would call it a random act of kindness to hold a door, or to say excuse me, or to step out of the way of someone coming towards you. That's not a random act of kindness. A random act of kindness (hereafter RAOK) is paying the bill for the kid behind you buying a donut at the grocery store and counting pennies to do so. (I've done it. Cost me a buck, and left me feeling good all day long to see the smile on that poor kid's face when he realized he wasn't spending his last dollar right then and there.) a RAOK is dropping a quarter in the meter right before the parking meter expires, and saving some poor bastard some serious money.

Common courtesy is even easier, and doesn't cost you anything. No money need change hands. Simply do the right thing and say excuse me when you pass in front of someone. Hold the door for the people behind you, or let the people coming out go first. Stand aside and let the elevator empty out before you get on...(yeah, I went there.)

Parents. Teach your kids not to be so self-centered. Teach them that it's not uncool to be polite, and to say please and thank you. I learned it, and I'm doing my best to pass it down to not only my kids, but all the kids I have an influence on.

Kids. Don't worry about looking bad in front of your friends for being polite. You're kids. You have short attention spans anyway...they'll forget you did it the second someone sees something shiny.

Maybe I'm naive. Hell, I probably am. I believe what I believe, though...and if you disagree, well...that's your right. Just like it's my right to think you're an asshole for disagreeing with me, especially on this.

Some things are just right. Common courtesy should always top that list. Along with Orange Creamsicle Sherbet from Dreyers. That shit is seriously badass...

Mini-rant over.