Where Has Common Courtesy Gone?

It never ceases to amaze me how people in todays society are so uncaring of others around them. They walk around in a “me” bubble and act as if the world is theirs and theirs alone.

Driving: When my dad taught me to drive one of the first things he lectured me on was being aware of the other motorist around me. Being a courteous drive makes the roads a safer place for all. I see virtually no driver courtesy on the roads today. Only rude, road rage warriors. Is it so difficult to look in your mirror occasional and move over when you see you are holding up traffic, or turn on a blinker, or  stop before blocking a drive where folks are trying to get out. Yes, there are times I am guilty of being a road rage driver also and those times are when the above happens and people show absolutely no consideration for anyone around them.

Crosswalks: When I enter a crosswalk and there are cars having to wait for me to cross I don’t dilly dally, take my time, stop in the middle of the lane to chat with a friend, or pull out my cell phone and carry on a conversation, or stand there digging in my purse for my keys.  I smile and trot across the drive being considerate of the people who have stopped to let me cross. In my world that’s just plan common courtesy.

Store Aisles: Please for goodness sake move your cart and your self to one side of the aisle. Do not place your cart in the center of the aisle and carry on a conversation for 20 minutes with someone you know oblivious to others around you. And do not glare at me and look at me as if I have snakes in my hair when I say “excuse me” and try to get around you after I’ve already stood there 5 minutes waiting on you to finish your conversation.

Store Clerks: Wake up people. You have a job. You get a pay check. Earn it! Don’t act like I’m an imposition to you because you have to wait on me. And for Christ sake a smile wouldn’t kill you. And please, put down your cell phone long enough to take care of the customers standing there staring at the sign over head that says, “Customer Service is our business.” yeah, right. Do you not understand the concept that without customers you would have no job! I’ve seen 80 year old ladies on a walker move faster than some of these so called cashiers and customer service reps.

Long lost are the simple words like, thank you, I’m sorry, please, have a nice day, yes mam, no sir and can I help you. Seems they’ve been replaced with words like, yeah, huh, what do you want, or a blank stare as if they have landed on some alien planet somewhere clueless.

Well, I’ve run out of steam so I guess I’ll get off my soap box for today. It just irks me how people seem to have lost any desire to be kind, courteous, and helpful to other human beings.

You all have a nice day now, ya hear. Thank you for dropping by. Come sit a spell any ole time.