I have been monitoring the state of courtesy all my life, and in this post I will share my thoughts about its current state.
How many times have I stood behind people in the grocery checkout line when the customer did not return the clerk’s oral greeting? Too many, by my measure.
My neighborhood is fairly civilized. This is a small, gated community. People driving the streets do not wave at pedestrians as they pass them.
This blog has 400 posts, after a pretty thorough recent pruning. It has 300 followers. I get an occasional “like” but with two or three exceptions nobody comments on the posts or any perceived virtues of the blog itself. You are all welcome to be here. I write the blog to nourish myself. I can only guess how much it might help you.
We can take this indifference up a few notches. There are cities that have declared it illegal to feed homeless people. Rich people denigrate poor people in general. My online dictionary uses that example to explain denigrate.
Last week, 90-year-old World War II veteran Arnold Abbott made national headlines when he got busted by cops in Fort Lauderdale, Florida twice in one week—for giving out food to homeless people. While serving a public meal on November 2, Abbott told the Sun-Sentinel, “a policeman pulled my arm and said, ‘Drop that plate right now,’ like it was a gun.” Abbott runs a nonprofit group that regularly distributes food in city parks. Because of an ordinance the city passed this October that restricts feeding the homeless in public, his charity work is now potentially illegal.
Simple courtesy has been in decline for a long time. I think it arises in part from the sheer bombardment of sensations that constitute modern life. We are blasted with information and sensation nearly all the time. We become defensive, and we forget to radiate kindness.
Cassandra expressing the No Hate sentiment. We are a long way from simple kindness these days.
People are also encouraged to cultivate being smug. If you, or dad, pay fifty grand a year for college tuition you can easily develop a lofty opinion of yourself.
Fringe influences such as pornography serve as models of arrogance and greed. When I was young pornography was available only in shabby theaters. Now it is a couple of mouse clicks away, there is a ton of it, and it’s free.
Common courtesy, and beyond that, kindness, will not be revived without a concerted effort. As always, I welcome your thoughts.
This Just In! 