Here's a short excerpt: "Have you noticed that things aren't as civil as they once were? Or that rudeness is no longer an exception but a lifestyle? Sure you have. All you need to do is set foot outside your door to see that bad manners are taking over everywhere. People are yakking on cell phones in restaurants, even at church. Folks in carpools wear enough cologne to make our eyes bleed. Complete strangers think it's OK to rub a pregnant lady's belly. Passengers abuse flight attendants, family outings to the ball park are ruined by rowdy drunks . . . a congressman heckled the President of the United States."
Heck yes, I've noticed! Who hasn't? I've been in a movie theater when a woman not only left her cell phone on so that it rang, but she then ANSWERED it THREE times and had short conversations. Loudly. On my way to Barnes & Noble a woman did an illegal U-turn in the street and then opened her window and proceeded to yell at me for not giving her enough room. On my way into Barnes & Noble in fact, a woman on her cell phone let the door slam in my face TWICE. That was all just within a half-hour.
It's highly coincidental that I would stumble upon this book today, because yesterday while walking through our neighborhood I noticed that people are lacking basic social courtesies. When I was a kid we were taught to say hello to people we knew. I'm not referencing strangers here, because stranger-danger was drilled into our heads, too. (In my family we had code words and the whole shebang). I'm talking about neighbors that I live next to not saying hello or giving a wave when they see you outside. Countless times I've given the wave and smile and gotten a blank stare in return. While I'm standing in my driveway and them in theirs. Talk about an awkward moment. While walking yesterday I saw a neighbor approaching with his young kid and dog. We were the only people on the street. As they got closer I opened my mouth to say "hi", but stopped when I realized the man put his head down and wasn't going to reciprocate. I wanted to scream, "Hey, remember me? I bought a pond at your yard sale and you offered to walk it over to my house. We had a conversation, albeit a short one, but a conversation nonetheless! How can you pretend we don't know each other?" When did looking people in the eyes and exchanging a cordial greeting become the way of the past? No wonder people have so many relationship problems - we don't know how to communicate! And what happened to common courtesy? It's apparently out to lunch with common sense.
Ron Clark wrote a book titled The Essential 55: An Award-Winning Educator's Rules for Discovering the Successful Student in Every Child. It specifies 55 essential rules to basically prevent kids from becoming adult jackasses. Look a person in the eyes when they are speaking to you. Wash your hands before you eat. Stand to the right on escalators. Basic information that some people already know and incorporate into their daily living, but that most people need to learn. I think we could all benefit from a trip back to kindergarten to learn simple manners because it's so clear that people have either forgotten them, don't care about them, or never learned them in the first place. Before we try to fix the bigger problems of the world (world peace?), I think we should start examining our own daily practices and rethink how and why we treat the people we encounter on a daily basis like they are invisible. Practice a little common courtesy. Hold the door for someone. Let someone merge in traffic. Say hello to a co-worker. Maybe even ask him or her how they are doing. You never know, you might find an unexpected friend. Maybe you won't. But at least you won't be perceived as a total jerk.
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