Things that make you go AARRGGHH!! (Part 2).

One of the things that was very important to my parents, and which they drilled mercilessly into us, was the importance of good manners. Unfortunately, it doesn't look as if many parents are doing that any more. On the bell curve between Miss Manners and boorish morons, the top of the curve is disconcertingly far to the boorish moron end. From simple everyday rudeness like the inability of some people to say "please" and "thank you" to the more technical rudeness like folks who have to share their most intimate cell phone conversations with you, we just aren't a very polite society any more. And that's a sad thing.

Two examples...

A few months back I was waiting for my flight Reagan National Airport in Washington. Sitting a few seats away from me was a well-dressed businessman who was - literally - shouting into his cell phone, berating the person on the other end for their ineptitude in being unable to schedule an appointment for him. With his proctologist. What was he thinking? And what were we supposed to think?

Second example: I arrived at the Metro station one morning to go to work, and as I approached the train, I saw that one of the doors was more than half blocked by a woman with several large pieces of luggage. She was apparently very concerned that she would not be able to get off at her stop in time, so she tried to ensure a good exit position by parking directly in the doorway. When 0ne person pointed out to her that there was an open, front-row seat right behind her, she glared at him and snapped that he should mind his own $@#! business. What was she thinking? Obviously, not about anyone but herself.

Now, I'm not suggesting that I'm a consistent paragon of good manners...I suffer fools a lot less gladly as I get older, and I'm more likely than I was when I was younger to answer rudeness with rudeness. But like to think that I absorbed some of the lessons my parents taught me about simple politeness and consideration for others. And wouldn't it be nice if everyone had parents who cared enought to teach that lesson?

Be polite to someone today...you'll find it's not so hard, and most people will thank you for it. More commentary tomorrow.

Bilbo