Rude?

Don’t be rude. Where have manners gone in this country? I try and do my best to hold open doors for anyone. I don’t care if you are young, old, female, male, white, black, Latin, Asian, handicapped, or able bodied. I think it is a perfectly appropriate thing to do for someone. You do not have to walk through the door I hold open. You do not have to hold the door open for me but if I do hold the door open for you then don’t be rude.

 

As of recently, I held the door open for an elderly couple and a gentleman, the gentleman at the end of the line decided not to walk through my door but refused to acknowledge my effort with a simple, “no thanks” or even a head nod. He had to open the door next to ours without my assistance. It was nice of the elderly couple to thank me and label me as, “a nice young man.” Apparently real men hold open their own doors. A few days after that I held the door open for an entire family while my hands were full of Chipotle bags. I removed myself from their path and held open the door. It was not until the fourth family member had passed that I had received any acknowledgment. Is all of this my fault? Maybe, I shouldn't be complaining. 

 

In the end this is not about me but about how removed we seem to be from common decency. We talk during movies in the theaters and we cut people off on the highway without warning or a wave as an apology. We talk on cell phones at the check out counter and we don’t wash our hands when we are done in the washroom. We forget to give thanks. We don't introduce ourselves with proper greeting and we use foul language in front of children. If we as a society fail at such simple opportunities to be polite then imagine how we fair on a larger scale.  It seems manners have gone out the window and that is very sad. I have nothing against being casual but being casual should not be without being decent.  What does it say about you, me or anyone that we forget our manners and think about ourselves over others? Being polite is not hard and it should not a strain on your daily life. I dislike this movement and I hope civility and common decency will rise again. 

 

Think about it.