It may very well be that because I’m getting older, I take notice of things that used to blend in to the scenery of my day. Little things that used to irk me and then be quickly and easily forgotten. Was I more tolerant then or was I just so engrossed in my own little world that others mattered less? Hmmm….I’ll give that some thought.
Here is just a sampling of some of the rudeness from the past week or so.
- Remember my neighbor who dumps dog poo in my yard? Well, she does it to other neighbors too.
- I twittered about this older gentleman yesterday who launched his empty Starbucks cup into the parking lot while getting out of his car and proceeded to lumber in to Kohl’s ~ passing a trash receptacle on the way. Where does that sense of entitlement come from?
- Nick went to the movies the other night and was overcharged $6 because the student discount wasn’t applied. Apparently that didn’t set too well with the guy behind the glass barrier who made a big hassle about crediting the debit card. Okay, student=poor. Give the kid his money.
- After my Kohl’s experience yesterday, I stopped at Publix and had to get out of my car to move a shopping cart in the middle of the parking space. There was a cart return about 15′ away…guess they had an emergency and had to dash off. Sure hope they made it to the hospital in time!
- My husband has a cantankerous co-worker who thinks its professional to ignore people when they speak and then make comments under his breath. He’s this way so often that people just accept it now.
Okay, so I’m wondering why it’s so hard to just be courteous? I’d love for these people to visit a couple of places I’ve been lately where a smile and a good attitude is the norm.
- Regions Bank on Dale Mabry and Van Dyke. The manager, the account representatives and the tellers all know me by name and ask about my kids. And I might have $1.59 in my account.
- McDonalds (right next door to the bank). Fast food joints are not where you expect exceptional attitudes but these kids are ridiculously nice. Always friendly; always fast.
- Dinner Done on Dale Mabry. We went there for the first time last week and Ana couldn’t have done anything more to make sure we had a good time.
- The staff at Grace Family Church. You CANNOT be in a bad mood there ~ someone will swoop in and make sure they can help. No, it’s not because they’re “churchy”. It’s because they are sincerely kind.
Kindness and courtesy seems to have run its course with some folks. At the risk of sounding like the old lady that used to live across the street from you, I do wonder what’s happening to society. Was it always like this??
Yes, I suppose it was…so I’m going to have to figure out a better way of accepting it for what it is. But as long as I’m being honest here, I did feel a lot better confronting the Starbucks cup litterer. If he’ll think twice about it next time, mission accomplished.
Probably the easiest thing to do is “kill ’em with kindness” but why is that also the hardest thing to do? Or is that just the hardest thing for me?