Manners — Remember the Magic Words?
Some of the Realities of Life Today
Courteous drivers–remember them? Letting the other person have the parking space, waving someone through at the four-way stop, driving very slowly through school zones, residential neighborhoods and the like. Today’s mantras seem to consist of things like road-rage, warp-speed, and talking on the cell or eating while driving.
“Neighborly” Neighbors: They waved, they knew you by name, they helped each other with small tasks and large projects. They kept an eye on one anothers children. They watched out for your home and watered your plants and collected your mail when you were out of town.
Thank You Notes and Similar Oddities: These notes or hand-written letters came as welcome treats in the mail, a nice change from bills and flyers. You knew your gift had been received. The letters kept you up-to-date with family and friends. They are becoming rarer under the label of snail mail.
Internet Etiquette: Flamers, spammers, con-artists, hackers, and viruses are the base of a very large virtual iceberg. People wanting your traffic and your money but failing to respond to your comments, people wanting you to link to their blog in exchange to linking to yours when it serves no purpose but that, things like these are the tip.
Let’s find a way to dupe the search engines. Let’s trick the average citizen by working to get rich and then sitting back on our laurels by selling them books and videos telling them how to get rich. That is how we’ll retain and grow our wealth. Let us dupe the consumer with the latest “tricks of the trade.”
Life’s Other Realities
Honesty: I posted a tweet on Twitter the other day stating that I would probably never be rich or famous because I was too honest. That is probably true! But, there are also many honest people left in the world. Perhaps they are harder to spot, but yes, they are still there.
Manners: Neighborhood watches are becoming more and more the norm. Many people DO say please and thank you. It may now come in the form of an e-mail or an IM, but the coming at all is what counts. Most parents are re-awkening efforts to teach courtesy, especially by example, to their children.
Unity: No matter how unconcerned some may seem sometimes, in times of crises, whether via a natural disaster or the falling of world economics, when it is most needed, people unite. They pull together to help those in need. They cut back, lend a hand, volunteer, and go green to help our ailing planet and her citizens.
The Summary
In this world and among us, there is more gratitude than indifference, more honesty than deceit, and more love than hate. And for that, I am extremely grateful!
Please share your thoughts…and thank you for doing so : )
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