Where the hell did this basic ingredient in life go to? I know that when I was growing up that my father made sure, no he INSISTED that I not only knew the meaning, that I practiced it every day and with everyone, and everything I came in contact with. When I addressed someone, it was yes sir, yes ma’am. When I was at someone else’s house, or better yet when I was in a retail store? I did not even think about touching something that did not belong to me. When I wanted something, I asked, yes ASKED for it; I did not ever TELL someone that I wanted something. I always used PLEASE and THANK YOU. When adults were speaking, I did not interrupt. When I had something to say or ask, I always said EXCUSE ME.
Now that I am an adult, I always say hello, hold doors, and respect others space. I still say all of those things I used to say when I was a kid, only now I feel I am setting an example for others to follow. The problem? There seems to be a majority set of adults who are the exact opposite and this works against me.
I work in retail, where I HAVE to be a people person. I work in an area where people are not so nice to each other, the people around them, the things that do not belong to them, or even themselves for that matter. No, really, no I am not a negative person. I love life, and I love a lot about life and what it offers. I do know a lot of people who are not this way, but it really seems that everywhere I look and listen; I tend to see the examples being shown to the next generations. It may be too late, as this generation learned it from the previous.
Self-centered and selfish. I see it in the way people drive. Constantly cutting off someone else to make the exit or turn for something that is NOT an emergency. No matter the risk of their own lives, or others. Constantly texting and face booking while driving. Just because it is legal does not make it right or SAFE. I had someone cut me off from the LEFT lane of the highway and practically STOP in front of me while I was doing 65mph. All because they HAD to get off at THAT exit and no other. Tailgating- constantly I see people driving up other cars asses with no regard to the conditions ahead of the vehicle they are tailgating. Then when they decide to risk everything, they pull up next to you and flip you off like you did something wrong. Did you not see the line of cars ahead of me?
Ever look around a store while you are shopping at the other customers? Ever watch and see what they do and what they say? Or how they treat the employees in that store? Have you ever seen the way some people will do ANYTHING to save, no STEAL a few dollars from that store? I have watched seemingly educated and refined people touch and feel merchandise because they lack respect for it. Not because they were interested in buying it. Only to check it out, leave fingerprints, test its sturdiness, and of course find fault with it. I have seen people purposely damage items to save money on it. I have watched people remove the price, switch price tags, and place them elsewhere in the store. I have heard customers raise their voice to store employees, and complain when they cannot receive a discount for something that was just built and placed on the sales floor. I mean really? They should have been CHARGED for the assembly! The absolute worst thing I have seen in retail? Parents teaching their children that this behavior is OK! There are parents who send their kids into back offices, break rooms and locker rooms of businesses looking for things of value and money! Wonder why those kids are getting in trouble at school? Maybe they raised their voice when they did not get their way? Maybe they got caught CHEATING because they wanted to be GIVEN the answers to their test? Or just maybe, they cut off the next kid in line for their lunch? People will go into retail stores, and literally throw merchandise onto the floor and walk away. Packages opened, and left sitting somewhere it did NOT come from. Pushing shopping carts into merchandise, shelving, all the while talking on their cell phone or texting. I swear of I pulled any of this when I was a child? I would have had my ass beat right there in front of everyone, and then I would have been made to apologize to everyone around me.
Respect for your job, the people who you work for and with? Why do people think it is OK just to not show up for work? To call without much notice and tell you that they cannot make it because they “do not feel well?” or that “they do not have a babysitter?” To just stop showing up because they felt like it? No one twisted their arm into taking the job. No one they work with did anything against them. Yet, they have no sense of respect to the people they work with, for, and to the customers who all counted on them to show up to do their job? When you are a manager for a job, someone who should be setting the example, why would you show up late? And then tell your boss that you read the schedule wrong? Then go out and write up the person under you for doing the exact same thing?
Everyone acts as if they are above everyone else. The attitudes I see out there every day from people reminds me of the commercial where the woman is in the parking lot thinking she owns a Rolls Royce and she really owns a station wagon. And she wants to know why her remote is not opening this car? The point of the commercial was to feel rich, but the aura of the woman portrayed exactly what I am getting at in this rant about the way our society has become. Walking around and screaming into a cell phone so that the people on the other side of the restaurant or store can clearly hear your conversation? And then when an employee walks by you rudely ask them about something not remotely close to or related to anything you are looking at. Just to make yourself feel more special?
Now, I know these behaviors are everywhere, but they are more exemplified in more areas than others. The next question I have for everyone who reads this is, when will this stop? When will people remember what it is like to be respectful of one another? When will people remember to be less selfish? When will people realize that these behaviors are what contribute to the daily drama and negativity of the world? It has to start in the home. It has to start with adults setting an example and teaching their children to do the right thing. What will it take for ADULTS in this day and age to make these changes? Would it really be that difficult to accomplish? I will do my part, and continue to use the traits instilled in me by my father. And when I have kids in my home I will teach them the same way. I will remember to treat everyone I know with respect, and hopefully, others will see that it still exists and follow suit.
~ respectfully submitted to me by JEB
