People have no manners these days. I admit that it’s easy to lose sight of their importance, but I always try to say “please”, “thank you”, open doors, let people go first on the bus, elevator, in line at the store, etc. as much as I can. My hope is that one day it’ll catch on, and for every nice thing someone does for another person, they’ll pay it forward and so on. Hey, I can dream, can’t I? It’s the best I can do to not lose hope in humanity.

I blame a lot of it on a lack of patience and punctuality. Everyone is always running late, always has somewhere to be, or always has something to do. And that something is always more important than what anyone else has to do. There is no better example of this than downtown Minneapolis, where I work. I see the lack of manners and patience every day, and it upsets me to say the least. I want to shake people and tell them the slow down, enjoy life, appreciate the people around you. Doubt the message will ever sink in though.

Here are just a few examples:

I take the bus to and from work every day. Getting on the bus in the morning isn’t usually an issue, but boy is it a fight to the death after work! Even if the bus won’t arrive for another 5 minutes, people eagerly shuffle towards the curb, trying to get closer than the person next to them. When the bus finally comes, no one cares if others have to get off. They just must get the best seat! They rudely shove past these people and claim their spot, only sometimes following it with a mumbled “Sorry”. Where’s the fire people? You’ll get a seat. Even if it’s next to the lady screaming at her boyfriend on the phone. (Don’t even get me started on the lack of manners there!)

People driving downtown…oh boy. Drivers downtown don’t give two squirts of piss about pedestrians crossing the street. Even if people walking have the signal to cross, drivers come zipping around corners at high speeds. If they aren’t doing that, they inch forward painfully as if to persuade people to walk faster. I can say that personally makes me want to walk slower, piss them off a little. I almost got clipped by a truck once, and boy did I almost have a heart attack! I don’t know about you, but I don’t usually leave work hoping to get hit by a car. Just saying.

I answer phones at my job. It’s pretty thankless most of the time, and I have to constantly bite my tongue so I don’t say what I really want to. Simple manners on the callers’ end could change my day dramatically though. For instance, it is procedure to wish them a good day at the end of the call. I would say 97% of the time, that is returned with a grunt, silence, or an “Uh huh”. With the effort put into two of those three responses, they could have simply said “You too.” That honestly (and maybe quite pathetically) would make my day so much better! Whether my closing is forced or not, it'd be nice to have someone wish I have a good day as well.

Lord knows there are more examples I cross daily that demonstrate people’s lack of manners. This is just the tip of the iceberg. I try to brush it off and maintain my decorum despite them. I still hope someday manners will catch on, and people will pay it forward. And there's my venting for the day. :)