Excuse Me?

When did manners become a thing of the past? When did people forget to say please and thank you; to open the door for the elderly; to let someone with one item get in front of you with a cart full?

Society is so caught up in ourselves, so self-centered that there is no place for manners. Our children are being raised to look for for themselves only, to expect hand-outs, to blame someone or something else for their mistakes.

It saddens me when I see a young person, pull into a handicapped parking space, pull out the handicapped placard, and then be-bop in the store.

I was in a large department store...you know the kind...that sells food, clothing, medicine, garden supplies, housewares, tires - a one stop shop so to speak. The parking lot was full all the way to the end. I am handicapped and after driving around several times, I found a spot. I thought there it was Christmas because of the crowd of people in the store. People drove their buggies around as if they were the only one in the store, coming out of aisles without looking to see if someone was coming. They parked their buggies in the middle of the aisle so that no one could pass them. They gave dirty looks if you weren't walking as fast as they wanted. I feared for my well-being in the store.

I only had four items so I got in the 20 items or less line. The lady in front of me had a FULL cart. I said nothing, but patiently stood in line. I wasn't happy about what she had done, but she was the one with the poor manners.

Someone got in line behind me and started ranting about the lady in front of me. I thought there would be a physical altercation before it was over. She asked me why I didn't say anything to her when I got in line. I said some things just aren't worth the stress. She got the people in line behind her riled up. Sure the lady in front of me was wrong...where were her manners? But where were the manners of the lady behind me?

People leaving the store almost knocked me down to get out of the door. There are stop signs at the entrance to allow pedestrians to walk out to the parking lot but do you think people stopped? NOT! I finally (and safely) made it to my car. Two teenage girls, giggling and playing around, jumped in the car beside me (handicapped space) and gave me an evil eye.

It seems there are so few courteous drivers. Everyone is in a hurry. If you are driving too slow, they blow their horn or ride your bumper. Yellow traffic lights mean go fast...red lights mean go faster. People dodge in and out of traffic. Just don't get in their way.

How much worse can it get? That scares me because I believe it will get worse.

I can't change anyone else but I can change me. I can make a difference and maybe it will affect others in their attitude toward others.