Everybody says the least common thing today is “common sense”. I would like to add, “common courtesy”. Has anyone else noticed that people have become rude and disrespectful as a matter of course?
People just don’t seem to care anymore. The other day I held the door open for a woman, she walked in without a word, and so did a guy that just walked up. Neither could be bothered to say “Thank-you.”
Last week, at the airport, I saw a woman in her 70’s, struggling to help her husband out of his wheelchair and into the men’s room. He had obviously recently had a stroke and wasn’t in full control. A room full of people sat and watched without any compassion. I walked over and offered my assistance, which she gratefully accepted. Another gentleman, a health care worker, also stepped up. The rest of the room sat, silent, and watched. I wish I had gotten the Health Care Gentleman’s name so I could publicly thank him. You sir are a Gentleman.
People feel free and anonymous on the inter-weebz and say, accuse, and demand anything they want. They do so without any concern for the truth or “feelings” of anyone.
I have written things that were incorrect or poorly worded, I have done everything in my power to correct those mistakes. I admit my mistakes. I accepted the responsibility for what I write or say. I’m in the minority.
As RAH said, “An armed society is a polite society.” I agree. A man will choose his words carefully if he has to back them up with his life.
Some additional information because I like stuff like this. At the 1908 Summer Olympic Games in London, it was possible for losing participants to be pronounced dead—theoretically, anyway. For a fleeting period of time in the early 20th century, a form of pistol dueling grew in popularity by promising all the excitement of a fatal rivalry with none of the actual bloodshed. Duelists, armed with specially-made pistols and painful (but not deadly) wax bullets, faced off against one another in a mannered test of sidearm skill that encompassed not one but two Olympic Games. This time, they took aim at one another, splattering wax bullets onto each other’s protective gear while standing on the fencing grounds. A total of 11 competitors from America, France, Russia, and Sweden took part. The outbreak of World War I largely put an end to simulated combat. When things settled down, pistol dueling was not one of the sports to reemerge. This likely pained Winans, who used his pulpit to stress that dueling, or the threat of it, seemed to improve manners. shooting remains a part of the Olympics. The very first medal awarded at the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo will be in women’s rifle shooting—presumably a very polite affair.
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