Beyond Discourteous

Courtesy and manners were a big deal when I was growing up.  In school, at church and at home we were taught to say please and thank you, yes ma'am/sir no ma'am/sir,  open doors for women and the elderly, take off our hats inside, offer to carry heavy things for our elders, take our muddy shoes off outside and to never sit on a made bed among many other little things that made life easier for those around us.  It was hard work learning everything and sometimes we struggled, but in the end, most of us turned out well mannered, courteous adults.  Boy, those days are well and truly gone.  Self esteem has become the big deal.  We now have a generation of young adults that have no understanding of courtesy because instead of learning manners and how to behave, their self esteem was fostered and catered to.  They have an inflated sense of self worth and self importance that borders on the ridiculous and no awareness or empathy for those around them.  I used to manage the cafe at a large bookstore where we sold pastries, sandwiches and made coffee drinks among other things.  One day, while filling an order, one of my employees cut his hand very badly with a knife.  Blood was everywhere, running down his arm and pooling in the floor.  He and I were the only two there at the time so of course we stopped everything and applied pressure to the wound before sending him to the hospital to get stitches.  (He ended up getting 16.)  The "gentleman" whose order we were making, demanded that we finish making his smoothie and do first aid later.  He then had the audacity to ask if he could get it for free since he had been inconvenienced by having to wait.  My sister is on crutches right now because she has a broken foot.  The other day as she was walking (hobbling) into a restaurant, the couple in front of her let the door slam on her. Both the outer door and the inner one.  Seriously, how can you be so unaware of your surroundings that you drop a door on a handicapped person twice?!  At another location, she was standing on one foot, getting her crutches out of the back seat of the car when a guy whipped into the parking place next to her and banged her with his door when he got out.  He never made eye contact or apologized, even when he realized she was on crutches.  Nope, he just kept on going.  My husband works as a customer service rep for a company that makes GPS units.  Yesterday our area had severe storms with several tornadoes.  Many buildings were evacuated, storm sirens were shrieking and the National Weather Service was broadcasting instructions for seeking shelter immediately.  His department had to tell the people on their calls that they had a tornado approaching and were being evacuated to the basement.  Many of his co-workers actually had people get pissy at them and demand that they fix their problem before they evacuated.  Really?  You think updating your mapping is more important than someone's life?  How self-centered are you? People behaving badly.