Why is Common Courtesy Not So Common?

Hey there gang! I hope you will allow me to take a moment and talk to you about something that is important to all of us -- common courtesy.

Why is it that if it is so common, that it is so sparse in today’s society? With all the "holidays" that we have (National Red Shirt Day, National Pancake Day, National Daisy Day, etc.), I think it is time to start a new holiday, one that is celebrated every day.

It's NATIONAL COMMON COURTESY DAY.

What prompted all this? Well, it was a series of unfortunate events actually.

This morning I watched a middle-aged man walk out of a gas station and basically slam the door in the face of an elderly woman (who had a cane). I don't know about you, but when I was a young boy, my dad would have introduced me to common courtesy in the form of a leather belt.

Later on in the day, a lady who clearly was struggling to juggle the groceries in her cart was having problems getting them into her vehicle. It was raining and those little shocks on her trunk clearly didn’t work properly, so she was fighting to keep the trunk open to get the groceries in ... all while dealing with a toddler.

No one stopped to help her, yet several people walked by. Again, my dad would have introduced me to common courtesy in the form of a leather belt!

The last straw of the day, so to speak, was the age-old repair man who gives you a window to be somewhere, and then never meets the deadline.

Sure, I need my AC fixed in my house, but do I want to take an entire day off from work to make that happen? No one does. So, they give you this convenient window when they will be there -- 8 a.m. to noon, noon to 4 p.m., etc. (not really pinpoint accuracy is it?).

As "Murphy’s Law" would have it, noon comes and goes, and no repair man. Well, I guess I am missing the whole day of work. Worse yet, there was no phone call to let me know they are running late. Once again, the lack of common courtesy.

I wish my dad would let me use his belt on the repair man!

So, I encourage all of you to slow down, take a deep breath, and understand you aren't the only person on the face of this earth. Other people have deadlines, lives, work commitments, and families they need to tend to as well. When you say you will do something do it, and if you see someone who needs help, help them.

It's just COMMON COURTESY.