Have you notice something while you're driving lately?
Used to be you'd stop at a stop sign and, if there were pedestrians just starting to cross and there was no car behind you, they'd wait till you went through and THEN cross, right?
Used to be you'd stop at a stop sign and, if there were pedestrians just starting to cross and there was no car behind you, they'd wait till you went through and THEN cross, right?
Used to be you'd look behind you if you were backing out of a parking space in a parking lot and feel assured that if you didn't see anybody, anybody who might be there was also looking around and would avoid your car so he or she would be safe, right?
Used to be that if someone was crossing in a crosswalk and you had stopped for them, they'd kind of walk a bit faster to let you pass quickly, a nice gesture of thanks for having stopped, right?
Used to be that you'd pull up to a stop sign and the pedestrian desiring to cross and you would make some eye contact and they'd start crossing as soon as they knew you'd seen them, maybe even waving thanks and speeding up to get out of your way, right?
Used to be people who wanted to cross the street would make good and sure you saw them, right? Today, I see people all the time just walking down the street and stepping into the crosswalk without looking left, right, NOTHING!? I'm fairly sure they don't know they're IN a crosswalk! They just feel it's your job to make sure they're safe.
Used to be people who wanted to cross the street would make good and sure you saw them, right? Today, I see people all the time just walking down the street and stepping into the crosswalk without looking left, right, NOTHING!? I'm fairly sure they don't know they're IN a crosswalk! They just feel it's your job to make sure they're safe.
WHAT HAS HAPPENED? YOU NOTICING THIS LATELY MORE AND MORE? I AM.
Can we fix it, can you make people polite again?
z
26 comments:
Z-The answer to your last question is, no.
When courtesy(which is based on thinking of others) goes, me, me, me, is on the throne.
You cannot think of or even see others because your eyes are filled with yourself...a lonely place.
Why do you think there is so much road rage? What about that idiot woman who allowed herself to burn to deat because she wanted through another car? The ultimate in selfishness, and an object lesson!
That is where selfishness leads, death!
The ones who drive me batty are the ones who dart around without turn signals! Like they are the only ones on the road! They are accidents begging to happen.
They just cannot see past themselves!
Good morning, G*D bless and Maranatha!
tmw
what gets my goat the most is when they seemingly slow down crossing that street when they see that you've stopped for them.
frustrating, indeed.
as for an answer to your question, i do what i can, teaching by example, hopefully influencing a few a long the way. unfortunately, nowadays there has to be some kind of catastrophic event for people to change their ways - humans are constantly having to learn the hard way.
Sure. I can make them more polite. Run a few down. That way, they'll be more thankful the next time you don't run them down. Not being run down will bring you eye contact AND a smile to their lips. And if you don't get it... rev your engine!
TMW...couldn't agree with you more.
what's with the woman who burned to death?? I don't get that..?
no turn signal activated...BAD, you're right!!
Salubrina...OH, yes, don't you just LOVE when they seemingly SLOW DOWN? PLENTY of that hear, too. GRRR!!
FJ. Thanks! NEVER thought of doing THAT!? (LOL!) Well..MAYBE I have............!!
It's probably manners in general Z.
I can't control what other people do.
I have to work harder at being more polite. Hopefully I've instilled politeness and courtesy into my children.
I have taught my son to open doors for ladies and to act like a gentlemen. Even when the woman isn't a lady.
what gets my goat the most is when they seemingly slow down crossing that street when they see that you've stopped for them.
Usually, I'll stop right in the middle of the street, then bend down and tie my shoelace. That usually really gets them revved.
I kid.
In Japan it's even worse. I do believe pedestrians always have the right of way and if you strike one, no matter what the conditions that created it, you're automatically at fault. Don't know if that's really true, but it's what my dad told me. My parents just recently retired back to the States after living there for 20 years.
Courtesy is for others. It's all part of self-esteem. I am so important.
I am bugged by it too, but sadly I am sometimes guilty of discourtesy as well.
Z,
It has been that way for a long time.
What you describe of being polite was the good old days.
However, on military installations, if a pedestrian is walking in a bonafide crosswalk and you pull the stunt of driving through it , you will be given a ticket.
So I guess it is a combination of politeness and the fact that the leadership of communities do not care?
Just my two cents.
Now , in WV...
if you are behind several cars going along the road, it is not unusual for all the cars in front of you to display a turn signal to alert you that the person way up front is making a turn.
Just a little politeness.
I had never seen that any where in my life until I moved here 11 years ago.
WVDOTTR
We still do all those things in Georgia. At least, outside the cities.
Don't look at me. I fulfil all trhe courtesies you listed as a pedestrian.
btw, z, where's that pool piece?
Also, the piece Mr. Z did about the German trip (pardon my lag-time).
I am glad to hear that in small town Georgia , people are still polite, too.
My people are in northeastern Georgia and South Carolina.
Now, Atlanta is another world.
Something I do these days and notice others doing around here, is if I cross in front of someone in an aisle of the store , while that person is looking at a product, I say excuse me..and as I said, many others do too.
We weren't all raised in barns, as they say .
Nor are we heathens.
WVDOTTR
WHAT HAS HAPPENED? YOU NOTICING THIS LATELY MORE AND MORE? I AM.
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Meth heads.
OT check this out
Worst of all is when you go to the store and the people just walk across the front entryway to the parking lot and visa versa while you sit and sit and sit in your car.
I've even had 'em walk out in front of my while I'm moving!
It all begins at home. If children are not imbued with the idea that the world doesn't revolve around them, they'll think it does.
If they're raised with an entitlement attitude, they'll feel entitled to get their way, and that others are not as important as they are.
Children are not merely small people who can raise themselves, they have to be taught from the beginning to respect and be considerate of others.
Sadly, too many parents want to be their friends and not their parents. Who can they look to for guidance if not their parents?
Didn't mean to be preachy, it's just that I truly believe that today's children are the most at risk group in the country.
So, Z, I do agree that what you present in your article is commonplace. I think it's too late for adults who behave like this.
It's not too late for small children if the outmoded, disproven permissive teachings of a Dr. Spock is discarded and replaced with common sense.
Pris
JOHN: http://gollygeeez.blogspot.com/2008/09/slightly-different-tangent-for-my_10.html
Thanks so much. Which "German trip"? There's one Mr. Z wrote on socialism in Germany and how it applies here. Check out the Mr. Z's pieces on my homepage.."Labels" xxx
EVERYONE: It all boils down to being conscious of those around you and not thinking the world revolves around YOU....something I think parents are the only ones can teach at a young age. I'd see my Dad walk faster if he knew he was holding someone up; he'd be the last person off an airplane helping others if he saw someone having trouble get their overhead luggage out, etc...he didn't walk on the grass, etc etc.
YOu have to be told, but better to lead by EXAMPLE.
sad that we don't see it much anymore.
thanks for your wonderful input.
It's still the old way where I live, Z. But I live in a small town.
Once when I was on campus, a girl stepped right out in front of my car. I honked at her and she stopped right in front of my bumper as if to dare me. Ooooooh. Don't tempt me, chickie!!! I have to admit that I yelled at her to "Get a move on!"
There's certainly an attitude of entitlement.
I'm trying harder and harder to turn the other cheek. Anger begets anger, and it only hurts me, I've learned the hard way.
I'm one of those who'll hurry if someone stops for me.
"Can we fix it..."
Well, on the flip side, i've noticed that often drivers who drive out of blind alleyways and such don't slow down and be cautious either. Maybe the jerk pedestrian will meet the jerk driver one day and they'll teach each other valuable lessons.
What you so sorely miss today, was undermined, poisoned, or turned into a mockery by the Deluge of Derangement and Degeneracy that all but buried this country during the Sick-sties.
Conservatives have been desperately trying to dig the country out of the ruins ever since, but every time they seem to be making a little headway a new avalanche of filth gets dumped on their heads.
The masses make up the majority. The Fatal Flaw in the concept of Democracy is Human Nature. The masses are asses, and evermore shall be be so.
Because of this tragic truth, Democracy given time will inevitably transform itself into DeMOCKracy.
Once "The People" discover they have the power to vote themselves great gobs of LARGESSE from the public treasury, the state may be given up for lost, and tyranny will soon reign supreme.
Until human nature allows itself to be transformed by the power of genuine Christian faith, mankind will remain forever doomed to internecine warfare of one kind or another.
FreeThinke
By the way, The Golden Rule is the ONLY way to spread better behavior among the surly populace. If we practice The Rule UNFAILINGLY, ourselves, without any aura of pompousness, self-importance, or self-righteousness, it cannot HELP but add to the store of decency in the world.
Respond to OTHERS the way you WISH they would respond to YOU.
What could be simpler? Our duty is clear. Don't wait for the OTHER guy to start being kind and considerate, just BE that way, yourself.
Even if "the world" doesn't appear to change for the better, you at least have the (great) satisfaction of knowing that YOU did YOUR best.
The only OTHER choice is to join the mob and bash your way through life spreading misery and BEING miserable.
~FreeThinke
mk...exactly. I do, too..it's the DAD in me. Some people didn't have our DADS, I guess!
beamish..BIKES! You are SO RIGHT. They couldn't care LESS who they hold up and I spend time driving next to a bike rider down a street , worrying when he's going to move in front of me, then I go in front, then he catches up and I worry about turning because I'm going to cut the bike rider off at the intersection, right? grrrr
FT...you are SO RIGHT on ALL of that...well said.
z, maybe you need a really loud cucaracha horn.
Ducky, maybe I do. I'd prefer people to teach their children manners.
While spending a year in South Korea during my 8 years in the Air Force, I often went into the town of Songtan which was right outside the main gate. One of the warnings we were given on arrival is that when you cross the street, don't make direct eye contact with the driver of a car. In Korea, that is a signal that the driver can go through the intersection because you realize, by making eye contact, that he is there. So, we were all taught to wait for the cars to clear away from where you were and never make eye contact.
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