We work hard to teach our children to be cognizant of and respectful towards others. Even strangers. Even in crowds and in public. I have discovered that not everyone values this. We have recently faced some annoyances, albeit minor ones, but I think they illustrate my discovery.
- For instance, at the grocery, while looking at some eggs, another woman who was also looking at eggs to make sure they were not broken set the broken ones right in front of us, as if we were not even there.
We try hard while in a public setting not to jostle, throw things on or at and not let our kids do so. Or at least have the decency to apologize when such accidents do occur.
- At a recent outdoor show, the people behind us kicked, bumped and shoved with complete oblivion.
- At another, the children behind us kicked, bumped, shoved, ran around and spilled their drinks on us. Once again, with seemingly complete oblivion that we were there.
No, I know that we are not any more invisible than anyone else. I think this sort of behavior reflects a total disregard for the fact that their are other people in the universe.
What can be done to help people understand that their are other people in the world and it really doesn't help any of us when we selfishly disregard them, even in small ways? How can we reinforce in our children that people, even those we don't know, are worthy of respect and deserve our politeness, even when so many others seem so rude?
2 comments:
My pet peeve is when people toss cigarettes out of their car. Michael thought it might be a good idea to walk over, grab the cig, and toss it back in while saying, "I think you dropped this."
Would that qualify as polite?
Nice post. I've been thinking the same thing recently and how this will affect Kaia. Let me know if you find any answers...
Philippians 2:3 (New International Version)
"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves."
This sort of change does not come, either in our lives, our kid's lives or the lives of society in general without a revival in our hearts.
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