Putting The House Before The Cart

There are many reasons given as to why someone in their senior years can become so appalled at the actions of other generations.

Yeah, we admit many of us are ticked off about getting old and more infirm, but, that's not the main thing. Sometimes it seems as if we took a nap and when we woke up almost everybody else had received a frontal lobotomy. The courtesy and ethics we were taught became archaic.

Maybe the real reason we're upset is that we DID follow the dictates and teachings of an even older generation at a time when that was the appropriate thing to do. That info no longer seems to apply.

Please give us some slack here. We do remember the teachings of the Bible that taught us you don't do 'good' deeds for the 'wrong' reasons.

Maybe our displeasure comes from nothing more than wishing we had tested the inpure water a little more - before, you know, we became that "nice" person. Nothing pleased my Mom more than when some neighbor said, "Your Barry is always such a good boy!"

Let's face it. We did get some bad information. For example, our nose did not fall off from telling lies, although, I might have been willing to sacrifice a few inches here or there. There were many other examples

We did not suffer "our death of cold" from going outside without wearing 15 layers of clothing. Besides, we sometimes got hot chocolate and marshmallows when we came back in to ward off the chill.

We also later discovered we could go out swimming after consuming a full meal without experiencing any disastrous results. Similarly, we found it was possible to be out in the blazing sun - come inside -go directly to the fridge - empty Dad's ice water bottle - and not die from cramps. (now, we might have died from fright if dad had caught us.)

We admit those are really minor things. What really upsets us is what appears to be the almost complete abolition of courteous acts. We simply can't figure out when, as my mother might have said, "everything went to hell in a bushel basket!" ( I doubt if she would have said hell, as even using the word "hate" met with some warning that God didn't approve of the word.)

See what we were up against? Where were the rest of the parents when all of this stuff was going down in our neighborhood? Was poor location the reason their own kids turned out to be discourteous idiots?

We older folks, and particularly this writer, sizzle over the lack of courtesy we see displayed - and it's not just being done by younger folks. There is good and bad in all generations. Actually, Bernie Madoff does look a lot like a congenial Uncle we might have had.

As a matter of fact, maybe this loss of courtesy etc. was due to the lack of monitoring. Like the banking/mortgage industry, people stopped looking at what we were doing and we, in turn, stopped looking over our shoulder.

What ever happened to the simple things in life that were expected of us males? O.K., I admit you have to be wearing a hat to tip it and it's even tougher to do when you're wearing it backwards.

Arising from a dinner table when a woman enters the room nowadays may have as much to do with not taking Flomax as attempting to be courteous. ( in all fairness, nowadays it isn't always easy to determine the new arrival is a woman.)

Phyl and I like to sit outside on the patio of a local restaurant with our tiny Chihuahua. We do this partially because a respected author wrote that to avoid having a snippy, barking Chihuahua, we should get her out around people, early and often. Bella is constantly praised for her manners. I guess that's a lot like being a "nice person".

Our favorite table provides a view of the front door and we are people watchers. We are amazed at the number of guys who, as they approach the restaurant, blast past their kids, wifes, and/or girlfriends, to be sure they go through the door first. Surely, there can't be that many weak bladders in a small town like ours.

We can possibly understand the guys action if the two females behind the guy were, in order, his wife and his girlfriend. Taking evasive tactics could well be in order, even if lacking in courtesy.

Let's talk about shopping carts. I.G.M is the new prevailing attitude that translates to "I Got Mine". It applies to 10 items or less lines, taking up two parking spaces, jumping to the front of a ticket line, and shopping carts.

Please tell me, "Why, after shopping, is it so repugnant to walk another ten to twenty feet to place the cart into the receptacle designed for the completion of just such an act of kindness? Has the cart deposit location somehow been designated as a dangerous neighborhood with unseen crack houses?

The sight of all these abandoned carts after the customers hastily depart suggests to me I don't want to take a tour past their front yards.

This is plain and simply a case of people saying, "Look, I finished my shopping, and even if I added to the number of parking spots you enter at your own risk by attempting to avoid abandoned carts, when I leave, someone is perfectly free to take my old spot." I Got Mine!

Today when we finished our shopping at Walmart I took ours plus about 10 abandoned carts and lined them all up in an open parking lot space, freeing up 10 more spaces. Passing motorists looked at me as if I had abandoned my senses.

Yeah, I'm different. My ultimate ideal job would be to drive around shopping lots in a reinforced Army Hummer, equipped with a huge amplifier, and a airhorn. As I spot an offender, even one who put the cart up on the grass islands, I'd yell out appropriate curses as they are leaving.

So, what do you think God would think about that, Mom?