FOSTON.net

Perhaps its just me, but recently I have noticed how rude we are (or appear to be) as a society. It would be easy to say this was simply the youth of today, or to put it down to the general lack of respect one person seems to have for another. But I’ve wondered about it a little and wanted to air my views here, perhaps just to clear my own head but maybe also to get the views of any of you that happen upon this post.

Just during my short trip to work this week I’ve encountered

• Young girls who ran for a bus, which waited for them but declined to say thank you, despite being able to shout “WAIT” at the top of their lungs
• Old people who when someone younger offers them their seat, they walk straight past saying nothing
• People who push past you to get off the bus without asking, or even hinting that they might want to get past, instead leaping from their seat like leaving is a matter of live and death
• People who sit blocking seats whilst others stand around them rather than moving their bags or themselves to make the seats available

But these are just a few examples, and some of them got me thinking. As someone who is quite comfy, and somewhat adept, at talking to relative strangers on the train or perhaps the bus to discuss an event that just happened or to lighten a journey, that after you have done this a number of times and the person you have spoken to clearly doesn’t understand even basic English that the next time you hesitate to do so.

If someone treats you rudely, and you comment on it and they don’t understand you, perhaps next time you don’t bother to comment but instead you act rudely yourself and so it slowly escalates. Perhaps next time you do this, the person you treated rudely was expecting an apology and they too act rudely the next time.

Am I blaming lack of language skills for all society’s rudeness, no, however I do wonder how much it is to blame. If young children take their examples from the people they see not talking to each other, or respecting each other either due to lack of skills or effort, they how can we expect them to act any differently. How can we correct them, if we do not correct each other?

I’d love to have a solution. I’d love to think that everyone has a basic understanding of English (as that is the UK language) so that they can say “Please”, “Thank you” and “Sorry” and I believe most people do, but they let themselves down by not using those skills. I hate some of the rudeness I see, and won’t allow my son to grow up acting that way, but if the adults around him do not act correctly its so much harder to teach him by example. Unless as a group we pay attention and give respect to the people around us that deserve our respect then we will all grow up into a country where no one has manners, no one cares about anyone else, and everyone ends up focussed on themselves and their needs and that won’t be a nice world to live in.

Here ends my thoughts, but I’d welcome some comments, maybe my little world here in Feltham isn’t like that which you live in…..