Kindness

My Mother used to say the old "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."  I prefer, "Be kind, or be quiet."  The message is still pretty much the same.

I started to post a status on Facebook, and then realized I had too much to say for that little space.  So the rant shall be here in the blog, where it belongs.

Apparently this is "Random Acts of Kindness" week.  Ok, I get that, for things that go a little above and beyond the norm.  "The Internet", because I don't know who exactly to pin it on, has decided that we should have little reminders each day of a specific act of kindness.  Ok......

My issue?  SWEET BABY CHEEZITS!  Where to begin.

I went to Walmart today, and although I was in an extreme hurry, there were enough random "please, thank you, excuse me, and have a nice day's" to make me pause and inwardly comment on how odd it was.  As a society we (I am going to exclude myself here, because my Mama didn't raise one rude child.  We all know and use our manners, thank you very much.) just don't use manners, or little niceties as a general rule anymore.  I can't tell you how many times I go to the drive though at the bank, say thank you, and have the screen go blank.  That does get a loud "your welcome" from me, on the off chance anyone can hear me. ;)

Today's "random act of kindness" is to use please and thank you.

What does it say about our society when we have to be reminded to use our manners?  Most of us, at least if you are over thirty, were taught by the age of two that you needed them to get what you wanted in this world.  Period.  If you are under thirty, well..... maybe not so much.  Don't forget, I have been helping to raise other people's kids since about that time.  In many cases I (underlined three times) was the one who taught them manners, so at least they learned that away from home please and thank you were expected, and in my classroom, required.  Required from everyone, including myself, and any other staff in there.

Lack of manners is just plain disrespectful, and THAT is what's wrong.  If you have respect for your fellow man, you don't have to be reminded to be kind, or polite.  Yes, respect is earned, but it also has to be taught.  Thankfully that seems to be changing.

Now while this rant was forming in my head I thought, "Alright now, aren't you being a little hypocritical with your "Thirty days of Thankful"?  Eh?  Upon further review, it's apples and oranges.  Yes, you should be thankful, but that usually doesn't involve anyone else but you. You're just too wrapped up in yourself to appreciate things.  Being unkind, in any form, certainly does involve others.

Am I always kind?  *sigh*  Nope.  Not many people can manage that one 24/7.  However, I am very rarely deliberately unkind.  I am, without fail, polite.  Whoever you are, whatever you've done, rudeness is unacceptable.  That goes two ways, however, and that's where I have trouble.  If you are disrespectful to me or mine, I make no promises.  I might forget and ask "Just who exactly do you think you are?" accompanied by my death stare, so I will usually remove myself from the situation.  I can't trust my mouth, so I use my feet. (or my Ruthie smile)

Thank you for reading, please come again.  The squirrels have been in fine form........

Have a nice day!   (insert Ruthie smile here)