It Starts With Me

Walking around Disney this weekend it still amazes me how rude people can be. In the one place where so many different people come to experience “the happiest place on earth” people can be so rude.

I’m raising two boys, ages 10 and 12, and I try to teach them manners and how to be polite in public. They hold doors for people, give up their seats on the bus, let people go in front of them. But does anyone turn around and acknowledge what they’ve done? Say “thank you”? Very few. They look at me and I have no words.

People here walk in front of you, no “excuse me” said, hand raised or “I’m sorry” muttered. Amazing. Baffling actually. 

And yet when we stop to let someone go in line before us, the people are amazed that we did that, almost in shock. We are at Blaze Pizza in Disney Springs, walking almost side by side to a family from Alabama. When we stopped to let them go ahead you could have caught flies in their open mouths. Sad that it wasn’t the normal behavior. We waited at the hotel bus stop for 40 min for a bus to come. When it finally did we waited for those who were waiting before us to board first and they looked at us in amazement. Why?

Why don’t we treat each other this way all the time? Why is it a shock when someone is nice to us? Makes me wonder what our society is coming to? I believe in karma. If I’m nice to others it will come back to me ten fold. And if I’m mean, it will bite me in the ass one day.

I try to live by the golden rule. Do unto others as you wish them to do to you. I want to be treated with respect and kindness. So I try to teach my kids to do the same. We all put our pants on the same way, one leg at a time. We all are a part of this society. Whether you drive the bus or clean the stalls, or run a company, you matter in life. You should be treated with respect. Take a moment to get along. Be nice. Smile at each other. Offer a helping hand. Someday it will you be in need. Who will want to help you?

I just hope that society gets better. Maybe like a fine wine that ages with time, people will stop seeing the world in a “me” vision and see it more as an “us” instead. Can’t we all just get along and help one another instead of looking out for oneself? It’s a lonely place by yourself. Each generation must try to make a difference one person at a time. And I start with me and my family. One day at a time.