
What happened to being nice? What happened to common courtesy? I'm beginning to think they ran off together.
This past Saturday, while Joe was working with some recruiters at a local fair, people were rude to him.
Why, you ask? Because he was in uniform and apparently the whole reason for the War on Terror.
While at the fair, one woman (I cannot use the term lady) came up to Joe and started to mouth off how disgusted she was by
him and how
he was causing their children to be killed. She kept ranting and raving about things and taking out her frustrations on Joe.
Personally. Joe told her that she should thank the veterans in this country that she can talk the way she does because if she lived in another country, she'd be shot for talking like that.
You know, blaming (and yelling at) Joe for the war is like me blaming fast food restaurant cashiers for obesity.
Seriously.
I'm learning that respect, appreciation, and even simple common courtesy are too much to ask from some people. And it's really sad.
Another incident that happened to Joe on Saturday. While standing at the Humvee, a child came and spat on him. That's real nice. And, to make it more special, the parents said and did
nothing. No apology from either the parents or the child. The parents did
nothing. What kind of society are we raising? I'm sure that kid learned it from someone. And, you know, we don't know if this child was HIV-positive.
He could be. We don't know.
On Tuesday when I took Sawyer to have his portrait taken, another customer completely blocked the entrance to the only doorway in the studio. I was trying to leave and her cart was there. Except for a 4" gap, she was blocking the entire entrance. She made no attempt to even slide it out of the way as I walked up. Had it not been for two children in the cart, I probably would have moved it myself. Spenser hunched over and went under. I stood there, with Sawyer on my hip and I just looked at this woman. After a few minutes (only after telling Spenser to wait for me because I was
stuck in the store,
hint, hint), she finally asked "Can you fit through?" Flattered?
Yes. Able to fit through a 4" gap?
No.
A little common courtesy goes a long way.
My son, Jackson (6 1/2), talks
a lot. In fact, he's been getting into trouble at school for talking so much. Not any serious grievances, just little ones. He's gotten in trouble for talking in the hallway line, in the bathroom, in music class (instead of singing). Those kinds of things. After the fifth time this new school year, I had had enough of his shenanigans. I made him write an apology to his teacher. He had to be accountable for his behavior. (He also lost computer privileges at home as his punishment for each account.)
Since that day, Jack has not gotten into trouble. I'm not saying it won't happen again, but at least he is learning. He's learning that it is disrespectful to his teacher and her time to misbehave. He's learning that other children may not be able to listen if he is talking.
If
my son spat on another person like that, on purpose? Oh boy. Not only would I be apologizing profusely and forcing my son to apologize, I would be leaving the fair and teaching my son the lesson of courtesy.
[And just a note. Not all people are like the ones I described above. There are times when people (mostly
men in my observations) will come up to Joe, shake his hand, and thank him for his service to the country. Sadly, it has also been my observation that most of the mouthy ones are women.]