Well…this idea popped into my head this morning and I thought I’d share it…I remember growing up that most of the people you met and interacted with on any given day were pretty nice and courteous and the act of being nice never set you apart. But these days, with the coarsening of our society, everyone is so on edge, so ready to assert their ‘rights” that people doing simple acts of niceness are held up as being somehow different or naive. But I don’t think that is the case, at least I don’t want to believe it. Why can’t we smile when the person in front of us in the checkout lane takes their time unloading their shopping cart and then a minute to talk to the cashier? Why does everyone’s behavior have to fit what we want it to be?

I admit, I have been one of those people that angered easily when people don’t drive fast enough or can’t make up their mind at the coffee shop….but I am proposing that we start to think of what type of person we want to be and what impact our behavior has on others. I no longer want to be a part of what people see as the inevitable lowering of acceptable standards of behavior….I’m going to promise to try to do better….and I hope some of you will join me…