Manners Disease

Manners Disease is spreading in amongst us. Has it got a hold of you? Is it knocking at your door? At the movie theater the other night, a family with a couple of children, thought it was OK to use their kids to get what they wanted. My wife and I were first in line to enter the movie theater. This other family was right behind us. When the rope came down, we started walking, the father, wife, and kids ran around us like 2 year-olds to get in first to choose their seats. Since they were second in line, I don't think there was any chance what so ever, that they would have got bad seats. They forced their way in, my wife said something to them about it, and the father said "so you're upset because my kids are more agile than you, you used your position to block us from getting in". So I suppose if this family was last in line, the entire line of people waiting were 'blocking' them from getting in. What did these parents teach their children that evening? It's really sad. When I was a child, my parents would never have allowed this to happen, and if us kids did do such a thing, we would have been reprimanded on the spot, and instructed to apologize right away. I've been at the grocery store, briefly looking at something and people come by and will not even wait 2 seconds for me to finish, they say "excuse me", I say "what"?. They say "I need to get something", I say "so do I, maybe you can wait 2 seconds for me to finish". I don't think I'm being rude, I'm even being more courteous than they were to me just now. If I come upon someone in front of something I need to buy, I just wait for them to finish. They were shopping, just like me. I was even asked to step aside at the grocery store by an adult clerk, I thought he needed to get something for a customer, after I moved aside, he started straightening the shelves! I said, "Hello, I'm a customer shopping", "can you step aside now so I can finish"? This was nothing short of unbelievable. The unfortunate thing about this type of behavior is the good people reach their breaking point, and give up. Then they start acting just like the people they were upset by in the first place. It almost seems that each person thinks they are more important than everyone else, this must be an impossibility. Someone has to be more important than another, wouldn't you say. The answer if very simple. The person who is more important than yourself, is everyone else. Poor behavior, and bad manners, is a disease. This disease is spreading, and it' up to you to stop it. Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror" song lyric: "take a look at yourself, and make that change". Laurie Anderson's "Ramon" song lyric: "if you see man who is broken, pick him up and carry him, and if you see a woman who's broken, put her all in to your arms". I read Ms. Manners and Dear Abby, and I'm often surprised at the questions people actually had to write in to these columns for an answer. I can't believe they have to ask this question about right and wrong. These questions usually have the writing between the lines of ME ME ME, if you catch my drift. But I now realize that they were brought up this way, and really have no idea of the proper answer, they have no social foundation instilled in them from their parents, to make a good decision. Can we help these people? I don't know, we can try. If you ever get a chance to watch one of the nanny shows like Nanny 911, or Supernanny, give them try. These parents always call the show, they need help with their children who are out of control. By the end of the show, it's always the parents who really need the help. It also seems that when you do see someone do something wrong, and you call them on it; 9 times out of 10, you'll be hit with a tirade of words (or something more physical). Basically saying 'how dare you question me'. So more often than not, I say nothing, and this person goes on being a poor example of the human race. It's really sad, but I will keep searching for the answer. Manners Disease: cure is so simple, no pill needed. Just needs a few seconds of the brain.