Civility

To me personal memory about other people's needs is the essence of being human, a hallmark about that is civility. Not that I consider myself a "paragon of virtue," no. But to be thoughtful and courteous is part of the boilerplate of character in my book. My parents and my grandparents did not teach this, they lived it. Now I find that I miss the earlier generations' lives in this regard.

What set this off? Working with a young man this week I found that he threw his pop cans in the back of my pickup truck, and when I got in his car to take a ride to help him with something the floor was strewn with so much debris he had throw some of it over the seat. Now I like this fellow a lot, a very good worker, but I can't handle the situation which puts me at odds with his personal habits.

My Father was an automotive mechanic for many many years and couldn't stand the fact that people did not respect themselves or the cars he was to work on because of the way they brought them in. To him maintenance was critical and for people to expect him to clean up after them before he could solve their mechanical problems was a sign of disrespect. This seems to be an allegorical situation, an uncomfortable one, perhaps a sign of the times.