Today's blog is going to be weird, rambling, and it will digress a lot.
My main point is the lack of manners I come across in my jobs and places where I live.
Let's start by talking about the town where I temporarily live right now.
The people in North Texas, generally speaking, are very rude. It's a whole different culture than what I am used to in central Texas and the Hill Country. They rarely respond back when I say hello to members at my job, they demand things, they talk but don't listen...at first, I didn't know what was going on. Then I realized, they are just rude! Entitled indeed!
In McKinney it is more that people act like they have a sense of entitlement. Why? Because McKinney is where new money is escaping from the sprawl of Dallas. Except McKinney is now a sprawl of Dallas thanks to new money escaping there. They try to act rich, pout and demand, and then don't tip. All the while never really listening to you when they ask you a question, they are just preparing for what they want to say next.
In Sherman, it's more of a "we're trying to be small town but at the same time trying to act a little like McKinny while at the same time trying to escape our country roots" feel.
I think it's from living on the prairie. Living in this dreary country with the howling wind, hot summers and sometimes very cold winters is enough to make anyone pissed off at everyone.
That's still not an excuse though.
Rudeness exists in Austin too. Especially as people move in because its the "place to be" or whatever. I experienced a lot of rudeness when I worked at Whole Foods and on the road. But I also came across a lot of nice people too, which I have yet to do here in North Texas.
I just don't understand rudeness. I try to be polite in every situation, with every bank teller, grocery store checker, and even customer service reps for my accounts. I almost always say "Your company did this..." instead of "You did this...", I say thank you, I call people ma'am and sir, etc...
I have come to the conclusion that the generation of parents now (with kids older than 5), for the most part, are so involved with their lives and their own immediate family, they have blinders on. They don't realize there is a world around them. And when that happens, they don't say thank you as they are handed their receipt. They don't say hello when the receptionist says hi. They don't hold the door open for people and they certainly don't let people merge in a traffic jam.
And the worst part, this gets passed onto their kids.
I have another theory. You know how some kids resist being spoken to by strangers sometimes? For example, when a cashier says hello to them. Some kids are just shy. But some kids don't respond because they don't know how to! They see how their parents interact with other adults, especially those in a service position, and don't know how to say "hello". I swear, I did a little experiment. Children with parents who interacted with the world around them were more sociable. Children who were, not shy, but resistant to interacting usually had parents who ignored me as well.
Yesterday there was an interview on NPR about the differences in generations and this gen x'er was complaining about the gen y'ers.
Let's break down the generations. My dad is officially a baby boomer, but a late baby boomer, being born in 1958. My mom, born in 1961, is technically a Tweener or in Generation Jones, each characterized by being a teen in the 70s. I am either a late Gen X'er or apart of the MTV Generation, also called XY (the cusp of X & Y).
It could be said that rudeness can jump around with each generation. Baby boomers, for the most part, came of age and helped to start the counterculture of the 60s. They experienced something progressive, violent and some major transitions. Then as they settled down and got older, they tended to become more conservative. And to date, they have the highest median household income. Maybe with this trend toward settling, becoming more conservative, they want to give their children a safe home and with luxuries they couldn't or didn't want to have.
And now those kids, Gen X, have their own kids. Gen X is characterized mainly by their cynicism and disgruntled attitudes toward authority. Gen X'ers grew up in a time when divorce was common, economic ups and downs, etc...
Could the rudeness stem from each generation trying to make a comfy nest for their children? It seems that each generation tries to rebel against that of their parents. If they grew up in a placid time, they cause a ruckus (boomers). If they grew up during turmoil, they sit back and mock everything (x'ers).
But each generation tries to provide for their children what they didn't have.
And if they didn't have bikes, suburbs, dinner on the table by 5pm, the Silent Generation (parents of boomers) did that for their kids.
If the boomers didn't have MTV, cars when they were kids, and money then their kids gets them.
If the Gen X didn't have internet when they were little, cell phones, iPods, etc...then their generation gets them.
Am I making any sense?
Either way, the roles of parents in society play a major role in how their kids will interact with the world.
(By the way, I just helped a member out. Did I get a thank you? No. Sometimes, even those of way past generations, like the Silent Generation, forget their manners.)
So, please, be aware of how you treat people.
How you act today could be how you are treated tomorrow.
