What Happened to Us?

"I hate rude behavior in a man.  I won't tolerate it."  Capt. Woodrow Call, Lonesome Dove.

I am astounded at how low we've sunk as a society in such a relatively short period of time.  People have lost their perspective.  Instant gratification, no rules, anything goes, ghetto slang, booming speakers, filthy rap, no service, incessant cell phone use, slovenly hygiene, ridiculous wardrobes, and an entire host of other evidence causes me to take exception with the current trend toward the lowest common denominator.

When I was young and was being chided for some breech of approved social interaction, I would offer the excuse that I was not as bad as ___________.  My parents countered with, "Don't compare yourself with the bottom of the barrel."  I think the advice is still sound today.  People seem to think anything and everything is O.K.  Even churches tolerate almost everything in order to keep from offending anyone with rules and regulations that are too restrictive.  Why have church if you are not going to be different from the world?

Go anywhere and ask for anything slightly out of the ordinary and you will be met with sullen stares and confusion.  I went to the cleaners this week and took several sweaters in for my wife.  I also took a linen shirt and asked that it be dry cleaned and placed on a hanger.  I asked that the sweaters be dry cleaned, folded and individually wrapped.  Today I went to pick up my clothes and guess what?  The shirt was folded and placed in plastic and all of my wife's sweaters were on hangers.  I could tell by looking at the clerk, it would do no good at all to try and find out why.

Tonight we went to the movies.  The current television fare is so vile and chocked full of social re-engineering that I can't watch it.  So, I recognized the title of a movie currently showing that matched a book I read, and enjoyed, some time ago and decided it might be one we'd like to see.  Prior to the start of the feature we sat through the list of rules for ensuring that everyone had an equal chance to enjoy the main feature.  One rule was to turn your cell phone off.  This was followed by admonitions to refrain from loud talking and/or texting as the light from the phone might hamper someones viewing enjoyment, or your conversation might override the dialog.  Dumb me.  I turned mine off.  When the lights were turned down almost everyone complied.  Not ten minutes into the movie the guy directly in front of me, who had his feet propped up on the rail, flipped open his phone and started showing his wife some picture on e-bay.  I broke the no talking rule right after I gave the back of his chair a swift kick with my size 13 boot.  I told him to turn the phone off.  He spun around and looked at the red glow coming from my eyes and decided turning the phone off was the best option he had.  When the movie ended, but before the credits, the entire theater lit up when most of the folks decided to power up and text, talk, or twitter.  This continued into the parking lot where few if any patrons didn't have a cell phone hiked up to their ear.

We decided on some fast food after the show and I gave my wife money and asked her to order me a sandwich and a medium drink.  I went to the restroom (typical multiple stall commercial restroom) - the door was locked.  I stepped back out of the hall so as not to impede other patrons wanting to use the facilities.  I waited and wondered why the door was locked.  Men rarely lock the door.  After a considerable wait, one man exited the men's room and sidled into the eating area.  I completed my short visit with the door unlocked and returned to the seating area.  My wife was still at the cash register.  I knew there must be a problem.  She had been there the whole time trying to make the clerk understand that I didn't want a combo, just a sandwich and a drink.  Finally the manager took over and with less than twenty-three key strokes was able to complete the order.  Nothing in life should be this hard.

Exit, pursued by a bear - William Shakespeare