The Columns of Shauna Kelly
A Little Consideration
.....© by Shauna Kelley , 1999
The famous Roman Orator Cicero once said that there has never been any great
talent without an element of madness. The truth behind Cicero's statement
is abundantly apparent throughout history. Shall we reflect on the infamous
absent-mindedness of Einstein, the all too gruesome missing ear of Van Ghoh,
or on a more contemporary level, who can forget the wild and amusing antics
of Robyn William's. Regardless of the talent, the field, the discipline or
the for of expression, those who have talent are subject to a moment of
insanity every now and then. I'm sure that there are those out there who
would have asked Cicero to amend his statement to read every talent and
Americans; however, this is not only impossible because of Cicero's death
many thousand years before the founding of America, but also because I wish
to know if insanity is the actual substance that infects the vast majority
of us.
It is true that in most foreign countries Americans have the reputation for
being rude, arrogant and decadent. In some places political hostilities
have caused the attitude towards Americans to become so loathsome that a
traveler would be advised not to reveal his or her nationality if possible.
For the sake of argument, lets weed out the political tensions and ask why
Americans might have this reputation.
To some extent there are cultural differences to account for. It is more
acceptable in America to look at a waitress and say "give me" rather then
"may I please have"; however, I what I really wish to know is if these
"cultural differences" excuse the behavior of a lot of Americans. I say,
quite simply no.
How much extra effort does it require to use the phrase "May I please have,"
rather then "give me"? As a three-year veteran of restaurant employment I
can safely say that most people would be appalled by the behavior of the
vast majority of "their fellow Americans". For instance, the phrases "give
me," or "I want..." are rude. Whether or not the person you are speaking to
is being paid to listen to you, they are still a person.
A story comes to mind in regards to this. A new fast food restaurant opened
in my hometown last summer. My brother and I went to get lunch and were all
the way home before we realized that they had messed up the order. My
brother decided to call and raise hell about it. At the time my brother
worked in a fast food restaurant and I asked him to keep that in mind when
calling. He replied indignantly that when he screwed up people came in and
"bitched him out". I then asked him what he said about these people when
they left and he replied that he called them derogatory names and thought
they were jerks. So, I stood waiting for him to understand that he was
about to be a jerk. The revelation never came.
My point is this - we have all messed up at one time or another. We have all
had bad days, we have all done stupid things. The reactions of those around
us differentiate between a mistake and a bad day.
In a word - courtesy. Most of our mother's taught us to use please and thank
you. Use these words, especially in front of children that they might
understand the value of a little bit of politeness. Patience is a virtue.
Exploding at someone who has made a simple mistake accomplishes nothing but
making that person feel worthless, stupid or angry. And I speak from
experience when I say that, in most cases, the nicer and more polite you are
to a person the better response you will get.
It is so easy to forget that people are just that. There are over six
billion of us now. Just think how much nicer life could be if each on of us
six billion people smiled a little more.
Email Shauna Kelley - - -
The Inditer Index - - -
The Inditer Main Page
The Shauna Kelley Main Page
