Common courtesy not so common anymore

I’m cranky. Aaarrgghhh! You know how one thing sets you off, and then something else happens and then something else and pretty soon the mood you were in, good, bad, other, takes the Autobahn Express to cranky.

It started this morning, when my husband and I were out running errands. All seemed fine until we hit downtown Naperville, also known as the Land Where People Do Not Know How to Drive. Basic four-way stop sign situation. If the Driver’s Ed rules I learned more than 20 years ago still are the rules, the person on your right goes first, then the person on that person’s right and so on until all the cars have moved through the intersection. Should not have been a problem.

But throw in several pedestrians, every other person on the cell phone and suddenly what should have been basic common sense becomes the spatial relations section on the ACT or the SAT, whichever test is harder. It’s not rocket science, people. So the guy on our right (we’re headed north), takes a left (without using a turn signal) and nearly nails the pedestrians. He was on his cell phone. Then the person on Cell Phone guy’s right goes without incident and the next person makes a left, apparently not seeing the five or six pedestrians in the crosswalk and has to stop. Then we start to go and the new person on our right starts to go at the same time and honks at us. Hey! It was our turn, buddy! What the...? Of all the...! I gave the driver that “What kind of idiot are you?” look, but I don’t think he saw me. He was on the cell phone.

Cell phones are wonderful. I don’t know how we as a society got along without them. Especially in the car. Now, I use mine in the car, but I try to dial when the light is red or I’m stuck in heavy traffic and the prospect of moving even three feet is nil. Most of the time I don’t even answer it because by the time I’ve figured out what that ringing is, the call’s gone into voice mail.

Being in the car makes me cranky. Even if I’m not driving. I used to enjoy driving. Now, not so much. People are rude. They cut you off and then honk at you as if it were your fault they had to zoom through the yellow light to turn into the very same lane you’re occupying. People whiz back and forth from the left lane to the right lane to the left lane to the right lane to the left and, look at that, stuck at the same stop light as me. This is what driving was like today for my husband and me. Thank God he was driving; I probably wouldn’t have been as patient or polite as he. Let's just say that it's a good thing for much of the motoring public that I'm not a traffic cop.

You know what also made me cranky today? I was going for a walk, which I thought would calm me down. I’d just enjoy the scenery at a nearby forest preserve, listen to the birds and let the peacefulness drown out the chatter in my cranky head. But on my way there, walking through my little neighborhood, three people had parked their cars square on the sidewalk. I hate that. It’s called a sidewalk for a reason: it’s for people to walk on. It’s not called a carwalk. So, what’s a polite person to do? Walk around the front of the car, through the yard? Or walk behind the car into the street? Since I was cranky, I walked around front of the cars through the yards. It made me feel better, for about two seconds. What is the deal with that? Couldn’t that person have parked on the driveway apron or in the street (where permissible)? Common courtesy. It’s just common courtesy when parking in your driveway to think that it’s possible that someone might be walking along on the sidewalk and...car parked on sidewalk...can’t walk through car...can’t walk over the car. Sometimes cranky gets the best of me and I wonder how hard would I have to throw myself against this offending vehicle to make the car alarm sound? Pretty hard, considering I’m kind of small.

And here's another thing....Being a small person, wouldn’t you think that if I were to be carrying a tray full of Starbucks, my purse and another bag, someone would open the door for me as I left Starbucks? Maybe hold it open for me? Guess not. I remember when people used to open doors for each other. I hold the door open for people, especially moms with strollers. Don’t know why that stopped. It’s not difficult; just push or pull open the door and let the bogged down person through. It’s a little thing, but in a way a big thing, too.

Not helping someone with the door, honking at other drivers because you’re in a hurry to get to the same red light as everyone else, parking on the sidewalk. Doesn’t it say in the Bible something to the effect of “Do unto others as you would have done unto you?” Isn’t that just another way, a nice way, of saying, “Hey, you! Use your head, will ya?” Common courtesy. Just think how much nicer everyone’s day could be if we all did something common, something courteous for someone else.

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