After enduring these last three extra cold days, I’m beginning to wonder if January decided to return for a second visit. I’ve always considered February the month where we’re on a general downward slide to the first day of Spring. So much for expecting things to be normal with our weather patterns of late. While at the office and warming up for another appointment I had the next hour, a previous client stopped in that I had not seen for a very long time. As we all hate to admit, he’s grown older as likely he’d considered me having, since we last saw each other.
We both had some time to kill, so we sort of picked up where we left off some years ago in speaking about how the world is changing. One thing he mentioned struck a chord with me because it has similarly been happening to me recently. He went on to say how so many of the young when walking down a sidewalk shoulder to shoulder, won’t step aside for lone walkers who are much older. He has found it more pronounced than I, simply because his job takes him into a more public shopping environment. The cutting in front of one without saying “excuse me”, the not stepping aside for another to pass, and the seemingly lack of realization that there are other people going about their daily lives around them. I’ve also noticed how people will walk right into my private office even if they know I’m with someone. Twenty years ago, I rarely if ever experienced that lack of respect of another’s privacy. Now, it has become more commonplace. My client similarly agreed and went on to gave his take on it by supporting the idea that people want to feel “special” and be noticed by as many who are willing to look at them. He even went on to say that the “drop crotch” fad is not so much glamorous, but a way to get themselves looked at. I can do nothing but agree because when seeing some men and women wearing clothes that are so ridiculous, I can’t help but do a double take simply because of my dis-belief in what I’d seen in the first glance.
Recalling when I was young and impressionable, I used to admire the older stately men and women who were prominent in their fields. It was simply expected to stand aside for an older person when walking as well as be gentlemanlike in holding doors open and saying please, thank you, and excuse me. Advice given by men and women who’d been through some of life’s trials was remembered and often put to use when encountering similar difficulties. I know many think me a bit of a stuffed shirt, but I still believe there should be a standard by which conduct ourselves when interacting with the general public. It’s a breath of fresh air for me whenever I encounter young people who are kind and courteous.
As people age gracefully, they should be looked up to as guides for the young when they start discovering silver threads among their youthful gold. Even as I’m growing older, I still think of several long retired businessmen whom I greatly admired, and sometimes turned to for much needed advice. I can still see in my mind’s eye their silver threads.
