Lately, it seems that I blame so many of the world’s woes on the pandemic. Perhaps there’s more to it but I think maybe I’m making the pandemic a scapegoat for rampant human assholery. I strongly believe that there’s more good in the world than bad. This is what I preach, and I stand by it. The bad is just louder and more visible so it gets more attention.
There’s no question that the last couple of years have been hard and you just never know what another person’s challenge has been. Mine certainly has been a serious test of patience and restraint. Friends have experienced rough times. I talked to someone a couple of days ago who lost his toddler son to cancer during the pandemic. What I have observed among those who have been truly challenged is that those hard times didn’t make us hard. It made us kind.
I’ve always been one to talk to strangers and listen to their stories. Now, I take even more time. I look into eyes and truly engage. If I have encouraging words, I share them. I’ve seen my friends do the same. The man who lost his son went back to work but also started a charity to bring a smile to the faces of other children battling illness.
Meanwhile, out in the rest of the world, I see so much rude behavior. Aggressive driving, impatience in lines, complaints to low level employees who are just trying to do their jobs. There’s just a general lack of kindness and respect.
Certainly, political division did some of this. People with asshole tendencies were given permission to come out of hiding and openly display bad behavior. But then the forced separation brought on by the virus made people forget how to interact with other people.
When you haven’t been able to go out to a restaurant, maybe you forget to smile and be polite to a waiter. When you’re not wearing pants during a Zoom meeting, maybe you forget how to be proper in society. When you’ve only communicated via text and email, maybe you forget how to have a real conversation. When you haven’t been commuting to work, maybe you forget the rules of the road along with common courtesy.
Maybe we should all be required to take a class with Miss Manners. Maybe we should all be forced to hug a stranger every day. Maybe we should all be brought into a big room together and be reminded that humans are meant to be there for one another. Unity is not just a bumper sticker slogan. It’s necessary medicine. Perhaps it’s Pollyanna of me, but I think it’s possible and I’m not going to stop trying.
