Why did the door just slam in my face?
One day in particular I was having a bad day and trying to get to class as soon as possible. As I approached the door to Tucker Hall a boy who was about four steps in front of me opened the door, looked straight at me and kept walking, letting the door slam in my face.
Chivalry, where have you gone? It seems that people are just not as polite as they used to be.
It does not take a rocket scientist to understand that if someone is right behind you and you are both going into the same building, it would be polite to open the door for them. Is it too much to follow the golden rule, “Treat others the way you want to be treated?”
Maybe people do not open doors for each other anymore because when you hold the door open many people do not say “thank you,” thus adding to the problem.
An excuse that many people seem to have for not opening doors for others is that they are in a rush and don’t have the time. To them I say, you obviously do not have the time for courtesy. Living in this fast-paced society, would it really be too much to ask to take a minute of your life to do a good deed? Have we become the new “me” generation?
It seems as though society glorifies rude and crude behavior, often showing celebrities, athletes and other household figures in obscene images.
According to an article on http://www.cbsnews.com, a poll taken by Associated Press-Ipsos found that nearly 70 percent of people are ruder than they were 20 or 30 years ago.
As stated by Peter Post, a descendant of etiquette expert Emily Post and an instructor on business manners through the Emily Post Institute in Burlington, Vt., factors such as road rage, loud and annoying cell phone conversations and other self-absorbing communication gadgets, and the fast-paced, me-loving society we live in all contribute to men and women behaving badly in this day and age.
And, more importantly, Peggy Newfield, founder and president of Personal Best, said the generation that came of age in the times-a-changin’ 1960s and 1970s are now parents who don’t stress the importance of manners such as opening the door for females.
Plain and simple, it seems that many students on campus lack manners.
Is everyone out for himself or herself?
Students, please take the time to think of others.
The next time you are walking to class and see someone behind you, don’t let the door close in his or her face.
Hold it open because the next time it might be you getting the door slammed in your face.
Latasha Edwards is a sophomore public relations student from Houston. She can be reached at Latasha1.Edwards@famu.edu.