Life be not so short but that there is always time for courtesy

A good quote from Emerson! Hello ladies and gentlemen, sorry I have been so lax in getting my posts up, it has been Gamma Phi Beta land for several weeks. As I mentioned in my last post, I was headed to Convention and happily, I don't have much to report from the ladies seriously police. Most of our collegiate (and alumnae) women were dressed appropriately, some could use some lessons, but hey, even I make bad clothing decisions. SO I thought instead I would comment today on the general rudeness of Americans in public...yep, that's right I said Americans in general...

Here is my question, have we gotten SO committed to the internet, texting and emailing that we don't understand how to be kind to one another in person. Case in point, yesterday, I was at the post office buying stamps. I was coming out of the door and a woman (probably in her 60s) and her mother (probably in her 90s) were coming in. The 90 year old woman was moving slow, so I held the door open for both of them. DO YOU THINK either of them acknowledged me or thanked me? NOPE, not a word. Now, I would have held the door either way because it is the right thing to do, I am not fishing for compliments, but come on people...it took these women a good minute or two to get through the door. I believe I did say you are welcome out loud as I closed the door.

So here is what I am saying, ladies seriously, please have some common courtesy when in public. Be cognizant of those around you and for crying out loud, have some manners! Here are some ladies seriously guidelines for being classy ladies in public:

1. If you are in the elevator and someone is clearly trying to catch it before the door closes, HIT THE OPEN DOOR button! Help someone out. And move to the side, if someone needs to get out on a floor ahead of you.

2. If you are coming or going into a store (or Starbucks in my case), hold the door open for the next person. And if someone does it for you, thank them!

3. In traffic, if someone lets you into a line of traffic, give them the thank you WAVE. BUT, don't cut someone off and wave....

4. If you are in line at the grocery store and you have 50+ items and the person behind you has TWO, let them go ahead of you. This happened to me recently at the store, I had two items and she had a cart full, she let me in front of her...how nice. And I did thank her.

5. If you have a child and are shopping with a HUGE stroller, PLEASE don't block aisles or bump that stroller into others! AND if you are walking down the street, make sure you aren't taking up the ENTIRE sidewalk with your stroller.

6. If you are walking with a group, don't spread out across the entire sidewalk, so the people coming the other direction have to walk in the grass (for crying out loud, some rude person with a dog probably didn't pick up the poop and that person might step in it).

7. If you are in line somewhere (pick a store), don't talk LOUDLY on your cell phone. No one in line needs to hear your conversation with your mom about what you had for dinner last night.

8. If you are at a busy restaurant, and there are CLEARLY people waiting for tables, don't lallygag around getting extra coffee or drinks after dinner. Take it the bar next door, some people may still be waiting to eat.

9. If you are on a public bus or train, please give up your seat for an elderly person, disabled person or pregnant woman. If you are able bodied, you can stand for a few minutes until your stop.

10. If you are in a public place, PLEASE turn your iPOD down! I don't need to hear Barry Manilow cutting it up. If it is that loud, you are damaging your ear drums!

11. If you have strong opinions about religion, politics, adoption, etc, don't air those opinions until you know your audience well. My niece and nephew are adopted and you cannot imagine the RUDE things that are said to my sister and family.

OK, so you get it. Ladies seriously, think about how you would like to be treated and do the same for others (HMMMM, where have I hear that golden rule before?). I get so irritated when I encounter RUDE behavior in public. Honestly, if you are having a bad day, you don't need to take it out on the kind gentlemen who just held the elevator for you.

So that is all for now, ladies seriously, keep it classy! CHEERS AND CIAO BELLAS!