The following is an excerpt from my upcoming book, The Etiquette of Things: Things You Didn’t Know Were Things. It is based on my annoyance with society as a whole and my Angry Professor persona (catch up on all Angry Professor posts here).
Here are other excerpts:
- Etiquette of Things: Comedy Cellar NY
- Reclining Your Seat Is a Right
- Sitting in the Middle When Aisle Is Available?
- Playing Your Music in Public
- Elevator Etiquette, Pushing Your Floor Number
- Seat Etiquette: Prisoner’s Dilemma
As society becomes angrier, humans care less and less about their actions. Performing the simplest task becomes a major inconvenience. After exiting my favorite place, The Home Depot, I encountered such apathy by way of orange carts littering the parking lot. Like throwing trash on the ground instead of finding a trash can, it seems like it is too much to ask people to return the carts back to their designated space. I become enraged when I try to pull into a spot, only to see a shopping cart in the way. While that is bad, seeing this was more infuriating.
Only a few paces further were the carts’ rightful places.
What does this have to do with travel? Nothing directly. But it should come as no surprise when we see more and more videos of people fighting on planes or a grown man complaining about a baby crying on board an aircraft. Manners are no longer required. It’s every jerk for himself. Trying to call out or correct such behavior only results in more disharmony, if not violence. As a result, the non-deplorables stay silent while social norms are eviscerated.
Perhaps I should change the title of the book from The Etiquette of Things: Things You Didn’t Know Were Things to The Etiquette of Things: Things You Should Know Are Things. Maybe that will remind people to act accordingly. Ultimately, it won’t make a difference because nobody reads anything anyway.
