Yes a bad title, and, sadly, an outdated one. Who can imagine such a thing - 'rules' relating to behavior aboard all forms of public conveyances? In public life in general. Of course, there are guidelines - rules - published and ignored by paying customers about handicapped and seniors and no-food-or-drink, so on and on. Usually ignored under pressure and seldom punished - when only authorities feel it necessary to make an example.
I'm talking etiquette. Old fashioned stuff relating to encounters between strangers in a close space. City space - where a person's civic sense is key to helping a community survive. (Note: uptick in murders this year in D.C. How many are caused or instigated by paranoia often found in crowded conditions, public and private. I.E. road rage, domestic spats, etc.)
Take a moment in that rush hour Metro to bond rather than bite....strike up conversation, maybe 'small talk' rather than sneak looks at the infernal phone.
This sounds like something out of David Brooks' columns. He seems on the bandwagon of civility lately. It's not just the business of being stuck underground rump to rump with strangers during rush hour but behavior in all quarters of public life.
Civic sense a duty not a privilege....what hope otherwise in an increasingly dismaying world.
Some levity helps, too. In a recent Washington Post column by John Kelly he writes about people's favorite Washington experiences, a so-called bucket list. Best of all is the woman in Virginia noting how she counts spending a free day at home while her house guests track frantically over the city trying to see every monument and museum in one day.
Kudos for common sense all around.
I'm talking etiquette. Old fashioned stuff relating to encounters between strangers in a close space. City space - where a person's civic sense is key to helping a community survive. (Note: uptick in murders this year in D.C. How many are caused or instigated by paranoia often found in crowded conditions, public and private. I.E. road rage, domestic spats, etc.)
Take a moment in that rush hour Metro to bond rather than bite....strike up conversation, maybe 'small talk' rather than sneak looks at the infernal phone.
This sounds like something out of David Brooks' columns. He seems on the bandwagon of civility lately. It's not just the business of being stuck underground rump to rump with strangers during rush hour but behavior in all quarters of public life.
Civic sense a duty not a privilege....what hope otherwise in an increasingly dismaying world.
Some levity helps, too. In a recent Washington Post column by John Kelly he writes about people's favorite Washington experiences, a so-called bucket list. Best of all is the woman in Virginia noting how she counts spending a free day at home while her house guests track frantically over the city trying to see every monument and museum in one day.
Kudos for common sense all around.
No comments:
Post a Comment