People are Invading our Homes with no Sense of Propriety
There’s a sense of entitlement which is permeating into the very place we considered safe and secure in protecting our very privacy and right to be left alone.
That place is our home, our castle, where we lay our heads, love our children, snuggle our pets. By now, you’re wondering what the heck I’m talking about.
When the Fedex guy pounded down my door a week or so ago, I didn’t give it much thought, other than to call and file a complaint as I didn’t want his insensitive behavior to be inflicted on one of my elderly neighbors or a young mother who had just gotten her baby to sleep. End of story…or so I thought.
Today, while working in my office as I typically do during the day (and often at night as well), there was again a knock on my door, but this time, it went like this:
{Bam!Bam!Bam!}
I got up and walked to the door and before I could even ask “who is it?” I heard:
“Open up!” (my mind is thinking, who in the heck is it, telling me to open up? Police? Firefighter? but I saw neither out my window)
“Who is it?” I asked
“It’s J.R.”
“J.R.?” I asked in confusion, as I don’t know anyone by that name.
“From blankety blank appliance. Kirby.”
(Oh, great, I’m thinking, another salesman) “No thank you.” and I returned to my office.
When I looked out the window, the man was crossing the street to the home of one of my elderly neighbors. I hoped she would do as I did, and refuse to answer the door, but at least she has a rather large golden retriever to help protect her.
Rude Disruptions are Becoming the Rule Instead of the Exception
It has me wondering if parents are no longer teaching their children things like common courtesy and respect. It has become quite common for a pushy young salesman to pound insistently on my door, then waste my time trying to convince me that he’s not a salesmen, but someone who is just sharing important information with me, willing or not.
Though I’m less inclined than ever to even consider whatever wares these folks might be peddling, I almost want to tell them that they and their product are leaving such a bad taste in my mouth that should I consider purchasing that product in the future, I will look into every brand or company except theirs.
Do Such Hard Sell, Mannerless Tactics Really Work?
What are the statistics behind this kind of service and salesmanship? Are they really effective, or are these kids being pushed so hard to make a living that they lose sight of the fact that they are the face of their company and first impressions matter? How many people these days open their doors for such people, and if they do, how many of those give them more than about 30 seconds to make their pitch? When I told my daughter that the fellow today actually said “Open Up!”, she was, to say the least, disbelieving. She must have asked me four times, “Did he really say ‘open up’?”
As is often the case, this experience reminds me of one of my favorite songs from the ’70’s by Crosby, Stills and Nash. It was written by Graham Nash and released in 1970 on their album Deja Vu:
“Teach Your Children”
You, who are on the road must have a code that you can live by.
And so become yourself because the past is just a good bye.
Teach your children well, their father’s hell did slowly go by,
And feed them on your dreams, the one they fix, the one you’ll know by.
Don’t you ever ask them why, if they told you, you would cry,
So just look at them and sigh and know they love you.And you, of the tender years can’t know the fears that your elders grew by,
And so please help them with your youth, they seek the truth before they can die.
Teach your parents well, their children’s hell will slowly go by,
And feed them on your dreams, the one they fix,the one you’ll know by.
Don’t you ever ask them why, if they told you, you would cry,
So just look at them and sigh and know they love you.
From what I’m seeing lately, that “code that you can live by” has gotten pretty weak. I could fall into the blame trap and ask who is at fault, but to what purpose? I ask instead, “What can we do to help fix it?” As I see it, this is society’s problem, and each of us is what makes up that society, so each of us has a responsibility to help get us all back on a path of mutual respect and consideration. Who’s with me on this?
My gratitudes tonight are:
1. I am grateful for the opportunity to learn where I can help make a difference.
2. I am grateful for the ugliness in others which makes me face it in myself, be it the actual ugliness or my failure to be a messenger of change.
3. I am grateful for messages from my Guides, Higher Self and Angels.
4. I am grateful for the changes my life is taking and the new roads I’m breaking.
5. I am grateful for abundance: lessons, people, opportunities, growth, expansion, love, joy, friendship, happiness, health, harmony and prosperity.
Blessed Be
And now for some shameless self-promotion:
I’d love it if you’d visit my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/SheriLevensteinConawayAuthor?ref=aymt_homepage_panel and my website, www.shericonaway.com. I’ve created these pages as a means of positive affirmation and would be very grateful if you’d “like” them or leave a comment! Thank you!
You set the melody to playing in my mind – a nice addition to the soundtrack for my life. Thank you.
I fear that not only are children not taught that being polite is important (someone said something like “greases the mechanisms of society”), but, far more insidiously, they are experiencing – and learning – that being polite is not profitable. In an age when we worship wealth, celebrate greed, and idolize celebrity (almost universally connected to both the former) any *MINUTE* not spent pursuing the next angstrom of success is wasted. The ultimate fallout is that, eventually, whether a moment is used for actively pursuing a dream, or merely talking up space and breathing the air, it is no longer cushioned by manners or politeness.
Wes (Z EOD)
Very well put, Wes. It still baffles me that so many cannot see that abundance and even prosperity as society defines it would be greater and more enjoyable if they instilled it with kindness, compassion and a nice dose of good manners. How many who are successful or even famous are truly happy with what they have? How many continue to pursue more thinking that will bring them happiness? A very sad commentary on humanity. A Universal shake up would be a welcome change, but some might not survive it. 🙂