Where have all the manners gone? (GSSGC Blog)

Where have all the manners gone?
By: Jessica Lawrence, CEO, GSSGC

During my commute the other day, I was listening to Pat Morrison, a radio host on the public radio station KPCC (www.kpcc.org) interview Dick Meyer, author of “Why We Hate Us” – a book that details a number of issues with Americans’ pervasive “anything goes” attitudes. Their discussion focused largely on how a significant number of people have somehow developed the attitude that they themselves are the only important morale guidepost – that if they think something is acceptable and o.k., then it is. And what I see in daily life often lives up to that observation – young women coming in for job interviews looking like they just rolled out of bed; employees at restaurant counters acting like they really could care less that you, a paying customer, would like something to eat; fewer “pleases” and “thank yous”; and in one of the worst examples, young women thinking it is o.k. to beat another girl up on video tape and post it on the internet for the world to see.

I was starting to feel depressed by this reality, but then I thought about the fact that Girl Scouts has a tradition of teaching girls manners – teaching them to say “please” and “thank you”, to dress appropriately, to think about how what they do effects others, and to believe that there are things that are truly “right” and “wrong”. It looks to me like the world needs more Girl Scouts!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

Yes, we have been hearing these words for many, many years now. But how much of it do you really do?

With all the strange weather patterns and climate changes going on--earthquakes, tornadoes, tsunamis, wildfires, volcanic eruptions, etc.--our planet (or someone/something out there) is trying to hint to us humans at something: The effects of human existence on this planet is in full throttle. It is almost at the point of "the damage is done, we can't turn back the sands of time".

Species of plants and animals are not able to evolve fast enough to protect themselves from what is happening on this planet. And many of us humans are oblivious to what is going on around them..."What greenhouse effect?, What 'polar ice caps melting'?". In just a 30 year span, look how much the ice has melted!

Since 1979, the size of the summer polar ice cap has
shrunk more than 20 percent. (Illustration from NASA)

Some actually do not believe that we are slowly destroying our own habitat! We all live in this "bubble" where we see not too far past our own backyards, and think everything is fine because their immediate location seems to not have any environmental problems.

Well, if everyone could just look more on a global scale, then they will soon realize that things are getting really bad in the environment.

I have always thought of myself to be as environmentally conscious as much as I can, but these days I realized I could still be doing more to lessen our carbon footprint. I am going to compile and post a list soon of things I have recently done to do my part in saving our planet. Yes--We do really need to 'SAVE OUR PLANET'!! This is a well-recognized mantra that people have been rallying about for years, and it's time we start listening to it and taking action!

I have a blog now??

Here I am...I have a blog. Why, you say? Well...I was inspired by my sis-in-law to start a blog (she started one of her own for the first time to post pix and happenings in her family). And we all need to get away from Facebook at times, right?

Well, I thought, why not give it a shot? It might be a good way to cleanse my mind out the many things I am thinking about and want to do. Maybe it will help me more easily decide on how and when to do all these things that clutter my mind day-to-day. It may be my creative outlet of sorts, to share thoughts, ideas, recipes, or whatever comes to mind (that is worth reading) with my family and friends. :)

Thanks for visiting my blog. Hope you plan to come back soon for your enjoyment!