Unruly

 

Don’t know how it happened but our culture seems to becoming rude.

I don’t remember my etiquette training but I don’t think I was yelled at or beaten with a stick. I was taught to sit on my hands at the dining table. I was taught to be seen and not heard. I was not as consumed as the royals on proper obedience but there were rules to follow.

In church I was given a piece of paper and a pencil to keep me distracted and not fidget. At formal dinners, I sat up straight and waited for others to pick up the correct fork before I began to eat. I followed the proper behavior and did not misbehave.

At school, a class of wild children sat quietly in their seats at the request of the female teacher. She was everyone’s mother and no one talked back.  Now and then, someone would get into mischief and would be publicly punished. There may be a raised voice but no mad nun with a ruler. A child could be called in front of the class to apologize or be told to stand in the corner or in the hallway (for a timeout period) or in serious cases, sent to the principal’s office.

For the most part, we all obeyed the authoritarian system and followed the direction of the elders.

By high school, we started making our own decisions on classes to achieve a piece of paper acknowledging we accomplished conative knowledge. We began to pull pranks and some were expelled when they were repeat offenders, but the majority walked across the stage in their robes to their parents hopes of finishing the cost of children and hoping for becoming empty nesters.

Those who didn’t go onto higher learning found employment and started learning what life was all about. The ones who did go off to university (hoping for better employment opportunities and/or getting out of the draft) experimented with pushing the boundaries under the security umbrella of school.

Supervisors at work had to start dealing with employees who were disgruntled with a variety of dislikes and can be counseled, given probation or termination. Lawyers expect documentation on all actions for contention of firing may require court time.

So, when did we learn to be so unruly?

I hear it at the grocery when people are yelling, complaining to people who can’t solve their problems. I hear the stories of people on planes or trains or buses acting up and not obeying the requirements of public safety or public decorum. Our mob mentality causes us to act like hooligans at sports games or music festivals or school committee meeting requiring security dressed in helmets and carrying plastic shields (where just one person wearing a uniform with a badge could move a crowd with just a verbal request).

Now the shenanigans continue to grow with those who feel privilege to disturb the peace and the rest of us have to deal with it.

Behave or you will be expelled.