Lack of Respect - A Societal Ill

[Red Baron]

When I was a teenager if I'd have made enough of a mess at a car wash that the owner had to get on to me, when I got home I would have been in trouble big time! Today, the parents chew out the car wash owner rather than their ill-behaved kid.

 

[Whale of a Wash]

Societies role models,the sports figures, politicians, and movie stars, seem to teach us it's not their fault. Respect ,Honesty and integrity, seem to be forgotten. I have not gotten yelled at by parents, but would tell them, The nut sure didn't fall far from the tree.

 

[Waxman]

I had the opposite experince. Last summer my wash was lightly vandalized. I found out who did it. The parents came with the kid who did the vandalism and we worked it out so I was hapy. I got a fair shake and the matter was resolved properly.

 

[Red Baron]

I caught a high school kid scooping baseball-sized mudballs off his Jeep and throwing them at my security camera until it was completely covered. I told him he had 15 minutes to get to the car wash and clean it up or I'd press charges. He cleaned some of it up, and scratched the lens in the process. That was the end of it. What did his parents do about it? They stopped using my car wash because, afterall, I must be a meanie for treating their adorable son that way.

Parenting is a skill, and a lot of them aren't very skillful at it.

 

[pitzerwm]

Red, sue the parents, its the only way to get their attention. Once a kid took a swing at me and I busted his mouth open, turned out he was only 14, with a mouth of a sailor. I called the cops and his parents had to be gotten out of church. They were going to sue me for hitting their kid until I chatted with the father. I sid that I was surprised that the kid cussed worse than me and that they had to go to church to find the parents. I said that I didn't care if they sued or not, but maybe that was the best thing that could happen to their boy, before he got into real trouble. Dad agreed and dropped the suit.

 

[MEP001]

Parenting is a skill, and a lot of them aren't very skillful at it.

Have you ever seen Supernanny? It seems like some people make the decision to have kids the way others would commit to the decision of getting a pet goldfish. Then they wonder why their children are so rotten.

 

[Red Baron]

Some goober was letting his kids hang by the vac hoses, insert whatever they could find into the coin slots, and run around the lot like a bunch of Banshees. When I asked him to keep them near his car and away from my equipment, he screamed bloody murder at them as though it was their fault he wasn't watching them.

 

[Earl Weiss]

Lack or skills or tota absence of parenting and results stemming therefrom are IMNSHO a good reason to bring back compulsive Military studenst so people learn courtesy and respect.

 

[Faceonglass]

Lack or skills or tota absence of parenting and results stemming therefrom are IMNSHO a good reason to bring back compulsive Military studenst so people learn courtesy and respect.

There is a military school for troubled kids not to far from me. They really do a great job with these kids.

Occasionally I will be eating somewhere and they will bring a group of kids in. They are always well behaved and they station a couple by the door to open it for people coming in and out.

 

[MEP001]

I saw a guy one day letting his two sons run around and play with anything they could reach. He was constantly yelling at them to stay close, but they weren't listening and he didn't follow through at all. The worst part was one of them, two or three years old, was screaming almost non-stop He kept yelling at the older son to watch the younger one, but the older was no more than five. I noticed that when they came in the wash was packed, but after a half hour of the kids running around screaming the wash was deserted but them. It was so bad I had planned to ask him on his next visit to either control his kids or leave, but I haven't seen him again.

 

[Reds]

Just think what it will be like when this generation of kids are running this country.

 

[Red Baron]

Just think what it will be like when this generation of kids are running this country.

You mean it can get any worse?

 

[Sequoia]

Behavior

My wife's father was an airline pilot for many years, and flew a route from Los Angeles to an airport immediately adjacent to a military basic training facility.

He repeatedly saw the same thing: a planeful of almost out-of-control young men departs on a flight from Los Angeles, creating mayhem on the flight, pinching the flight attendants, what have you.

Six weeks later, the same group is on the return flight, sitting upright in their seats, acting extremely politely, and saying "Yes, sir" and "Yes, maam."

Kind of funny when you think about it-- another reason to contemplate some sort of national compulsory service for young people.

 

[Greg Pack]

And I'm sure all of us were little angels when we were teens......


Seriously though, I was taught to say mam and sir to anyone more than five years older. And I do remember taking my Honda XL 125 bike to the local self serve. I parked right over the grate and cleaned up my mess before I left. That was before I ever dreamed I would run a car wash.

 

[rph9168]

No question that our values have taken a hit, especially in the last few decades. It is not only our young that have become somewhat uncivil. I think our population in general has taken rude to a new level. People just don't seem to care about the rights of others over their own. People cut in lines, cut people off when driving and show little patience when dealing with others.

A few weeks ago my wife and it were in a grocery store. The lines were rather long and slow. A lady probably in her 40's cut into the line. When my wife questioned her about the move, the women used language that would have made a sailor blush and threatened her with physical violence. By the way, she was wearing a six inch cross outside her sweater. This is just one of many incidents I have observed over the last few years that show a decline in our behavior and what is considered acceptable in our society today.

 

[jfmoran]

The Customer Ain't Always Right

I firmly believe that one of the things that has lead to this rudeness in public is this whole notion that "The customer is always right".

Society at large has been conditioned to believe that they can go and do and say what ever they want because that business is going to do whatever they can to keep them as a customer, because "the customer is always right". Those people that are then on the receiving end of a-hole customers feel like they then have the right to return the favor when they are the customer.

We're (society a large) all dumping on each other because we have distorted the original intent of this customer service rule to believe that treating people and property like trash is somehow your god-given right as a customer and that employees and owners are just supposed provide service with a smile.

 

[Red Baron]

I firmly believe that one of the things that has lead to this rudeness in public is this whole notion that "The customer is always right".

Society at large has been conditioned to believe that they can go and do and say what ever they want because that business is going to do whatever they can to keep them as a customer, because "the customer is always right". Those people that are then on the receiving end of a-hole customers feel like they then have the right to return the favor when they are the customer.

We're (society a large) all dumping on each other because we have distorted the original intent of this customer service rule to believe that treating people and property like trash is somehow your god-given right as a customer and that employees and owners are just supposed provide service with a smile.

Excellant point!

I'm really easy-going but as often as not people confuse that as being milquetoast, which I'm not. They don't pick up the subtle hints that they've misjudged me, they keep pushing my buttons, and eventually I bite back. Then of course they label me a hothead.

I have never chewed out a single customer who didn't try very hard to make that happen.

 

[rph9168]

Excellant point!

I'm really easy-going but as often as not people confuse that as being milquetoast, which I'm not. They don't pick up the subtle hints that they've misjudged me, they keep pushing my buttons, and eventually I bite back. Then of course they label me a hothead.

I have never chewed out a single customer who didn't try very hard to make that happen.

That is my point. People almost seem to always want more or feel they are entitled to be rude without any consequences.

 

[Sequoia]

Rudeness

Seems fitting to confess to my own rudeness here:

A few years ago, I was at a large big-box chain store doing some shopping. The lot was full and I had to park way, way out at the edge. I ran into the store because it was raining.

After shopping, and through the rain, I wheeled a cart full of "stuff" to my truck, and unloaded it. I looked around, and found the lot still entirely full with every space taken-- plus, no where in sight to push the cart to except all the way back to the store. I considered that, then decided I didn't want to make the full round trip and back again.

I shouldn't have done it, and I'll admit it, but I simply pushed the cart slightly away-- directly behind the next car parked beside me. Not in the way of traffic, easily visible, but behind the adjacent car. I got in the truck, and started to back out when I saw ... you guessed it ... the owner of the vehicle next to me pushing her own cart from the store back to her car.

As I completed backing up, but before driving away, I saw her mouth some words so I rolled the window down. I proceeded to hear the most filthy vile comments I've ever heard-- all because my cart was behind her car, and with a simple push it could be in my former parking space instead.

Now, here is where I should have shut up and driven off; however, I looked the woman in the eye and said: "Lady, if I was as ugly as you I'd be ****ed off too!" Then I rolled the window up and drove away.

I've never forgotten the episode. I'm sure Freud could figure out many hidden meanings-- I'm not sure I've figured out even the basic meaning yet.

 

[Red Baron]

A habit from my RV days, I always "try" to put my shopping cart where it belongs, and on my way in to the store I try to take someone else's with me so it's one less the employees have to mess with. I'm not 100%, but at least 98%.

Those runaway carts are why I strategically park out at the dge of the parking lot, or protected behind the cart corral. I pay attention to which way the wind is blowing and which way the parking lot slopes to keep away from runaway carts. If all else fails, I try to park where any rolling carts would likely hit my rear bumper.

Obsessive, I know, but that's why I have just 1 ding on a truck with 175,000 miles.