Be Nice

By Dayanne Garcia on September 27, 2013

Being courteous is extremely important. We must learn to share the world we live in with every other human being. Not a day goes by that I don’t run into someone being discourteous or just being impolite. We must remember that our actions affect everyone around us not just ourselves. Just remember, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

In Your Home

I recently moved into my first apartment with my best friends. I already see problems with sharing and being courteous, despite only being here for a couple of days. The first thing I noticed is that my housemate controls the common space. From morning to sun down, my housemate is in front of the television watching his favorite television shows. Another one of my housemates enjoys cooking but she hates cleaning up after herself. I come home to dishes and used blenders on the counter. In cases like this, it’s important to talk to our housemates about being courteous. It seems small and petty but remember that your time is valuable. Instead of picking up the slack and cleaning up after your housemates, talk to them about cleaning up. If someone is hogging up the common space, suggest watching something that the house will enjoy. It’s good to be a little selfish but it’s more important to share.

In Public

It’s tremendously important to be considerate and well mannered in public. Your actions will be the first and possibly last impression you will leave. Who knows, you may have gained the respect of a stranger by holding the door, answering a question or just being courteous. It seems that society has forgotten the golden rule. Not only is being rude wrong, it could endanger you. As far-fetched as it may sound, being rude to the wrong person could put you and those around you in danger. Saying or doing something rude could spark an argument between two people that has the ability to escalate into something more. Your actions affect more than just you.

My boyfriend hates waiting at the light. There are times I have seen him cross despite the light saying otherwise. I would yell and plead with him to stop because it was inconsiderate to everyone driving and put him at risk. I saw the confused and angry faces of the drivers as he ran across the road. It’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve seen him do this because the last instance he was almost hit by a car because the person behind the wheel was texting. The driver and my boyfriend were both being selfish and inconsiderate. They could have put themselves and other drivers/pedestrians in danger just to save a little time.

Whether you’re at home or in public, it’s important to be conscious about your actions. Acting courteous is a great mannerism to repeat with every person and situation you encounter. Doing the latter may put you and those around you in danger. Next time you don’t want to clean, just remember your housemates already did their share. If you’re driving and get a text, leave it. No text is so important it can’t wait. Endangering multiple lives is never worth it. A polite action may even make someone smile.

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