Well, we had two days in a row where the temperatures were over sixty degrees, yup, 60, in January!! And while that was going on Southern California got SNOW!!! Yup, the old white stuff fell out of the sky and basically ground Southern Cali to a halt!! Of course the amount of snow that received would have been considered a heavy frost here, but hey, Cali doesn't get snow like we do….used to.
Now of course it could be that Old Man Winter just wanted to take a brief vacation!! Yup, that could be it!! I mean where better to spend the winter than Southern California?? But of course, when you are the embodiment of cold you would probably have to go to somewhere extremely hot in order to knock the chill from your bones. SO maybe the snow in Southern California was Old Man Winter’s feeble attempt at getting warm.
Whatever it was, he has come to West Virginia with a vengeance. It is only in the twenties today, and come Wednesday it will be in the teens with a low of 4 degrees!! I hate 4 degrees!! But it is January and we have to expect some miserable weather.
I’m not sure how many more days until Spring, I have lost count. But I am looking forward to its arrival with baited breathe!! Flowers and birds, new leaves and baby animals, yup, definitely my favorite time of year…..well, except for the rain.
I believe I have spoken about the rain in West Virginia before. I know y’all are probably as tired of hearing about it as I am in dealing with it, but hey, it is what it is, right? Rain equals mud, mud equals the biggest headache you can imagine. Have you ever seen mud actually stain the paint on a car? It does here!! And your clothes?? Well, let’s just say that mud brown is all the rage from March until….well, whenever.
I am not perfect. Yeah, I know, you are stunned. But it is the truth. I have a temper, I can be vengeful and blunt to the point of being rude. But I am never outright rude. I was brought up better than that.
Maybe it’s being Southern, or maybe it’s just that my family took the time to teach me respect of others. Whatever the reason, I am not a rude person. I do my best to be polite, even when I have to grit my teeth to do so. Believe me, there are many, many people that make it difficult to maintain politeness.
This time of year seems to bring out the worst in some people, actually in most people. They are stressed out trying to prove they care about others by spending money they don’t have for things the other people don’t need. They worry about decorations, gifts, cards, dinners and all the other stuff we’re suppose to enjoy. Not to mention that it’s usually cold and dreary and we are trapped inside instead of enjoying the great outdoors. As a result of being so stressed, people, myself included, find themselves with shorter fuses. It doesn't take much to make someone snap at a slow cashier or driver. We are all in a hurry to get our stuff done.
Of course we all know that snapping at a cashier doesn't make him/her move any quicker. But if you notice, more and more people are snapping at the cashiers, other drivers, customer service people and whoever else doesn't do what they want, when and how they want it done.
Some people, however, are basically rude anyway. We all know them, they are the ones that can’t seem to force themselves to say Thank you or Please, they don’t open doors for older people or even wave back when you wave at them. Their faces are drawn and tired looking from frowning all the time, they don’t have that spark that lets us know they actually do have a heart……they are the rude people!
Now when you have the rude people and cold weather, well it is a recipe for disaster.
Once upon a time I thought that Rude People didn't realize that they were different from the rest of us. I thought they didn't realize that you are suppose to say Thank You when someone opens a door for you or carries your groceries to your car. I was under the false assumption that they were never exposed to simple manners.
Boy was I wrong!
You see, the majority of Rude People KNOW that it is polite to thank people for the small things they do, they realize that responding when someone says hello is the polite thing to do. THEY JUST DON’T CARE!!
Rude People have put themselves above the rest of us. Their defense for being rude is that they DON’T HAVE to NOT be rude. They will actually say I DON’T HAVE TO!! WTF??? No, you don’t have to, but it’s the polite thing to do, the human thing, the RIGHT thing.
After a while of dealing with the Rude People, normal humans find themselves responding to them with equal rudeness. It’s a contagious thing, someone is rude to you over and over again and then you find yourself being rude to some stranger and justify it because that person doesn't know you and will probably never see you again.
The only thing you've done is passed on that contagious disease called INDIFFERENCE! That is how it starts, that is the beginning of the epidemic we are suffering now!! RUDENESS is a symptom, INDIFFERENCE is the disease!
We become hardened by the everyday evils we see, we don’t respond the way we once did. We don’t do the simple little things that need to be done in order to NOT be a rude, not to be indifferent to the needs of others. We walk across the street so we don’t have to pass that beggar standing there with a sign that says he’s hungry, he’s probably just going to by alcohol or drugs with the money anyway, right? I mean, look at him, he’s not had a shower in weeks, his hair is greasy and dirty and his clothes are hanging on him, he’s probably just some worthless drug addict! That’s what the rude will say, that is what the indifferent will shout!
But that dirty, greasy bum could be a veteran who is suffering from PTSD and finds it difficult to function in the “real” world. He could be a father who has lost his job, his home, his family and is trying to simply get some food. He could be someone who’s home burned to the ground and the insurance wasn't enough to pay for a new place so he ended up on the streets. He could be……you if things were a little bit different.
And NO you DON’T HAVE TO do anything other than pass him by without even a word of encouragement. YOU DON’T HAVE TO. But, you should. You should show him a little kindness, a little politeness, a little bit of humanity. Speak to him, nod to him, give him some change, whatever it is that your heart says to do!
DON’T BE RUDE!! Remember this is someone’s son. He had a Mother and a Father, he had a family and people that loved him. HE IS WORTH SOMETHING.
If you attempt not being a rude asshole, you will find that there are all types of possibilities out there. It is possible that the bum we are talking about isn't actual a bum at all, he maybe a great artist, he maybe your long lost brother. You will never know if you insist on being rude.
Being rude when you are behind the wheel of a three thousand pound hunk of machinery is another sickness we suffer from now. We seem to think that we can make rude gestures, scream at other drivers or dart in front of them and cut them off and there will be no consequences. Yup, no consequences, that’s what the husband in California thought right before his young wife and the mother of his four children was shot in the face while riding in the passenger seat of his car. She died sitting in her own driveway.
Who knows what perceived ill a young man named Asti Davidson did in the early morning hours before someone forced him off of the highway and shot him, ending his life at the age of 28. Someone thought this young man did something, someone was suffering from the most extreme case of indifference ever to take his life. But they are no worse than the people who drove by, never bothering to check on him.
We need to stop! We need to find compassion, understanding and care for our fellow man!! We used to have it! Where did it go?
I know it’s not just the cold and wet that has driven it away.
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