Common Courtesy

I have been on numerous military deployments and traveled to many states throughout my life.  No matter where I go I always end up doing the same thing.  Sometimes it gets me in trouble.  What’s that thing? 

People watch.  Something about observing and the way people carry themselves intrigues me.  This “people watching” that I do leads me to constantly be cogniZant of people’s actions…or lack thereof.  One thing that stands out is the lack of “Common Courtesy.”

Let’s briefly explore a definition of Common Courtesy.

Based off the definitions for the two words, we can conclude that Common Courtesy is…

A courteous, respectful, or considerate act shared and belonging equally to an entire community, nation, or culture.

Wow, there are some powerful words in that definition…respectful, considerate, shared, and equally.  All of these words seem to involve positive actions towards other people.  However, in my opinion, “Common Courtesy” is not so common anymore.  To be honest, the word common in the term was lost many years ago and courtesy seems to be traveling the same rocky path.  Where did we lose touch of this Derivative of thoughtfulness?  Why are we turning away from a tool so easy to use?  Is it because it takes effort and takes away for “our” time?  These answers will be explored in future post.  Until then I leave you something to think about.  What actions of “Common Courtesy” have you seen fade away?  Why do you think is the cause?