Chill People

Image: scottchan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I teach a course at a lifelong learning institute. To translate that into young speak, it means I teach classes for old people. The director of the program sent out an email today to all instructors today asking us to remind our students otherwise known as the elderly people who take our classes to be more careful in the hallways.

Apparently, a group of 'students' were waiting for a bus to take them on a field trip, and yes, it is cool to be old and have the time for these programs. Anyway, when the bus arrived the students rushed on and a few people got injured in the rush. My first thought was really. I would think that by the time we retire it should have sunk in that mad dash rushes to get a good seat on the bus wasn't actually all that cool because, duh, people can get hurt. Apparently I was wrong. Some people go to their graves not understanding this basic rule, which does require patience and compassion.

The director pointed out that this wasn't an isolated incident either. Students have been known to crowd around classroom doors waiting for the other class to finish and they aren't always polite enough to allow the other students to leave before rushing in to get their seats and this isn't very nice because so many of the students use canes and walkers and someone could get hurt.

I was surprised to hear this because my students were always so nice and I never saw any of this sort of rude behavior from any of them. Perhaps it's because we spent so much time talking about compassion, responsibility and patience in our class. Regardless, if you find yourself in a similar situation, remind everyone to chill out. There are plenty of seats for everyone and if one old cranky person just has to have a specific seat, give it to them. There are plenty of others.

Politeness Counts

“If you want to slide through life, try being nice.” That is a quote from my father. He is also quoted in Murphy’s Law book, twice actually. But that is another story. My dad is right. Being nice confers benefits to you here and now and it is sooooo easy to do. Yes, other people around you are not always nice and polite and you will have to deal with rude people in your life. But that is no reason for you to act as a buffoon.

Most of the time people are rude it is because they themselves have problems. So, take the high road. Be nice in the face of even the most boorish of people. You will like yourself more when all is said and done then if you bend your own standards of decent behavior and act as rude as others do.