As I write, it's dark, raining, and the wind has picked up. I love it. It's been a good while since we've had a day like this. As soon as I finish this post, I'm going downstairs to cuddle into my comfy chair with the PD James book I'm about to finish:
The Private Patient. I deserve this having spent the morning terminating stink bugs with their only known predator - my vacuum.
Frequently in these parts one sees magnetic bumper stickers reading "Choose Civility in Howard County". Other counties, too, have jumped on the civility bandwagon.
Dr. PM Forni of Johns Hopkins University, came up with this program to encourage gentleness in contemporary society. He offers workshops nationally. Seems sad that it's come to this, but I'll not argue a profound need. As far as manners and gentle behaviors go, I think we've lost our freakin' minds. Two days ago in the gym parking lot, a woman pulling into a space was in the way of another woman exiting the handicapped area of the parking lot. The one parking her car was obviously backing up and pulling into a space as expeditiously as she could. The woman pulling out scowled, thrust out her jaw, and repeatedly lay on her horn. Another patron and I stood agape. He said to me, "I'm not sure what we just witnessed, but evidently it was important." I felt like sticking one of the Civility stickers on her car, but she probably would have decked me. Evidently, lack of manners is now a handicapped condition.
