As I opened the door to leave East Hall following a class earlier this week, I instinctively looked over my shoulder to check if anyone was coming behind me.
Seeing a girl about five feet away walking toward the door, I stepped aside and held it open.
For as long as I can remember I have held doors open for people, no matter their gender or age, if they are walking close behind. Under normal circumstances, I appreciate a simple “thank you.”
As the girl passed by and made her exit, I waited for the simple two words to leave her mouth.
They never came.
While cursing her under my breath, I thought to myself, what ever happened to common courtesy?
At some point during my upbringing, I was taught manners. Whether it’s letting someone pull in front of me while I’m driving or picking up a pen that someone next to me dropped in class, I’ve always been Johnny on the Spot.
However, I’ve noticed that an increasing amount of youths have thrown manners out the window.
On campus I’ve seen students walk slowly on sidewalks, blocking others from passing as they carelessly carry on with their conversations.
Other times, I’ve seen people at bus stops cut in front of others who had been waiting for more than ten minutes.
While I know many students need to hurry from one class to another, even packing up books while professors are still lecturing is incredibly rude.
Maybe some people were never taught proper manners growing up but that’s hard to believe unless they were raised by uncontacted peoples in the Amazon.
Instead, it’s pretty clear that intentionally disregarding manners has for some reason become cool.
I’m hopeful that maybe this lack of politeness is a phase along the way to maturity. Still, I wonder if this is a sign of a generation marked by rudeness.
This is not to say that there aren’t polite young people out there. I’ve experienced countless examples of students being polite to myself and others during my three years in Bowling Green.
But to those who disregard manners, here’s a request to help restore some faith in our generation. If you see an opportunity to put others before yourself, do it.
It doesn’t need to be an earth-shattering act; it can be as simple as saying two words— thank you.
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