The Current World We Live in...

Wow it has almost been two years since I last blogged...BAD!! So one might ask what have I been doing in the past 2 years?? Trying to mold my two darling daughters into being better people, trying to keep up with my crazy, super mad work schedule, and try with every fiber of my being to squeeze in some time for that crazy man, otherwise known as my husband, who has loved me unconditionally for nearly 15 years. I think that is quite a bit to be doing, phew!

So what leads me to blog on this Sunday night? People and the world! Sometimes I step back and I look at world I grew up in and then I look at present day and I am like "Holy moly, did I grow up in a completely different time and place?" I know that Central Pennsylvania is a far cry from the Washington DC metro area but still we should all have the inner decency to be kind and good to one another, right? Given the economic turn of events in our world over the past few years coupled with hard times for many I think that mankind has entered a new phase. One that I am not particular pleased with and one that I want to show my girls is not the norm. This leads into my recent observations:

Observation #1 - Common courtesy to one another is dissipating rapidly! I have found this on the highways during my many 2 hour, 21 mile adventures to work in the morning. People honk at one another for no reason other than frustration, people do not allow others to merge into traffic unless the person practically begs and pleads with the driver, and when someone does let someone in the common courtesy of acknowledging this act is gone (i.e. no wave to say thank you). Case in point let me tell you some of my recent adventures in driving in the DC metro area.
The notorious honking - Ever tried merging across 3 lanes of traffic when it is at a standstill? I would compare it to playing a game of Chicken. Seriously, I have lost count at the number of times I patiently put my turn signal on and painstakingly wait my turn for an opening to merge. Many times once that merge has been found I will be honked at or flipped off by someone. Now mind you I am not little Miss Perfect, I have honked at others who have cut me off or flipped me off from time to time, but over the course of the past year I have stopped. The reason why? Life is really too short to honk or flip someone else off. Second, what kind of example am I setting for my girls. Granted I have never done this in the car with them, but if I continue this poor behavior then we all know that someday I will slip up and do it when they are with me....NOT A GOOD THING to have to explain to two young impressionable girls who imitate their mommy enough already!

The mean spirited individual that will not let you merge into traffic - This just happened last week and boy was I mad at this guy, but instead of chewing him out with curse words I killed him with kindness. It was 5:00 pm rush hour in Northern Virginia and I am trying to merge into the turning lanes to make it to the Capital Beltway. Keep in mind that unlike several other drivers I at least have my turn signal on! Of course, NO ONE is letting anyone merge in and of course I am running out of road! The traffic light ahead of me turned red and I rolled down my window to ask the man (I would call him a gentleman but as you will see in a moment he was not worth it!) in the white Jeep Wrangler if he would let me merge in front of him. Windows rolled down, my head is out the window, and with a big smile on my face, I point to space in front of his Jeep and say, "Please?" He looks me square in the eyes and shakes his head and says "NO WAY!" I responded with a "Why?" He just starts shaking his head no again with more vigor. I rolled up the window and thought, "Well, somebody certainly ended his day on a high note!" Finally the light turns green and my turn signal is still blinking to get into that darn lane. All of a sudden the white Jeep man starts honking and throwing his hands up in the air saying, "Well get in already.." I got into the lane and I hate to admit this I did wave to thank him but I also muttered a not so nice word for him under my breath! See I am not perfect and never said I was! :)

Finally, common courtesy...where has it gone? - I am notorious for letting people merge into traffic in front of me. I grew up watching my parents allow one vehicle in and then you moved on so that the person behind you could let another vehicle in, so I try to do this whenever possible too. I have also gotten use to not receiving a wave or any other sort of acknowledgement for this gesture. My oldest daughter has started noticing this too and recently asked why don't people thank one another? Here comes that conversation about how we should treat all fairly, equally, and kindly even if others do not do the same towards you. My oldest has really taken this to heart and even as I right this it makes me smile. There are many times when the girls and I are out and cars will stop to allow the girls and I to cross the street. My oldest has picked up on the fact that I wave or say thank you to the individual that stops and allows us to cross the street and lo and behold she has started doing the same thing. I have to admit at the tender age of 5, nothing warms my heart more than to see her saying "Thank you!" to the car that is waiting for us to cross in front of them! What's even better is seeing that driver's face light up with a smile when my little girl says "Thank you!" and waves with me.

Please note I am not saying that the world is full of all horrible and bad people, I am just saying that if all people took a little time to set their anger and hatred aside and think of how their actions can affect others then maybe we would see a more kinder and gentler actions towards one another. Wouldn't that be nice?! Who knows instead of putting a rain cloud over someone's day we could put a sun. :)

Ok, well this Mom and Everything in Between will be back soon. I am going to make a dedicated effort to bring you more thoughts and fun stuff too with my girls, husband and I. I also hope to hear from all of you.