Advanced world, not-so-advanced citizens

People today have everything at their fingertips. There are few things that have to be done the "long" way because there's almost always something to help us do the work.

So I guess I shouldn't be surprised that most humans nowadays severely lack basic people skills. I seem to come across a lot of bad communication, lack of regard for strangers and little to no common decency.

This particularly frustrated me when I went through an awful emergency room visit recently.  After being checked in by a very surly and curt nurse, I waited for almost an hour to be called out of the waiting room. Several nurses saw the poor condition I was in yet several people who came in long after me were called back before me.

Had I been one of the nurses and I had seen a person sitting in the waiting room shaking in pain, I would have made that patient a priority. But that would require some sort of common decency.

I understand that there is a protocol to how they're supposed to prioritize the patients, but there should be some sort of leeway for the hospital staff to make educated decisions and bend the rules.

But I should have known what to expect when people can't do something as basic as using a turn signal while driving.

For a society that is so advanced in almost every way possible, we seem to have reverted to being social primates.

I'm a strong believer in random acts of kindness because that's how I live. I guarantee you that person who is an awkward distance away from the door would appreciate you holding it open for them instead of letting it slip from their grasp.

It's things that people just don't do for strangers anymore that make us awful, inconsiderate people. No one cares and no one has any interest in caring about people other than themselves. Cell phones, computers and Internet chat have given us a social handicap. I know people who are afraid of even talking on the phone because they don't have to do it that often so they say they aren't sure what to do. It's talking on a phone, how hard can it be?

Part of it is taking everything we have for granted and another big part of it is the self-interested people that seem to comprise society today.

But there are a few of us who aren't afraid to say that even if you don't care about me, I care about you. I will always be there to hold the door and offer a smile that will hopefully brighten your day a little bit.

Stay classy Buff State!

Bridget DeMeis can be reached by email at demeis.record@live.com.