Samantha Gervais
Anchor Staff Writer
As young boys and girls, our parents taught us to be nice and have manners, right? To say “please” and “thank you” when someone gives us something, says something or does something nice for us, a kind gesture, etc. I must admit, though, that I’ve been questioning lately if people have been disregarding these lessons that have been taught to us.
Perhaps it’s the pressures of the pandemic hitting society and making people laxer or maybe everyone is forgetting their manners or even niceties. Here’s a common experience that I have been having frequently, no matter where I go, and shockingly enough, I’ve been having this problem even more so on our campus.
As most readers know, and as a quick note to new readers, I am physically disabled and walk around campus with a cane. Most of the time, I have a pretty difficult time walking, so opening the doors to the buildings is sometimes a struggle for me. Those doors aren’t as light as people sometimes think, especially after climbing even three stairs.
Now, I know what most people will say, “Just use the automatic open-door button,” which yes, that is what I typically do. It’s a lot easier than heaving the doors open, but feeling the pressure of others behind me, waiting impatiently for the door to open can get a little frustrating and wearisome at times.
Back to the matter at hand, though. I’ve had a number of times, both on campus and in public, where it is apparent that I have been struggling to walk and I’ve had people look back at me, see I am approaching the door and close the door in my face. Not only has this happened time and time again to me, but to multiple people.
After hearing other people saying that this was bothering them as well, I felt a little better because I felt like I wasn’t blowing things out of proportion. Something so basic and simple seems to be something that is now a chore. I can’t really help but wonder, why? Are manners changing as the generations change and things like “holding the door open” aren’t as much of a big deal? Are people simply losing their sense of care and politeness?