The Sanford Berenberg Experience: Message of the Day

Good Morning,

This passed evening I went out to get pizza to prepare us to sit outside in the moderate cold and hand out candies to the trick-or-treaters. And there were, of course, some very cute kids in some interesting costumes.

I went to the Little Caesars down the road, and it must have been a hive-mind idea as the line went out the door. Pizzas were been sent out of the store just as fast as the team behind the counter could make them, and they were hustling. Some were hustling with costumes on. Anyway, I placed my order and stood in the crowded waiting/order area where there were only three seats, all filled.

As one seat opened up, I took it as I was next in line to grab a seat. I smiled at the four year old sitting her dad’s lap. Maybe thirty seconds after I sat down, I saw a lady with her young daughter pay for her pizza and look for a spot to wait in. So I got up and offered her my seat. A few minutes later another seat opened up and I sat down again.

The lady thanked me for giving up my seat for her. That so very few men do that these days. I then apologized for all of them. She mused that I was apologizing for the failure of what seemed to be all other men to show common courtesy to a lady, especially one with a young child with her.

This got me thinking. We have so many problems in our country and in our world. We keep getting more and more bad news. Hitting 7 Billion inhabitants on this third rock from the sun was not something to celebrate. There are financial woes, security woes, and the list goes on.

Some of us are looking for ways to resolve our problems and others are looking for more hand outs from an already strained government. Yet, on the grander scheme of things, there is little that each one of us can do to resolve the global problems. We would need to be of some stature, have some amount of resources, etc. to enact major change on a global stage.

That may make many people apathetic, you know, the ‘who cares’ mentality.

Well, I am here to tell you that there is something that we all can do to help improve our world. It may not be something that is going to move mountains, or balance the budget, but it is something that is going to make a difference in the life of others.

What we can do is show some common courtesy to our fellow man and woman.

If we can be nice to others, it will make the situations we face easier to face. It can defuse heated situations, etc. And when we are nice to others, it often is paid forward, with many others feeling the benefits down the road.

It is something that we can do no matter how bad things get in our lives. It is a choice we own. It should be common sense.

Yet, like my experience in the pizza place, it is not very common. This is not my first rant on this. And sadly it won’t be my last.

Sure it sounds inane to complain about not giving up a seat for another with greater need, but it is the baseline of culture and civilization. If we can’t get that basic level of respectful action right, then how can we possibly expect to get more complex issues resolved?

It starts with each and every one of us.

The next move is yours. What are you going to do?

Sanford Berenberg

Sanford@berenberg.net
http://www.berenberg.net

http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/
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