There are a number of things happening today that are really starting to annoy me. I suppose part of the problem is that I am getting old. Perhaps I am just longing for the old ways, but I really don't think that's the problem. I have learned to appreciate a lot of new things. After all, I am really wrapped up in my computer. There's not much nostalgia there. I like a lot of new music, although I must say, I am having trouble appreciating Rap Music.
No, this is something deeper than a longing for the past. Let me list a few of my pet peeves. Then we'll see if we can draw some conclusions.
Grown men, even old men, are wearing baseball caps in restaurants. How can we teach our children manners if the adults don't know how to behave properly in public places?
People are bugging me with their private conversations in public places on those infernal cell-phones. I don't want to hear what they have to say to others on the phone. Go do your phoning in private.
People can't wait two seconds to get around you when you are making a turn on the road. They have to pass you, even on the right, which is illegal in every state of the Union. If they can't get around you, they tailgate you.
Have you noticed how every performance on stage gets a standing ovation, no matter how mediocre? That used to be reserved for a really special performance. How do we show a performer that he or she did something special if we give standing O's to everyone?
More and more happenings in church seem to be occasions for breaking out in applause. One Sunday someone even began applauding a beautiful rendition of Mellot's "The Lords Prayer." How can I drink in some real spiritual experience when it is punctuated with loud applause?
That brings us to the most annoying habit of the new audiences. I call it "yipping." It is somewhere between a yell and a hoot. It sounds like a bunch of little dogs barking. It used to be done only at rock concerts. Now it is done at every concert I go to. Although I haven't heard it yet at a classical concert, I guess that will be next. On a recent Independence Day celebration in Philadelphia, various stars read portions of the Declaration of Independence. Each time a new celebrity would start to read, there was a new round of yipping. I hope the church applauders don't become yippers.
There is a common thread running through all of these things. They are all examples of a simple lack of common courtesy. It is worst among our young people, but many of the older people are also picking up on these terrible habits. If each of us would stop and ask ourselves the question, "Am I being annoying to someone else?" we might find ourselves in a much more enjoyable world.
Copyright © Jay D Weaver - December 17, 2002
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