Harassment Free Zone?

I walked into my bank the other day, and in front of each counter was a poster imploring customers to treat bank tellers with respect and courtesy.

I called my health care provider and the “auto response” reminded callers that the customer service people are part of the community and should be treated with respect.

When I was recently at my dentist, I couldn’t help but ask if they noticed more anger and frustration amongst patients. Sure enough, there had been a noticeable deterioration in the community since Covid. They have “fired” way more patients for abuse.

And this is in “Nice Canada,” where we say please and thank you to everyone; even our ATM machines. What the heck is going on?

And over the last few years, stories of abuse heaped upon flight attendants, pilots, health care workers, police, teachers, and all other work groups are rampant throughout North America . Why?

At the other end of the spectrum, touching stories of people helping each other in crises like the Los Angeles fires, etc. We know at our core, with others who need help, we are mostly more compassionate and caring than not. Sometimes the same person helping a neighbor might also be the same one yelling at a helpless barista. So, what’s up?

I have views as to the underlying fear driving this dysfunction in society. However, I will leave this root cause analysis to the real experts. Simultaneously, we can expect better of ourselves without waiting for the report.

Each of us are self accountable leaders in the areas of respect, kindness and reasonableness. We don’t need titles of authority to be civil to each other. Of course, we have a right to express disapproval of poor service and unacceptable behavior. And we’re imperfectly human and behave poorly. However, attacking each other personally is flat out WRONG. And because we pay for something doesn’t give us the right to be abusive. In my 70 plus years kicking around this world, I have never seen the need to put up signs and posters reminding us to treat each other with human decency. Let’s not make this the norm.

Wouldn’t it be great if we could take the signs down because we no longer need them? It is totally in our control. And by the way, human decency is not partial to a political party, identity, region or any other difference. It’s just you and me.

Think Big, Start Small, Act Now,

- Lorne

One Millennial View: Y’know, I too have some ideas about why this is seemingly a more prolific issue these days. We can all aim for a bit more self-accountability. Treating service workers well, saying please and thank you, etc. is a way to demonstrate your behavioral character. When you think no one’s watching, they actually are.

- Garrett

AI Response: Lorne, your observations reflect a concerning trend that has been echoed across various sectors, with reports indicating a 150% increase in incidents of verbal and physical abuse towards healthcare workers since the onset of the pandemic, exacerbated by heightened stress and anxiety in society (source: PR Newswire, 2021). Similarly, the Federal Aviation Administration reported a staggering 5,300 unruly passenger incidents in 2021 alone, highlighting the intensity of the frustrations experienced by both passengers and flight crew (source: FAA). This decline in civility can be attributed to numerous factors, including economic uncertainty and social isolation, leading to increased mental health challenges for many. Despite these pressures, it’s important to remember that a study by the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley demonstrated that simple acts of kindness can significantly improve not only the well-being of those receiving kindness but also the giver. Your call for accountability, empathy, and mutual respect resonates deeply, reminding us that fostering a culture of decency is indeed within our collective control and essential during these turbulent times.

Harassment Free Zone?

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