The Virtue of Courtesy

Whenever my brother and I walk our mom's dog, we always bring poop bags with us, often more than we think we'll need. We always clean up after our dog, and we sometimes clean up after other people's dogs, too. It's just polite, like picking up litter and tidying up messes. We try to make the neighborhood we share with others a better place for our having been here, rather than a worse one.

We should all try to practice this kind of courtesy. We should all try to make life better for the people around us, or at least try not to make life worse. We should try to accommodate and care for others. We should try to lift them up rather than tear them down. We should clean up our own messes as best we can, and we should quietly help others with their messes as well. I think the world would be a much better place if we all had this commitment to the virtue of courtesy.

Too often, I find evidence of people making life worse for others. I smell cigarette or weed smoke. I see broken alcohol bottles and other trash. I see how people are hurting themselves and creating discomfort and danger for the people around them. But I, whose thankfully better-hidden pot is no less black than their brutally visible kettle, try not to judge. I have to work at trying not to make my problems other people's problems, as we all should. While it's wise to seek and accept help when needed and/or offered, it's courteous to try not to create problems for others.

As with most of my blog posts, this message isn't actually directed at any of you. These are lessons that I am learning and that I still need to learn. If you learn something too, that's great. I hope we can make the world better together. But these messages are mostly directed to me. I'm glad that I try to clean up my own and other people's messes. I should keep that up, and I should try not to make any more messes than I can't avoid making. I try to make other people's lives better, and that's good, but I should also keep trying very hard not to make anyone's life worse.

We all have to live with each other, some more closely than others. We should all do our parts to make and keep this world a comfortable place for everyone to live in together.