It’s been an ill-mannered week. Yesterday, a visitor from British Columbia, whom I was trying to help, called me “a fraud” because the library didn’t have the original manuscript sources to back up some facts she disputed in several printed genealogies she’d found in some of our Historical Room books. This was on top of the news of Kanye’s rude interruption at the VMAs, Serena’s invective-filled rant at the U.S. Open, and Congressman Joe Wilson’s “You lie!” outburst during President Obama’s health care address. I think we can all use a little bibliotherapy about respect, civility and public discourse. I politely, civilly, and courteously offer these books for your reading pleasure:
The Art of Being Kind by Stefan Einhorn
Civility: Manners, Morals and the Etiquette of Democracy by Stephen L. Carter
The Civility Solution by P.M. Forni
A Complaint Free World by Will Bowen
Do One Nice Thing by Debbie Tenzer
Make Peace with Anyone by David J. Lieberman
On Kindness by Adam Phillips
The Power of Nice by Linda Kaplan Thaler
Respect: an exploration by Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot
Say Please, Say Thank You: the Respect We Owe One Another by Don McCullough
Work Hard, Be Nice by Jay Mathews
Please have a nice day and thank you for reading!
The Art of Being Kind by Stefan Einhorn
Civility: Manners, Morals and the Etiquette of Democracy by Stephen L. Carter
The Civility Solution by P.M. Forni
A Complaint Free World by Will Bowen
Do One Nice Thing by Debbie Tenzer
Make Peace with Anyone by David J. Lieberman
On Kindness by Adam Phillips
The Power of Nice by Linda Kaplan Thaler
Respect: an exploration by Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot
Say Please, Say Thank You: the Respect We Owe One Another by Don McCullough
Work Hard, Be Nice by Jay Mathews
Please have a nice day and thank you for reading!
Posts
When I was in England, I discovered that instead of being proper and well-mannered as I had been expecting, English people were rude and abrupt (and I'm a polite Midwesterner by upbringing, which made it all the more dismaying!). Sorry that residents of BC seem to have picked up the home country's manners. My cousin-in-law lives in BC and said proudly that she was an aggressive driver. Could it be something in the water?
ReplyDeleteI blame it on reality TV. It's making people more obnoxious than ever as they are convinced that others want to witness their every emotion.
ReplyDelete